The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
4 — Wednesday, March 17, 2021 

Isaiah 
Mayweather, 
who 

is 
incarcerated 
at 
Macomb 

Correctional Facility, returned to his 
normal cell Jan. 27 after serving 18 
days in a mandatory quarantine as 
a result of coming into close contact 
with someone who contracted 
COVID-19. However, Mayweather, 
after being tested three times, never 
once tested positive for the virus 
that has infected more than 25,000 
prisoners in Michigan alone.

Mayweather wrote in an email 

to The Michigan Daily about his 
experience being isolated for 18 days 
and never contracting the virus. 

According to Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention guidelines, 
quarantining for 10 days without 
symptoms, or quarantining for seven 
days and receiving a negative test 
on or after day five are sufficient 
precautionary measures to take 
following a COVID-19 exposure. The 
Michigan Department of Health and 
Human Services says if individuals 
show no symptoms for 10 days 
following a COVID-19 exposure, 
they can discontinue quarantine.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer received 

criticism from activists and families 
of incarcerated individuals late last 
year for her criminal justice policy 
during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
While she signed an executive order 
in August 2020 to improve testing 
and transfer protocols in prisons, 
some said these actions did not 
adequately protect prisoners from 
infection.

Mayweather 
emphasized 
the 

strain that his prolonged quarantine 
took on not only his own well-being 
but on his relationship with his 
family, whom he was not able to talk 
to the entire time he was placed into 
quarantine. In-person visitations 
have been discontinued completely 
for over a year. 

“My children couldn’t imagine 

what it would be like not hearing 
from me in nearly a month’s time,” 
Mayweather wrote. “After the long 
break we were forced to take from 
each other, my relationship with 
them hasn’t been the same since. A 
lot had changed in nearly a month’s 
time.”

Based on Michigan Department 

of Corrections policy, prisoners 
should still be able to have daily 
access 
to 
phones, 
showers, 

microwaves, showers and the J-pay 
emailing 
system. 
Mayweather, 

however, said this was not the 
reality. According to Mayweather, 
an inmate who has had close contact 
with a COVID-19 positive individual 
often has less access to facilities than 
someone who tests positive. 

“On paper it looks nice and civil,” 

Mayweather wrote. “But in reality, 
we are rarely, if ever afforded these 
luxuries. If (you’re) in close-contact 
with a Covid person, it’s possible 
you can be held longer than a person 
who’s actually in violation of a rule. 
So mentally, this is draining.”

Mayweather wrote he is not the 

only prisoner who has experienced 
a long wait time in close-contact 
quarantine, claiming some prisoners 
experienced up to 30 days in close-
contact quarantine. 

MDOC 
spokesperson 
Chris 

Gautz told The Daily prisoners 
should still have access to normal 
facilities, such as regular showers 
and the use of phone and email 
services, while in quarantine. He 
did not confirm whether close-
contact quarantine could last up to 
30 days.

Gautz also said the restriction 

in programs, classes and outdoor 
activities is important in reducing 
the spread of COVID-19, what 
MDOC sees as an unfortunate but 
necessary measure. 

“We just have to remind them 

that this isn’t punitive,” Gautz said. 
“Although it may feel like it is (when 

they are) stuck in their cell for 
longer than they’d like, it’s for their 
safety.” 

Incarcerated individuals are also 

experiencing issues with testing. In 
accordance with the Department 
of Health and Human Services, 
prisoners are now being tested 
daily. As soon as the department 
found the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant, 
they issued an emergency public 
health order to increase testing in 
prisons. 

On Jan. 23, Steven Schutt, 

who is incarcerated at Macomb 
Correctional Facility and deals 
with severe asthma, was told he 
tested positive for COVID-19 and 
was sentenced to a mandatory 
quarantine — yet Schutt, who never 
showed a single symptom, was 
convinced it was a false positive. 
According to Schutt, his family’s 
request for him to be re-tested was 
denied. 

“We were never swabbed the 

entire time I was (in quarantine),” 
Schutt said in a written message to 
The Daily. “The only thing they did 
was check our vitals and more (or) 
less wait and pray (I didn’t) get sick 
from (my roommate) or the other 
guys that were already there. I 
worried every day … I (cried) on the 
phone to my family and we couldn’t 
do anything about it.” 

