The law is always changing. Here are a couple of legal updates from the state of Michigan this summer.
Updated Law Helps People Keep Their Records Clean
A recently updated law will clear the arrest records of people who were charged and beat their criminal case. When a person is charged with a crime, the fact of the arrest and charge is sent to the Michigan State Police who make a record of it. Many people who fight their cases beat the case before trial. They might wonder, what about their criminal history which shows they were charged?
Before this law was updated, there was no real mechanism for getting rid of the arrest and charge record. In fact, the only way to ensure the arrest and charge record was destroyed was through obtaining an acquittal at trial. Now, the updated law makes courts order the Michigan State Police destroy all records of charge and arrest where a person beat their case before trial. This law is a step in the right direction to helping many people who are deserving of a clear record.
Traffic Ticket Law Updated
There’s a civil infraction on the books called having an obstructed license plate. This civil infraction is where a person’s license plate is either partially or completely blocked by some type of object. The purpose of the law of course is to enable people to see your license plate.
The problem with this law since it was written is many people unwittingly and innocently block their license plate. These people were violating the law by simply having a bike rack on the back of their car or maybe a trailer hitch. All tow trucks were breaking the law. All these people were breaking the law but really had no way around it. What’s a tow truck to do? Can people simply never put bikes on the backs of their car? The law unfair as it was written.
Now the law makes an exception for these people. This civil infraction no longer applies to people who have a “license plate is blocked by the attachment to the rear of a vehicle of a tow ball, bicycle rack, removable hitch, or any other device designed to carry an object on the rear of a vehicle, including the object being carried.”
Author Bio
Sam Bernstein is an attorney in Ann Arbor, MI, specializing in criminal and traffic law. Sam can be reached at 734-883-9584 or by e-mail at [email protected]. ArborYpsi Law is located at 4158 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48108.
