A three judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that a complaint brought by the family of Hana St. Juliana, one of the students murdered in the mass shooting at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021, can proceed.
The complaint outlines reports of concerning behavior by the shooter that were submitted to the Michigan OK2Say tipline,which serves as a central location to report crimes, threats, and concerns regarding schools and students. It says the Michigan State Police failed to live up to its responsibilities to investigate reports submitted through that system.
The attorney assigned to the MSP by the state AG may want to pick up a copy of the book Columbine by Dave Cullen (2009) (see especially Chapters 30 and 47), and get out the checkbook. Have law enforcement agencies and schools learned nothing since April 20, 1999?
The school district is protected by Michigan’s immunity laws and I believe this has the effect of making them more complacent, but that’s Michigan law. However, this tip line business with the MSP–they may be really hanging out there.
Early on there was online chatter that the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office knew trouble was brewing at OHS as well. They, too, have dodged a bullet here. But they better reevaluate their policies in the wake of this tragedy.
The attorney for the St. Julianas says that barring an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court by the MSP, the next step is to get unredacted police reports related to the shooting. I’m sure that issue, too, will end up in front of the trial judge and probably go up and back down the appellate ladder.
Transparency is called for here and that is an especially tall order in the State of Michigan. Discovery will probably be extremely difficult with this agency. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Bring it. It seems to me this family can handle the state’s death by a thousand cuts approach to pretrial. Prepare to explain just what the hell happened here.
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