Comments on: How you can help with the unfinished business of prison reform

By: TJ

TJ — Sun, 29 May 2011 14:48:34 +0000

Your system is broken, your state is going bankrupt. Is Michigan a safer place?? NO… MSP would have you believe so; what a joke, the real stats show the crime rate, especially violent crimes has increased.

Get involved, cut the Union personel, they rape nad pillage the prisoners daily…it’s all about greed and cash for the Union; cut the budget, save $80-100 million. Maybe to get the Unions attention, DOUBLE the sentence for guards committing a crime while on duty!!

There are no legal, moral or ethical grounds to keep non volent offenders inprison. Tether them, get them out and put the violent criminals and sex offenders in. You will have a tremendous net saving in cash and public safety.

This Judge Roy Bean attitude is dead… raping women by male guards should have shown you just how corrupt your states prison system is… and to this day, those SERIAL RAPIST..i.e. male Union guards… who were convicted of RAPE are still not on the Michigan Sexual Offenders Registry as required by Michigan law, but are on the federal registry… Maybe ask the Union what hand they had in that? How is it that the Union is above Michigan law and the Federal Constitution and the Bill of Rights??

Women are being physically and mentally abused daily at the Huron Valley Facility and the “Internal Affairs Div.” is a joke. The fox guarding the hen house…

By: Motherofaninmate

Motherofaninmate — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:16:45 +0000

And not one word is said about the parole board that routinely resentences inmates to another 12, 18 even 24 months regardless of whether or not the inmate has complied with the minimum sentence requirements imposed by A JUDGE and the Department of Corrections at reception. These are political appointees enforcing thier personal opinions at the expense of the tax payers. My son is not a CSC, not a threat to society, if he complies with the judges order so should the parole board.

By: Annette Sherrors

Annette Sherrors — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:43:44 +0000

If the State of Michigan was truly concerned about it’s prison population and budget, they would focus on its youth and educating them better. As a teacher in Detroit, we face extreme factors that prevent the level of student achievement desired for all students. We need more rigorous laws and policies that hold parents accountable for not sending their kids to school daily and allowing the violence and disrespect that disrupts the learning environment. If we don’t reach them when they are young and provide a quality education, you will be taking care of them in prisons or through welfare. It is sad that children are a lessor priority!

By: Annette Sherrors

Annette Sherrors — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:30:10 +0000

For several years now, I have pondered over the fact that a parolee can be found guilty of a violation by preponderance of evidence, resulting in years of continued incarceration, (60 months for firearm charge)when in fact, his case was dismissed in a court of law, no evidence presented, no conviction applied for the same charge the parole board will allow a guilty by hearsay for such a serious crime as a CCW. Things like this increases the state’s budget. It is actually a hate crime. Officers know that a parolee will serve two years if convicted of a CCW charge. MDOC will give a parolee five years continuance for the same charge determined by less burden of proof policies. This is unjust and increases the states budget.

By: Michele

Michele — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:36:13 +0000

I agree with Ronald 100%. There are inmates that are doing time for non-violent and non-sexual crimes. Taxpayers are paying for them to sit there and they are not being rehabilitated in any fashion. Have the offender tethered; it is a win win situation. The offender pays for their own monitoring, tax dollars can go towards education instead of incarceration, it cuts the budget, and it keeps works with a job; someone has to monitor those tethers. If the public is worried about safety attach a GPS tether to the offender.

By: Ronald Burcham

Ronald Burcham — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:07:23 +0000

Non-violent property crimes should not be punished by prison time but by restitution. What more fitting punishment for a felon than to have to actually work to pay back the costs of the crime to his/her victim and the government’s court costs. It could save court costs because a criminal might be more inclined to a quick guilty plea when an option to real prison time is in the offing. As an added plus it would mean more jobs in the ankle bracelet business sector.

By: Ronald Burcham

Ronald Burcham — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:57:34 +0000

Re-legalize drugs. The drug war is a colossal, multi-trillion dollar failure. Drugs are easily smuggled into the most secure prisons we have. Release all non-violent drug related prisoners immediately. Prohibition of liquor didn’t work during the last century and drug prohibition hasn’t worked since Kennedy began it during his presidency. Self-medication should not be a crime.

By: Alan N. Connor

Alan N. Connor — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:16:31 +0000

I am all for reducing prison populations and increasing college student populations. The cost of educating a person at a Michigan four year college is significantly less than the cost than four years of incarceration at maximum security prison.
Less use of maximum security and more use of minimum security facilites as well as population reduction would reduce prison opporating costs considerably. Housing non-violent offenders in minimum and medium security faxcilities and allowing them to attend community college would probably reduce recidivism…if those offenders also had access to job development and placement programs. However, those programs require personnel, salaries, benefits and space all of which cost.
Closing some maximum security facilities and cutting custodial personnel that staffed them is the biggest savings. But retirement and health benefits for the retired workers will be a significant cost. And those not retired should be paid a decent wage and receive better training in care and how to relate to inmates, another cost.

By: Eric W. Crosley

Eric W. Crosley — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:13:44 +0000

I am very pleased, with these wonderful efforts, to trim the tragic size of our Michigan DOC budget. I would propose a serious look at how prisoner involvement, in growing organic, healthy food, for themselves essentially, could help the annual budget,
in least three significant ways: (1)Savings on improved health and reduced medical care, of all inmates, by having a healthier diet (2)Savings from reduced costs of buying food from vendors outside of the DOC (3)Savings from the education of many involved inmates,
in the art and science of organic, sustaina- ble agriculture. This could tend to reduce
recidivism, by preparing inmates for work and
employment, in one of the most significant
and growing jobs producing segments of Michi-
gan’s struggling economy. Other cost saving
aspects of this possible initiative, could be
discovered, by research, creative thinking
and motivation, to point Michigan in an im-
proved direction, concerning the the whole
realm of crime, justice and corrections.