Work in the States: Sentencing and Corrections in Michigan

Michigan

The project selected Michigan to receive intensive, nonpartisan research, analysis, and expertise.  Among other factors, its leaders have demonstrated both a bipartisan commitment to explore meaningful policy change and a dedication to collecting and using criminal justice data as a basis for sound reforms.

Progress Update »
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This year, with help from the Council of State Governments, Michigan’s working group on corrections was able balance some legislators’ misgivings about expanding Special Alternatives to Incarceration programs (SAI, or “boot camp”), with certain “safety nets” and pass HB 4184 in May.  It took effect immediately.  Over the past four years,  a proposal from the Granholm Administration and several Michigan legislators to expand SAI has been introduced four times, and each time it has failed to get discharged from the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The newly passed legislation will allow judges to assign prisoners serving their first or second prison sentences into SAI programs instead of prison, provided they meet certain physical and mental health requirements and their crimes aren’t particularly heinous.  According to the Governor Granholm’s office, the expansion of SAI this year is the keystone to realizing savings of  about $50 million this fiscal year, by diverting prisoners from costly prisons into less expensive boot camp programs.

One of the key safety nets agreed upon was a requirement that all the program participants benefit from elements of the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (MPRI) model, which focuses on preparing prisoners for their reentry into society through a transition accountability plan and interaction with community-based providers through prison in-reach services.  Another important stipulation of the revised bill is that an independent third party evaluator will conduct a process and impact evaluation of the redesigned program in September 2009.  If the impact evaluation fails to show significant success in the program’s ability to reduce recidivism among participants, the entire SAI program will sunset next year.
 
State Profile »
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A profile of Michigan that provides statistical and analytical data about its sentencing and corrections systems, describes factors shaping those systems, and highlights opportunities for reform.
Download Michigan state profile (PDF) Adobe Reader® required.

News
Select news clips »
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• At Mackinac, Granholm to call for action on energy, education, prisons
• Detroit Free Press
• May 29, 2008
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, in her first public appearance since abdominal surgery April 29, will challenge Michigan's business leaders Friday to join her in a push to enact new energy laws, create new smaller high schools and slash spending on prisons.
To read the full article, visit the Detroit Free Press Web site.
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• Federal judge orders Michigan to review ‘life’ prison sentences; could free hundreds
• The Saginaw News
• April 20, 2008
Criminals by the hundred in the 1960s and '70s went to prison with the expectation that their sentences, life with the possibility of parole, would mean they could regain their freedom as soon as a decade later.
Then, they say, the rules changed.
To read the full article, visit the Saginaw News Web site.
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• Bulging prisons drain Michigan’s budget
• The Detroit News
• April 14, 2008
Michigan runs one of the nation's largest and most costly prison systems, a $2 billion-a-year expense that is crowding out other spending priorities at a rate many officials fear the state can no longer afford.
To read the full article, visit the Detroit News Web site.

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July 22, 2008 -
Michigan Sentencing and Corrections Progress Update (Adobe PDF)

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