Michigan
Articles
09/09/2008 – Detroit Free Press: “Editorial: Public Wants Smarter, Less Costly Criminal Justice Policies“
“For decades, politicians have believed that sounding tough on crime was their ticket to getting elected. Such beliefs, along with a few high-profile crimes, have generally driven prison policies over the last three decades and fueled an enormous expansion of Michigan’s prison system with little, if any, improvements in public safety.”
06/13/2008 – The Detroit News: “Prison Costs May Hit $2.6 B in ‘12”, by Charlie Cain and Gary Heinlein
“Prison spending is projected to increase by $46 million a year over the next four years, driving the cost to $2.6 billion in 2012, according to a report released Thursday by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.”
04/15/2008 – The Detroit News: “State Seeks Ways to Control Prison Costs”, by Gary Heinlein and Charlie Cain
“Michigan’s prison crunch will continue until at least 2010, because state policymakers have abandoned plans to revise sentencing policies and free old, sick and nonviolent convicts.”
04/15/2008 – The Detroit News: “2 Counties, 2 Methods of Punishment”, by Charlie Cain
“Muskegon and Kalamazoo counties take different approaches to crime”
04/14/2008 – The Detroit News: “Bulging Prisons Drain Michigan’s Budget”, by Charlie Cain and Gary Heinlein
“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.”
03/26/2008 – Livingston Daily: “Phil Power: Michigan is Losing This Con Game“
“The Center for Michigan has just published a first-ever comprehensive benchmarking study, ‘Michigan Scorecard: Benchmarks for Michigan’s Transformation.’”
03/23/2008 – Detroit Free Press: “Break Cycle of Crime”, by Jeff Gorwitt
“Everyone has a stake in safer neighborhoods—and in lowering the enormous costs of incarceration.”
02/15/2008 – Gongwer News Report – Michigan Report: “Cropsey Takes on Corrections ‘Myths’”
“Research by the nonprofit Citizens Research Council (CRC) shows Michigan houses more prisoners than any of the 12 Midwest states – more than 50,000. Though Michigan is the eighth-largest state, it is fifth in number of prisoners, according to U.S. Department of Justice statistics.”
02/08/2008 – Detroit Free Press: ““Prison Cut Depends on Sensible Reforms”
“Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s plan to cut $50 million from the state Department of Corrections is a good start—but only if it’s accomplished by cutting the inmate population and closing prisons. Other states have shown this can be done, selectively and safely.”
01/17/2008 – “Chief: Half of 07 Killers on Probation, Parole”, by Zachary Gorchow
“About half of those identified as committing homicides in Detroit in 2007 were on parole or probation, according to data released Wednesday by Chief Ella Bully-Cummings.”
12/12/2007 – Associated Press: “After Tough Year, Granholm Ready to Move on in 2008”, by Kathy Barks Hoffman
“Among [Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s] top priorities will be changing sentencing laws to shrink the number of people heading to prison, potentially saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars. She proposed the changes early this year, but the state’s budget problems overwhelmed nearly everything else, leaving many of her proposals undone.”
10/21/2007 – The Oakland Press: “Back Behind Bars”
“Some conscientious public officials – here and elsewhere – are increasingly wondering whether prison systems are giving a good enough return on the taxpayer’s dollar.”
07/09/2007 – The Detroit News:“Follow Texas Lead in Reforming State Prisons”, by Glenn Gilbert
“The U.S. now has more than two million people behind bars. In Michigan, that surge is eating up scarce state funds that are needed for investment in higher education and economic development—the essentials to rebuilding the state economy.”