According to Schutt, an antibody 

test later revealed that Schutt did 
not have any COVID-19 antibodies. 

Gautz said he knows nothing of 

the alleged false positive test and 
that all testing is conducted through 
private labs due to the large capacity 
of tests being ordered.

“I don’t know of many doctors 

who would falsify a record just so 
their hospital could make more 
money,” Gautz said. “So I’m not 
really sure where that (accusation) 
would come from.”

CRIME

Community reacts to legal challenge 

to U-M campus firearm ban

Michigan Attorney General 

Dana Nessel filed an amicus 
brief on March 1 against Joshua 
Wade, an Ann Arbor resident 
who challenged the University of 
Michigan’s on-campus firearm 
ban. According to the amicus 
brief, it is within the University’s 
constitutional rights to enact a 
firearm ban on campus, though 
the case remains held in the 
Michigan Supreme Court. 

Amicus briefs are filed by 

parties not directly involved in 
a lawsuit to support one side of 
a case. 

Nessel’s 
brief 
backs 
the 

University and argues court 
precedent 
supports 
their 

firearms 
ban, 
noting 
that 

restrictions on firearm carry 
exist in other sensitive places 
like churches and primary and 
secondary schools.

“When it declared the rough 

contours of the amendment, the 
Court was careful to single out 
core areas in which governments 
may 
regulate 
firearms 
— 

including 
longstanding 

prohibitions on guns at school,” 
the brief reads. “From the first 
colleges on American soil to the 
present day, states and colleges 
have exercised their authority 
to regulate firearms in myriad 
ways, from outright bans to 
clear permission to carry. The 
University’s 
prohibition 
fits 

within this range of permissible 
options.”

University spokesman Rick 

Fitzgerald 
agreed, 
writing 

in an email to The Daily that 
the University is well within 
its 
constitutional 
rights 
in 

prohibiting weapons on campus, 
citing the 2008 Supreme Court 
case District of Columbia v. 
Heller. 
This 
landmark 
case 

recognized the right of public 
entities to regulate handguns in 
schools and public buildings. 

“Guns 
have 
been 
banned 

for decades and courts have 
upheld the University’s right to 
prohibit weapons from campus,” 

Fitzgerald wrote. “The safety 
of the University community is 
one of our highest priorities as 
a University. Allowing weapons 
on campus undermines those 
efforts.”

Psychology 
professor 
L. 

Rowell Huesmann, who studies 
aggressive behavior and media 
violence, said Wade is unlikely 
to win his case due to the 
precedent set by D.C. v. Heller. 
He added that the University 
and 
surrounding 
community 

is better off with the standing 
firearms ban. 

“Numerous 
studies 
show 

that not only when people 
have 
firearms 
is 
there 
a 

greater likelihood of people 
being 
seriously 
hurt 
during 

disagreements and arguments, 
but just the sight or knowledge 
of firearms being around is what 
we psychologists call a ‘prime’ to 
behaving more aggressive and 
violent,” Huesmann said. “So 
there’s a lot of studies that show 
that just the sight of a firearm 
makes people more likely to 
think more aggressively and 
violently than they otherwise 
would.” 

Huesmann said the argument 

that guns make people safer 
isn’t backed by data. Instead, he 
said, the presence of firearms 
increases the likelihood of gun 
violence.

“Studies also show that the 

concept of providing protection 
is 
very 
misplaced 
— 
that 

firearms don’t provide personal 
protection in the way that people 
think,” Huesmann said. “In 
fact, they are likely to lead to 
accidental shootings and killings 
of people. The idea that they 
provide significant protection 
against nefarious people is just 
not borne out by the data.” 

LSA freshman Macy Hannan 

said she doesn’t see a difference 
between the University and 
other 
places 
like 
churches 

and primary and secondary 
schools that are able to regulate 
firearms. 

“From my understanding, my 

high school was able to (ban 
firearms), churches are able to 

(ban firearms), I don’t get why 
this is any different of a situation 
and I think it’s something that 
should be done,” Hannan said.

