Eli Savit, Running for Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney
2024 Election Pride Source Candidate Survey Response
The 2024 Pride Source Media Voters Guide Candidate Survey sought the responses from Michigan candidates running for office in the Nov. 5 election. We asked candidates to respond to key issues impacting the Michigan LGBTQ+ community and about their visions for the future. Visit vote411.org to learn more about the candidates and issues on your ballot.
Candidate: Eli Savit
Running for Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney
Incumbent? Yes
Campaign Contact Info
(734) 519-5167
elisavit.com
[email protected]
Instagram: esavit
TikTok: esavit
Facebook: ProsecutorSavit
Twitter/X: EliNSavit
Candidate background
Education:
Kalamazoo College: BA, Political Science & Philosophy
Pace University: MS, Teaching
University of Michigan Law School: JD
Professional experience:
I currently serve as the elected Prosecuting Attorney for Washtenaw County, a position to which I was first elected in 2020.
Prior to being elected Washtenaw County Prosecutor, I served at the City of Detroit as senior legal counsel, where I led criminal-justice reform work and successfully litigated multiple public-interest lawsuits against adversaries such as banks, the opioid industry, and slumlords. Before that, I served as a law clerk to Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor (ret.) on the United States Supreme Court; worked as an attorney in private practice, and clerked for Judges David Tatel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Carlos Bea on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Before attending law school, I worked as an eighth-grade public school teacher in the New York City Public Schools, where I taught both general-education and special-education American history.
What is your affiliation with the LGBTQ+ community?
Ally.
Tell us about your top priorities and how you plan to achieve those goals.
In my first term, I believe we have made significant strides towards building a fairer and more equitable justice system. I hope to continue that work in my second term. Priorities include:
(1) Continue to build out our successful rehabilitative programs, which allow those charged with lower-level offenses to access behavioral health, substance-use, and other programming without obtaining a criminal record. These programs have been highly effective, with a recidivism rate of less than 5%.
(2) Continue to prioritize the prosecution of gun violence, domestic violence, and sexual assault.
(3) Work with community partners on crime-prevention, including, but not limited to, providing community education and guidance around Michigan's new gun laws.
(4)Continue to provide direct services to Washtenaw residents, including high-quality victim advocacy, expungement-related services, child-support services, and services for workers and consumers who have been economically harmed.
We have put all of the foregoing in place during my first term in office, and seek to responsibly use taxpayer money. We have supplemented our budget with state, federal, and philanthropic grants to achieve our goals, and we will continue to seek funding wherever it is available.
Why are you the best candidate for this position?
Over the past four years, we have made great strides towards building a justice system that prioritizes rehabilitation, safety, and equity. During my first term in office, we have launched multiple successful rehabilitative diversion programs, and assisted over 1,000 Washtenaw residents with expungement--even while we continue to focus on serious crime that harms the community. Our team has prioritized the prosecution of gun violence, sexual assault, and domestic violence, while providing fair and equitable rehabilitative off-ramps for those who are justice-involved. I hope to build upon this work for a second term in office.
How do you plan to represent and advocate for the needs of LGBTQ+ community members?
Standing for our LGBTQ+ community starts in our day-to-day work--but it doesn't end there. I plan to continue advocating for our LGBTQ+ population wherever the opportunity arises.
First, our day-to-day work: In February of 2021, I issued legal guidance to our office to file hate-crimes charges against those who target individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. That interpretation of Michigan law was subsequently blessed by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
We have partnered with Fair Michigan to prosecute hate crimes committed against members of our LGBTQ+ population. We also established a transgender interaction policy--which provides that all employees of the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office are responsible for creating an atmosphere where transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming persons are treated with respect and dignity. Our policy has served as a model for other similar policies across the nation.
Second, we have taken every opportunity to advocate, in court, for LGBTQ+ rights. By way of example: In 2021, I filed a brief on behalf of myself and 7 other Michigan prosecutors in Rouch World v. Department of Civil Rights, successfully urging the Michigan Supreme Court to hold that Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. More recently, I led a coalition of 81 cities, counties, and local government officials from across the nation urging federal courts to uphold the right of transgender children and their families to seek gender-affirming care.
A full list of our advocacy efforts around LGBTQ+ rights can be found at https://www.washtenaw.org/3687/LGBTQ-Rights. I plan to continue representing and advocating our LGBTQ+ community for as long as I am in office.
State your position on transgender rights and how your office would work to protect this vulnerable population — particularly Black trans women, who are overrepresented in stats related to violence, the judicial system, homelessness, substance abuse and other serious issues.
