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Members of a prison reform advocacy group picket in Lansing to create more awareness of their aims.

PRISON COSTS: Michigan Senate Holds Up Gov. Snyder's Reforms

Presumptive Parole, Juvenile Justice Changes Eyed

January 8, 2016       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Last September three educated prison inmates defeated three Harvard students in a debate contest.

That's right, prisoners were better debaters than Harvard elites!

How is that possible, you may ask?

The prisoners had been schooled in the Bard College Prison Initiative at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility in Catskill, New York.

What this program proves is that given the right education and a chance, criminals can succeed.

The criminal justice system is staggeringly expensive, costing $212 billion dollars annually to apprehend, try, and incarcerate prisoners.

In Michigan, it costs about $5 million a day or $2 billion per year to incarcerate more than 50,200 prisoners. Costs in Michigan are 31 percent higher than the Midwest average. The population is projected to grow to 56,000 in the next five years.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has proposed one reform, called "presumptive parole," to get the ball rolling on money, and people, saving changes in the prison system.

"We have to do better at preparing these individuals for life outside those walls so they can return to their communities as productive members of society," Governor Snyder said in a special message on prison reform.

Presumptive parole allows prisoners out after serving minimum sentences, unless they are judged high risk.

A bill calling for presumptive parole passed the House in October but has since languished in the Senate.

Nipping at the heels of Gov. Snyder and legislators is the new group Citizens for Prison Reform (CPR), a state-wide, citizen-led campaign to unify families and supporters, bringing awareness to the public, legislature and elected officials in Michigan.

One of the main goals of the CPR group is to end incarceration of the mentally ill, especially young people.

www.citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

"Groups ranging from the conservative-leaning Mackinac Center to the ACLU of Michigan are throwing their support behind prison reform," writes Ron French in Bridge Magazine, elaborating:

"The Washington, D.C. based U.S. Justice Action Network has picked Michigan as one of three states where it will focus its efforts to reduce prison costs (the other two states are Ohio and Pennsylvania), and Gov. Rick Snyder has made criminal justice reform one of his main focuses for 2015."

Another group advocating for prison reform is The Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending (CAPPS) a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy and advocacy organization that works to reduce the social and economic cost of mass incarceration. The group's mission statement declares:

"Because policy choices, not crime rates, determine corrections spending, we advocate re-examining those policies and shifting resources to services proven to prevent crime, better prepare people for success after release, and improve the quality of life for all Michigan residents."

CAPPS has issued a startling analysis of the impact of prison costs on Michigan:

"From 2001-2011, corrections spending increased by 25 percent, consuming over 23 percent of the state?s General Fund, while General Fund spending on programs proven to reduce crime declined. For example:

*Spending on the School Aid Fund declined by 92 percent, resulting in cuts to numerous programs for elementary and high school students.

*Spending on community health services, which includes mental health and substance abuse treatment, declined by 10 percent. Twenty percent of the people in prison are mentally ill and 60 percent were addicted to drugs when they were incarcerated.

*In addition, spending for higher ed dropped by 38 percent between Fiscal Years 2001-2013."

The United States has been maintaining a prison population of more than 2.3 million, with the average annual cost over $29,000 per inmate (in some states, including New York, the cost is much higher).

And while America has the longest and most punitive sentencing structures in the modern world, 750,000 inmates are released each year. Nationwide, nearly 68 out of every one hundred prisoners are rearrested within three years of release, and more than half return to prison.

Research indicates that these high and expensive rates of recidivism fall to less than 22% if prisons offer significant educational opportunity to incarcerated men and women.

Among formerly incarcerated Bard students, less than 2% have returned to prison. The estimated cost per person, per year of the BPI program, is a small fraction of the price of continuing incarceration. It saves taxpayers money while increasing public safety.

"The initiative has managed, without the aid or direction of government, to transform the lives of thousands of prisoners in New York state, allowing them not only to improve themselves during their time behind bars but to smooth their transition back into society," wrote Naomi Riley in the New York Post.

It's time for the Michigan Senate to move along with the bipartisan legislation proposed by Gov. Snyder that will jump start needed prison reforms in the state.

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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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