Hannan said she would feel 

less safe walking around campus 
if the courts were to strike down 
the firearms ban.

“I think it is the University’s 

responsibility to help keep me 
safe, and they should be able 
to keep me safe so then I don’t 
need to,” Hannan said. “I would 
definitely 
feel 
more 
scared 

walking around campus if (the 
ban is repealed).” 

LSA 
junior 
Ryan 
Fisher, 

president of the University’s 
chapter of College Republicans, 
said court precedent gives the 
University the right to regulate 
firearms on campus. But Fisher 
added that he believes allowing 
concealed carry of firearms on 
campus would make students 
safer. 

“College campuses especially 

are a sensitive location, and I do 
think it could be alarming openly 
carrying 
firearms, 
especially 

given some recent history with 
school shootings,” Fisher said. 
“Concealed carry, on the other 
hand, averts the possibility that 
someone could be upset with 
the fact that you are carrying 
a firearm while nevertheless 
giving people the opportunity 
to 
defend 
themselves, 
and 

even defend others in times of 
danger.” 

LSA 
freshman 
Barry 

Dechtman disagreed and said he 
doesn’t see a need for students to 
carry guns on campus and has 
faith in the University’s ability 
to protect its students. 

“There’s 
no 
real 
need 

to have guns on a college 
campus,” Dechtman said. “I 
think protection is a big thing, 
but I think there are many 
alternatives and a lot of other 
measures the University can take 
to keep students safe (instead 
of allowing guns on campus). 
Without guns, I feel a lot safer.”

Daily Staff Reporter Julia 

Rubin can be reached at julrubin@
umich.edu.

Attorney General Dana Nessel backs University’s on-campus gun ban

JULIA RUBIN

Daily Staff Reporter

GOVERNMENT

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Survivors Speak protests for 
transparency, accountability

Marching through the streets 

of downtown Ann Arbor, dozens 
of protesters gathered with signs 
demanding racial justice and 
equality 
Saturday 
afternoon. 

Chants calling for racial justice, 
police 
accountability 
and 

governmental 
transparency 

were punctuated by drum beats 
as 
onlookers 
watched 
from 

sidewalks.

Saturday’s 
protest, 
hosted 

by non-profit advocacy group 
Survivors Speak, marked exactly 
a year after the police killing of 
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year old 
woman from Louisville, Ky. who 
was killed in her apartment when 
officers wrongfully broke into her 
home and fired 32 rounds after 
Taylor’s boyfriend fired one. No 
officers involved in the shooting 
currently face criminal charges. 

According to the organizers, 

Survivors Speak is dedicated 
to 
amplifying 
the 
voices 
of 

victims of any form of injustice, 
and 
Saturday’s 
protest 
was 

centered around the theme of 
accountability. 
On 
the 
steps 

of Hatcher Graduate Library, 
speakers took to the microphone 
to emphasize the necessity of 
fighting for accountability within 
public institutions and called for 
transparency on issues unique to 
Ann Arbor.

Trische’ Duckworth, executive 

director and founder of Survivors 
Speak, told The Michigan Daily 
before the protest that she began 
the organization in 2018 as a 
way to support those fighting for 
widespread 
transparency 
and 

justice.

“Normally 
survivors 
are 

recognized 
as 
rape 
victims, 

molestation, domestic violence,” 
Duckworth said. “But we took it 
a step further in saying, really, 
all of us are surviving something, 
right? Like some kind of pain, 
some kind of trauma. And so we 
wanted to honor all survivors and 
to help people free themselves in 
the midst of what they’re going 
through.”

Duckworth 
also 
said 
she 

believes unity is essential when 
it comes to holding officials 
accountable. 
People 
have 
a 

responsibility, Duckworth said, to 
ensure that local officials follow 
through on promises they made 
when they ran for office.

“We have to hold ourselves 

accountable so that we can 

continue to stay the course and 
pay attention to what’s going 
on around us, pay attention to 
what’s going on in legislation,” 
Duckworth said. “But then we 
have the job to hold our legislators 
accountable to ensure that they 
hold true to the agenda items that 
we have approved for them when 
we elect them.”

