Dana Nessel

The state Attorney General has recommendations for changes to bills on expunging criminal records. The bills are up for debate in the state Legislature.

At a Tuesday hearing in front of a House Judicial committee, Nessel said she is, overall, in support of expanding the state’s laws to set aside some crimes on a person’s criminal record.

But she had ideas that she said could improve the bills. One area of concern was a bill to automatically remove certain crimes from a person’s record after 10 years.

A former Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after a Detroit-area jury said it was having trouble reaching a unanimous verdict in his sexual abuse trial.

The Michigan Attorney General's office says Patrick Casey pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated assault. He was accused of engaging in sex acts with a younger man who was struggling with his Catholic faith and homosexuality and had sought Casey's counsel in 2013.

The maximum penalty is a year in jail.  

A federal judge says St. Vincent Catholic Charities and other faith-based adoption agencies with state contracts can refuse to place children with same sex couples while a lawsuit is pending.

A federal judge ruled late Thursday against Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced on Monday that they have filed six felony charges against Southfield City Clerk Sherikia Hawkins.

A special task force has come up with a new tool to combat elder abuse in Michigan.

It may only appear to be a simple form to be filled out by a police officer. But prosecutors and law enforcement officials say the standardized form, along with new online training, will help prosecute cases of physical abuse and financial exploitation of older Michiganders.

Legislation introduced in Lansing on Thursday would increase penalties on businesses that commit payroll fraud.

The sponsors claim the current system allows crooked companies to steal millions of dollars owed workers in wages and overtime pay.

State Representative Mari Manoogian (D-Birmingham) says these proposals are needed to protect businesses, not just workers.

“Bad actors that refuse to pay their workers full wages and overtime, and dodge taxes the rest of us pay, should not be allowed to undercut legitimate businesses and their employees,” says Manoogian.

Michigan is joining nearly two dozen other states and several cities suing the Trump Administration over its decision to relax rules on fossil fuels fueled power plants emissions.

Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined 20 other attorneys general from across the U.S. to ask a court to force the federal government to keep children safe in immigration detention centers. The brief says media reports detail “deplorable and inhumane conditions,” including being denied basic necessities like like clean water and soap.

The Michigan Supreme Court is unsure if it can weigh in on the method used to change Michigan’s minimum wage and earned sick time laws, and it wants Attorney General Dana Nessel to weigh in.

Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a large operation launched on Tuesday by the Federal Trade Commission to put an end to illegal robocalling practices.

“Nothing is more annoying, more intrusive and unwelcomed than robocalls — and yet, Michigan residents fall victim to an avalanche of illegal calls each day,” Nessel said in a press release.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed a spending bill worth more than $28 million. The money will be distributed to a variety of areas. That includes funding for implementing parts of the new Lead and Copper Rule for drinking water. The three million dollars for the Lead and Copper Rule will be used for things like water filters and drinking water investigations in homes.

After three years, the criminal probe into the Flint water crisis is back to square one.

The Flint Water Crisis prosecution team, working under the aegis of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, has dismissed without prejudice all pending criminal cases brought by the former Office of Special Counsel.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has asked a federal court to accept her arguments supporting a group of Detroit parents who have sued the state. The families want the court to rule that their children have the right to good schools and an adequate education.

The families lost their challenge in a lower court and the case is now before the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Republican leadership in the state House and Senate has filed a challenge to a recent opinion by Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The law in question makes it more difficult to put a measure on the state’s ballot. The law was enacted during a hectic lame duck session last year.

In May, Nessel issued a formal opinion that said that portions of the law were unconstitutional – in particular, a portion that limits the number of signatures a measure can have from a given geographic area.

Michigan’s Attorney General is asking three companies to turn over information about a major computer data breach.  

New York-based American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA) provides medical debt collection services to health providers and health plans.   

Published reports claim a police investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by priests turned up a file labelled "victim list" during a raid on Catholic church properties in Saginaw. 

MLive and the Saginaw News obtained the paperwork connected to a warrant executed in March of last year. 

Saginaw’s new Catholic bishop says he’s committed to “transparency and accountability” on matters concerning sexual abuse by priests.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced today 21 counts of criminal sexual conduct against five men following a clergy abuse investigation. Four of the men have been arrested, while one awaits extradition from India. 

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 42 state attorneys general who filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission to fight illegal robocalls and malicious caller ID spoofing. 

In the comment letter, the attorneys general called upon the FCC to adopt proposed rule changes that would allow the agency to more effectively fight caller ID spoofing activities and robocalls originating outside the U.S. 

Michigan’s attorney general is getting behind a push to change federal law to allow banks to do business with marijuana companies.

Even in states like Michigan, where marijuana is legal, marijuana remains a "cash" business.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says a new unit in her office will focus on businesses that illegally classify their workers as independent contractors to reduce their costs.

The Democratic attorney general says it’s a growing trend around the country. Nessel says the scheme is used to avoid paying workers the minimum wage as well as health and unemployment benefits they’re entitled to. She says it cheats other employers who play by the rules and shoulder those costs.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says a law passed last year to build an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the Mackinac Straits is unconstitutional.

One of the first things Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did when she took office in January was to ask for an attorney general’s opinion on the law, which former Gov. Rick Snyder pushed through in the waning days of the legislature.

Saginaw county prosecutors say the prospect of audio recordings of himself being played in open court prompted a Catholic priest to plead no contest in a sexual assault case.

Last week, a jury acquitted Rev. Robert Deland Jr. on charges he sexually assaulted two teens. 

But before a second trial on additional charges could begin this week, Deland pleaded no contest to a sexual assault charge and two other charges.  

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel plans to roll out a task force on Monday to develop a strategy to deal with the problem of elder abuse.

Kelly Rossman-McKinney is the attorney general’s communications director. She says an estimated 73,000 older people in Michigan are victims of some type of elder abuse. She says that number is probably on the low side because the scope of the problem isn’t known yet, and she says it takes many forms.