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Michigan to Kansas: Give Us Back Our DeHoCo Prisoners from Pre-1875

Gitmo Trade -- What the Feds Took Away, They Now Can Give Back

October 28, 2009       1 Comments
By: Dave Rogers

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Early image of Detroit House of Correction, where prisoners from the West were incarcerated until 1875.
 

Sure it's a crazy idea.

And, it's deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say.

But stranger things have happened.

Here it is: No Gitmo prisoners for Standish, put them in Leavenworth Kansas federal pen.

But, give Standish enough federal prisoners to balance out the Gitmo numbers, boost Arenac County economy and correct a loss from 135 years ago.

See, the Detroit House of Correction housed federal prisoners from the West, Billy the Kid and lots of his criminal cohorts, prior to 1875.

Yep, pardner, that's right. They had no federal pen West of Motown so the bad guys from the Badlands were sent to -- you got it -- Michigan.

Historical sources state:

"The first Detroit House of Corrections opened in 1861 near Eastern Market on Detroit's east side. The old prison housed some famous felons, including western outlaws Belle Starr and Morman polygamist David Udall."

"Although it was owned and operated by the city of Detroit, the plan from the beginning had been for it to accept prisoners liberally from other jurisdictions," wrote Paul W. Keve in the Michigan Historical Review in 1999.

The Detroit prison also housed inmates ages 16-21 and females, considered an avant garde concept.

"The resulting demand for its services clearly demonstrated how severe was the need for a competent and decent prison. As its availability and good reputation became known, so many courts used it that prisoners from Detroit usually formed just a small percentage of its total population."

But, in 1875 the feds built the Fort Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas and moved all the gunslingers out of Detroit. Big D lost lots of government cash in the deal.

Now it's time for the feds to pay us back. We need it, both in Michigan and especially in Standish.

Here's how it could work: take the Gitmo prisoners out of Cuba and put them in Leavenworth (they know how to take care of real bad guys).

And, the U.S. needs to get the Gitmo al Quado, al quaeda, ah, shucks, whatever, out of Castroland.

Then, take a like amount of garden variety federal prisoners out of Leavenworth and send them to Standish. Everybody's happy, right?

Michigan gets back its federal cash lost way back when and everything balances out.

The city of Detroit bought about 1,000 acres in Plymouth and Northville townships in 1919 for about $30 an acre to house a new Detroit House of Corrections that would replace the Eastern Market.

In 1920, the city set up a prison farm on the property which housed bootleggers and other thugs of the era. The prisoners slept in tents, ala Sheriff Joe in Phoenix, Arizona.

In 1930, a permanent $2.5 million maximum security facility was completed. Detroit sold part of the prison complex in 1979 to the Michigan Department of Corrections for $1.6 million.

The city sold the prison property of about 125 acres to the state corrections department in 1986 for $6.7 million. The Detroit House of Corrections then ceased operations.

In January, 2002, Kojaian Management Corp. of Bloomfield Hills purchased the property for $50 million. Property is now zoned for residential, commercial and industrial.

Leavenworth has numerous historic implications, including a connection to the current President of the United States.

During World War II, Ann Dunham, mother of Barack Obama, was born at the fort while her father was stationed there.

News reports in August were that the military's U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth and a prison in Michigan were the two choices being reviewed to accept Guantanamo prisoners.

Fort Leavenworth officials referred inquiries to the Department of Defense and the White House. The prison is the military's only maximum security facility, including those under sentence of death. It has housed military inmates since 1875.

The Michigan prison is in Standish, about 145 miles northwest of Detroit. Built in 1990, it was one of five Michigan prisons set to close, saving the state $120 million.

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, said opposition to the detainees was about safety, security, legality and logistics.

There is a clear choice: Leavenworth, which has the U.S. Department of Defense's primary military barracks.

The U.S. military has been bragging up Leavenworth as the ultimate in prisons.

A new state-of-the-art, 515-bed, prison opened in September 2002 replacing the old stone wall and brick castle. Staff includes civilian and service members of the Military Police Corps, Adjutant General Corps, Medical Corps, Medical Service Corps, Corps of Engineers, Chaplain Corps, Judge Advocate General Corps, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy, working to achieve a progressive correctional community.

The prison's mission is to incarcerate U.S. military prisoners sentenced to long terms of confinement, conduct correctional and treatment programs to maintain good order and discipline and reduce recidivism upon release.

The USDB has continuously been accredited from the American Correctional Association (ACA) since 1988. The accreditation is a tool to measure compliance with nationally recognized standards for an adult correctional institution. The accreditation is valid for a three year period. To receive accreditation the USDB must meet or exceed more than 500 standards covering administration and management, training, physical plant, institutional operations, institutional services, and inmate programs.

Leavenworth, obviously, is the best damn place in the world to house foreign criminals who pose a danger to the nation -- not in Standish, Michigan.

Deal? Partner, put 'er there, hey!



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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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