Gov.
Rick Snyder has talked a lot
about new ideas and reinventing
government
But on one of Michigan's
biggest quandaries -- the
state's bloated prison budget --
the administration is embracing
the failed policies of the past.
The Michigan Department of
Corrections devours almost one
of every four dollars in the
state's general fund, far
outpacing prison costs in other
states in the region.
But instead of working with
the Legislature to significantly
and safely reduce the state's
prison population -- the main
cost driver -- MDOC Director
Daniel Heyns on Wednesday said
the department would use private
contractors to help reduce the
workforce by 2,000 people,
saving $63 million a year. The
department will also close the
Mound Correctional Facility on
Detroit's east side in January.
Closing MDOC prisons is
normally a good thing, but Mound
is one of only two state prisons
located in Detroit, where nearly
30% of the state's inmates come
from. Mound's 1,000 inmates get
nearly 20,000 visits a year, a
critical part of the MDOC
mission to change prisoners'
lives by strengthening
family and community
ties.
Nearly 30% of Detroit
households don't own
vehicles. When Mound
prisoners wind up in western
Michigan or the Upper Peninsula,
those visits will probably stop.
Mound is also one of the
state's newer prisons and serves
as an important re-entry site.
Prisoner re-entry programs work
best when near the
community-based agencies that
assist them. Mound's closure is
another example of how the
Snyder administration has
undermined the effective
Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry
Initiative.
Making matters worse, the
Mound closure could aggravate
crowding. MDOC administrator
Russ Marlan said the department
has 700 open beds throughout the
system, but Mound houses more
than 1,000 inmates. Cramming
inmates into cells may reduce
short-term costs, but it will
exacerbate security and behavior
problems in the long run.
Similarly, privatizing prison
services sounds like a quick way
to save cash. But in Michigan it
has not improved either
efficiency or care.
An $18-million-a-year
contract with the for-profit Geo
Group Inc., to operate the
so-called punk prison in
Baldwin, is one example. The
state has acknowledged that the
private prison was one of
Michigan's most costly and
inefficient.
Michigan's prison health care
system, with a private provider
for primary medical services, is
another example. A 2006 Free
Press editorial page series,
"Neglect in Custody," exposed
widespread negligence and abuse
that brought the system, and
state, national shame.
Now the department wants to
privatize the entire
$300-million health care and
mental health care system -- a
move that almost certainly will
worsen treatment as well as
expose the department to greater
liability and Michigan's
communities to increased risks.
Even so, ideologues like
House Speaker Jase Bolger,
R-Marshall, continue to ignore
facts and almost blindly support
practices that have failed
Michigan.
Earlier this year, Michigan
drastically cut basic prison
education programs, even though
they reduce recidivism, lower
costs and improve public
safety.
Instead of pursuing
shortsighted cuts, Michigan
should take a cue from other
states and lower costs by safely
reducing the prison population.
Restoring earned prisoner good
time, for example, would reduce
Michigan's prison population by
the thousands while providing
incentives for inmates to
maintain good conduct records.
Other steps include
establishing a commission to
review sentencing guidelines,
repealing Michigan's notorious
juvenile lifer law, and creating
a temporary parole board to
review the cases of hundreds of
parolable lifers. Michigan's
prisons hold at least 8,000
parole-eligible prisoners.
With MDOC continuing to drain
the state's scarce resources,
Michigan needs bold action. It
doesn't need a recycling of old
and discredited ideas, which is
all the Snyder administration
appears willing to provide.
