8/14/2019 Granholm Must Now Deliver Prison Reforms -The Detroit
Free Press - 02-14-08
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Granholm must now deliver prison reforms
February 14, 2008By Jeff GerrittThe Detroit Free Press
Michigan's packed prison system is bankrupting the state,
economically and morally. If Gov.Jennifer Granholm, midway through
her second term, is looking for a legacy, here it is: Start tobring
the prison population, now the size of Battle Creek, down to where
it serves justice and thetaxpayer. Enable Michigan eventually to
spend hundreds of millions of dollars more each yearfor smoother
roads, better universities and more police officers.
A former prosecutor wary of getting a soft-on-crime tag,
Granholm finally appears ready to rollon prison reform. She knows
the state can no longer afford to spend $2 billion year -- that's
$5million a day or 20% of the state's general fund -- and get so
little in return. Today, one in threestate civil service employees
works for Corrections; in 1980, one in 20 did. The
MichiganDepartment of Corrections has had some success controlling
its prison population in the lastthree years. Still, with more than
50,000 inmates, the population is more than three times what itwas
25 years ago.
In her State of the State address, Granholm suggested adopting
corrections policies similar toother Midwestern states that manage
to spend less money than Michigan without compromisingpublic
safety. It's not a radical idea. Some of the state's top business
leaders have embraced it.
On average, Michigan incarcerates at a 40% higher rate than the
seven other Great Lakes states,which also report lower crime rates.
Bringing Michigan's incarceration rate down to similarlevels would
save $400 million a year, maybe more.
Some efforts will take bills passed by the Legislature. Others,
like releasing more parole-eligibleinmates, will not. But all will
take courage and aggressive leadership -- something Granholmhas, up
to now, failed to deliver on prison issues. As governor and party
leader, she needs to stepup and push necessary changes. The state's
budget crisis has handed her an opportunity.
The state must finally enact sentencing reforms that divert more
low-level offenders intocommunity programs. It must broaden the
eligibility for boot camps, expand prisoner re-entryprograms to
reduce recidivism, grant parole hearings to parole-eligible lifers,
treat more mentallyill offenders in the community, and release more
severely sick or dying inmates who pose norisk.
Near the top of Granholm's agenda should be repealing Michigan's
notorious juvenile lifer law,which has rightly drawn fire from
human rights groups worldwide. The law has forced judges togive
kids as young as 14 -- an age when they can't legally drive or buy
cigarettes -- the maximumadult penalty of life without parole in
first-degree murder cases.
More than 300 Michigan inmates are serving such sentences --
some, like Barbara Hernandez,