I strongly support transgender rights. As outlined above, we have prioritized the prosecution of bias-motivated crimes against transgender individuals through our partnership with Fair Michigan and my 2021 legal guidance. Also as outlined above, our transgender interaction policy makes every member of our Office responsible for creating an atmosphere in which transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming persons are treated with respect and dignity. That includes, but is not limited to, addressing all people in conformance with their gender identity and/or gender expression.
Finally, we have litigated on behalf of transgender rights in multiple courts across Michigan and across the country.
Beyond that, transgender individuals regularly benefit from our office's general policies around substance use. We strive to treat substance use like the health issue it is--and provide rehabilitative off-ramps from the justice system for those dealing with substance use.
Finally, per policy, we do not prosecute consensual sex work. Instead, we focus on combatting human trafficking and sexual and physical violence towards sex workers. That policy is geared towards ensuring that sex workers who have been the victims of crime feel comfortable coming forward. Though that policy applies across the board, the criminalization of sex work disproportionately affects Black trans women. According to Amnesty International, nearly 40% of adults and 60% of youth arrested for sex work in the United States are Black. Transgender women, moreover, are particularly likely to be arrested on sex work charges, even if they were not in fact engaged in sex work.
Homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth and young adults is a persistent issue in Michigan. How would your office make a positive impact for young LGBTQ+ people facing housing insecurity?
Though the Prosecutor's Office does not directly control homelessness or housing security, we can take positions that avoid exacerbating these issues. And for youth in particular, our juvenile charging policy provides that we do not charge so-called "status offenses" such as being a runaway or being without shelter.
In addition, we have advocated both for policies and judicial outcomes that will alleviate youth homelessness--particularly among our LGBTQ+ population. Our legal briefs in cases concerning gender-affirming care, for example, highlights that gender-affirming care is crucial to mental health. Those who experience mental-health challenges are statistically more likely to face housing insecurity. Thus, states which preclude people from accessing gender-affirming care exacerbate not only mental-health challenges--but the cascading consequences that come along with it, including housing insecurity.
State your position on abortion and other issues related to women’s reproductive health.
I am a strong supporter of reproductive freedom. As prosecutor, I categorically pledged not to prosecute abortion cases in the aftermath of Dobbs. What is more, I have litigated at every level of the state and federal judiciary to protect reproductive freedom--filing 16 separate briefs in the Michigan and United States Supreme Courts, Courts of Appeals, and trial courts on the issue.
A full list of our litigation efforts around these issues can be found at https://www.washtenaw.org/3681/Abortion-and-Reproductive-Rights.
How do you feel about drag queens?
Drag queens are skilled entertainers, and I have personally attended multiple drag events. My only critique is that I have never emerged victorious at drag bingo or drag musical trivia. I don't blame drag queens for that, though. Rather, I attribute my losing streak to a combination of bad luck (bingo) and my own lack of knowledge of 1980s-era music (trivia).
On Marriage Equality: After the overturning of Roe v Wade, many question if the U.S. Supreme Court will revisit their 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision. Would you support any legislation that undermines the rights of same-sex couples to marry? (Yes or No — feel free to elaborate)
I would absolutely oppose any legislation that undermines the rights of same-sex couples to marry.
On K-12 School Curriculum: States such as Florida have passed legislation preventing teachers, counselors and coaches from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with their students, dubbed "Don't Say Gay" bills. Other states have passed legislation requiring LGBTQ+ inclusion in K-12 curricula, often determined by the local school district to determine how to effectively integrate learning materials throughout.
Michigan currently has neither a ban nor a requirement. Would you support legislation requiring Michigan schools to teach about LGBTQ+ people and identities in history and social sciences? (Yes or No — feel free to elaborate)
I support legislation requiring Michigan schools to teach about LGBTQ+ people and identities. As a former U.S. history teacher, I know how crucial it is to teach about diverse populations. It is absolutely crucial to building a better future.
How would your office help people struggling financially?
Our office has established several programs to help people who are struggling financially. Working with a variety of community partners, we offer expungement-related services absolutely free to Washtenaw County residents--allowing legally eligible people to clear old criminal records without paying a private attorney hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Our Economic Justice Unit specifically combats corporate abuse that harms consumers and working people, focusing wage theft, consumer protection, and other pocketbook issues.
Finally, we have established several programs to assist those of limited financial means. For example, our juvenile restitution program allows justice-involved youth to "earn" money towards mandatory restitution (money that legally must be paid to victims) by (1) staying out of trouble, and (2) abiding by the terms of probation. Money "earned" in the program is paid directly to crime victims. The program incentivizes young people to get back on the right track—while avoiding prolonged exposure to the justice system for lack of financial resources. It also ensures that crime victims who are owed restitution can be compensated quickly and efficiently.
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