Jazmyn 
Bradford, 
School 

of Social Work student and 
intern 
for 
Survivors 
Speak, 

told The Daily that the purpose 
of Saturday’s protest was to 
encourage community members 
to advocate for justice in their 
local 
governments. 
Many 

speakers emphasized that Ann 
Arbor is no exception to police 
violence against Black and Brown 
people. Many also discussed their 
experiences with systemic racism 
within Ann Arbor Public Schools. 

“We want community members 

to understand that we have 
the power to put people in the 
positions that they’re in. … We 
want social justice,” Bradford said. 
“We want policies that are actually 
going to make change happen.”

Law School student Solomon 

Furious 
Worlds, 
who 
also 

attended the rally, is representing 
Makayla Kelsey, Ann Arbor Public 
School student, and her mother 
Charmelle Kelsey in a case against 
instances of racial discrimination 
in Pioneer High School. The 
Kelseys originally submitted a 
complaint with the Michigan 
Department 
of 
Civil 
Rights 

in August 2020 alleging that 
AAPS created a racially hostile 
environment. 

The Civil Rights Litigation 

Initiative, a clinic at the University 
of Michigan Law School, also sent 
a letter to AAPS administrators 
on behalf of the Kelseys in August 
2020. According to the letter, 
Kelsey 
allegedly 
faced 
racial 

discrimination 
from 
current 

Pioneer math teacher Michele 
Macke.

Worlds said he attended the 

rally both to show solidarity with 
the demands — like accountability 
and transparency by Ann Arbor 
police and elected officials — 
mentioned by other speakers and 
spread awareness about others’ 
experiences of racism within 
AAPS. 

Worlds 
also 
called 
for 

protestors to sign a petition 
calling for AAPS to publicize 
the results of the investigation 
into the alleged discriminatory 
incidents. According to Worlds, 
AAPS has not followed through on 
demands to implement a system 

where 
students 
could 
report 

instances of racial bias and civil 
rights organizations could provide 
transparent 
investigations. 
As 

of Sunday evening, the petition 
has garnered more than 1,200 
signatures. 

In an October 2020 statement 

in response to CRLI’s letter, AAPS 
Superintendent 
Jeanice 
Swift 

emphasized the school district’s 
commitment to investigating the 
incidents of racial discrimination.

“In the AAPS, we take this 

situation and the matters outlined 
in that letter very seriously,” 
Swift wrote. “All of us are deeply 
disturbed by the content of the 
allegations. We are committed to 
a full and thorough investigation 
of those matters as we understand 
the important value each child 
brings and are deeply committed 
to equity and opportunity for each 
and every student we serve.”

Saturday’s 
protest, 
Worlds 

said, was meant to call for racial 
justice both at the community and 
national levels. 

“Today, there’s mourning and 

remembrance, with regards to the 
killing of Breonna Taylor, but not 
just for Breonna but also for Tony 
McDade, Michael Brown, Laquan 
McDonald and for so many people 
whose names we don’t remember,” 
Worlds said. “The injustice started 
in 1619, and it continues today. It 
didn’t end with slavery, it didn’t 
end with Jim Crow. It continues 
today.”

Ezra 
Peiter, 
a 
14-year-old 

student from Chelsea, Mich., 
attended the protest and said he 
joined the movement to combat 
racism within Michigan police 
departments. He spoke to the 
audience about how the Chelsea 
Police 
Department 
failed 
to 

protect 16-year old protester Mya 
King when she was assaulted by 
an older woman while peacefully 
protesting 
at 
a 
Black 
Lives 

Matter protest this past summer. 
The woman was charged with 
misdemeanor assault. 

Last month, Drop the Charges, 

a 
community-led 
movement 

to drop charges from peaceful 
protests, began petitioning to 
withdraw charges against those 
who received tickets for impeding 
traffic during Black Lives Matter 
protests. King received a citation 
for attending the July 31 protest 
and the charges against her were 
eventually dropped on Feb. 15 
after numerous attempts by the 
CRLI to have them rescinded. 

