Can the formerly incarcerated get a second chance in Michigan?

When Tony Gant was first released from prison in 2015, he was optimistic about what opportunities awaited him as a free man.

What he didn’t expect, was the rough, six-month period it took for him to be hired at a temp job where he could only hope to be given employment each day.

“I came out of prison kind of expecting that education and willingness to work hard would be what got me past those denials based on my record, but that just wasn’t true,” Gant said.

Last week’s comments by Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein criticizing fellow Justice Kyra Bolden’s decision to hire a former prisoner as a law clerk brought back memories for Gant, and others like him, who feel like society gives the formerly incarcerated little chance at redemption.

“What Bernstein said was hurtful,” Gant recalled. “It triggered me and a lot of other folk because it just seemed so callous.”

Bernstein apologized to Bolden and Peter Martel, the clerk in question, days later.

By that point, Martel had already resigned from his new job. Bolden said Martel, “did not want to be a distraction or in any way divert the Court from its important work.”

Criminal justice reform activists in Michigan say the incident speaks to a bigger problem about how those who have served their time are treated, what prisoners awaiting parole have to look forward to and how society speaks about those with a criminal record.

“We have people like Pete Martel, who are amazing individuals, are brilliant, they have talent that’s beyond belief and they are held back because of that sentence,” said Lois Pullano, executive director of Citizens for Prison Reform. “To me, that is really sad. I think that’s something we as people need to ask to be changed.”

Pullano has known Martel for 10 years, working with him in and out Michigan’s prisons on various projects related to prison reform and criminal justice.

She said that the justice system too often sets these people up for failure— individuals are turned down from hundreds of jobs, denied sufficient housing and more simply because of their record, no matter how hard working.

And in a system where people aren’t too often given second chances, what Martel was able to accomplish was “an extremely rare occasion,” Pullano said.

Martel robbed a convenience store in Genessee County nearly three decades ago and “had a bit of a shootout with the police,” as he put it in a 2017 interview. He spent 14 years in prison served prison time for armed robbery and felony assault before being released on parole in 2008.

He went on to earn a law degree, found a job with the State Appellate Defender Office and enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Michigan.

Like Martel, Gant was sentenced for a violent crime, spending over 20 years in a Michigan Department of Corrections facility. Also, like Martel, Gant said he knew the importance of seeking out education and skills that would improve his life upon his release.

Over the last several years, Gant has become an author, entrepreneur, father and director of policy and program operations with Nation Outside, a criminal justice reform organization made up of those affected by the criminal justice system.

“My passion has always been trying to figure out how to address some of the harms I saw during those 20 years, and to address the harms I experienced firsthand,” Gant said.

And the stigma that follows the formerly incarcerated is unfounded, advocates say.

In 2022, the Michigan Department of Corrections reported that the state’s recidivism rate— which measures the percentage of individuals who return to prison within three years of release— had dropped to 23.6%, a historic low. When compared to recidivism rates in other states, Michigan ranks fourth in the country.

“It’s a difficult pill because it feels like you will never get past that no matter how hard you work, and I think Pete’s situation is an example,” Gant said.

Bernstein and Bolden were both nominated by the Democratic Party. Bernstein resumed his role as justice after winning his midterm reelection, while Bolden was appointed to the bench by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Whitmer could not be reached for comment on the situation, but fellow Democrats have had mixed reactions about Bernstein’s apology.

“Nothing in Justice Bernstein’s statement accepts accountability for costing someone his job or affirms the critical life experience and value that returning citizens bring to the criminal justice conversation,” tweeted Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia.

Meanwhile, Jordan Acker, a University of Michigan regent, tweeted that Justice Bernstein did the right thing in apologizing, having “spent his career fighting for the right things, and a mistake does not define all of the good work he does.”

Gant said he applauds Bernstein’s position of expanding access to legal careers for people with criminal records, which he mentioned in his apology letter, but he would like for him to have conversations with inmates and advocates in the future so he can learn from their experiences.

As for Martel, Gant said he supports him and is confident he’ll have more opportunities lined up soon.

“Pete is a person who’s been through a lot already in his life, I’m sure he’s going to bounce back from this,” Gant said.

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