Demonstration marks one year since police killed Breonna Taylor

CITY

Support student journalism: The Daily 
joins ‘College Media Madness’ fundraiser 

From March 15 to April 5, more 

than 20 college newspapers across 
the nation, including The Michigan 
Daily, will participate in the College 
Media Madness competition to 
earn the most money for their 
newsroom. The competition is 
organized by Syracuse University’s 
independent news organization, 
The Daily Orange.

Tara Moore, The Daily’s business 

manager, said the idea is to mimic the 
March Madness hype while raising 
money for student journalism. 

“We’re seeing all these different 

university 
basketball 
programs 

come together — so we figured it’d 
be a lot of fun to have the same kind 
of rivalry,” Moore said. “There are a 
bunch of different schools that have 
all come together to fundraise and 
have some friendly competition.” 

The 
Michigan 
Daily 
will 

be 
accepting 
donations 
via 

collegemediamadness.com, 
and 

contest 
coordinators 
will 
be 

updating the rankings frequently. 

“In many communities, these 

outlets are the primary source of 
news,” a statement on the CMM 
website reads. “College journalism 
fills a void left by the closure of 
newsrooms across the country, one 
that has rapidly accelerated amid 
the COVID-19 pandemic. But these 
organizations need your help. By 
donating to a student newsroom, 
you’re 
supporting 
the 
next 

generation of journalists.” 

Moore 
said 
the 
COVID-19 

pandemic has made the past year 
financially difficult for the Ann 
Arbor community. As a result, The 
Daily has lost significant funding 
from local advertising. 

“It is no secret print journalism 

and student journalism as a whole 
is struggling and going through 
a tough time right now,” Moore 
said. “And the pandemic is no help 
to that, and so we want to get any 
and all support that we can from 
different donors.” 

Claire Hao, The Daily’s editor-

in-chief, said this money will 
be critical to helping The Daily 
support its journalists so they can 
provide important and up-to-date 
coverage for the local and University 
communities.

“The Michigan Daily is a free 

service,” Hao said. “… But none of 
that work is cost-free, even though 
we provide it for free.” 

All funds raised will go directly 

into The Michigan Daily Program 
Fund to support essentials like 
travel 
to 
cover 
away 
games 

and news events, printing and 
distribution, updating equipment 
and software as well as conference 
and competition fees.

Currently, The Daily’s Sports 

section is hard at work capturing 
Michigan men’s basketball in March 
Madness action. Managing Sports 
Editor Lane Kizziah said The Daily’s 
Sports section is unique in its ability 
to cover so many different revenue 
and non-revenue sports. 

“We are one of the few outlets 

that has the quantity of people on 

our staff to be able to cover things 
like that,” Kizziah said. “I think it’s 
because we get people so excited 
about covering things and writing 
stories, and we just have such a great 
community in the section which 
really helps us work.” 

Managing Sports Editor Kent 

Schwartz said fundraising events 
like 
College 
Media 
Madness 

are critical to helping build that 
community. 

“(Sports 
Writers) 
get 
these 

experiences and they get these 
opportunities that these fundraisers 
offer,” Schwartz said. “(These funds 
allow them)... to be able to go on 
these road trips and to make lifelong 
friends.” 

Hao said The Daily has seen an 

explosion in the number of staff 
members joining, with about 100 
new staffers over the past two 
semesters. Hao said she thinks 
people are looking to get more 
involved on campus and stay 
informed during a virtual semester. 
However, she said increased staff 
size has stretched The Daily’s budget 
and made it all the more difficult 
to pay staffers adequately, limiting 
equitable access to the newsroom

“We’re asking for anyone who’s 

ever enjoyed or gotten some useful 
information out of our work to 
consider supporting it — supporting 
the student journalists that are 
learning so much from doing it,” 
Hao said.

Daily 
Staff 
Reporter 
Paige 

Hodder 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

phodder@umich.edu.

All donations will go towards supporting newsroom essentials

PAIGE HODDER
Daily Staff Reporter

NEWS BRIEF

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

NINA MOLINA &
 SARAH STOLAR
Daily Staff Reporters

Prisoners face lengthy quarantines, 
possible false positive test results

Incarcerated individual says ‘This facility then and now is still an issue’

ASHNA MEHRA &
JULIA FORREST
Daily Staff Reporters

