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Sentencing and Parole: the Michigan System
In Michigan’s system of indeterminate sentencing,
each branch of government has a role.
- The Legislature sets the
maximum penalty for each type of offense.
- The trial judge sets the
minimum sentence the particular defendant must
serve.
- The parole board decides when
a prisoner who has served the minimum sentence will actually be
released.
In 1998, the Legislature adopted sentencing
guidelines, developed by a special commission, that limit how
judges can exercise their discretion. The guidelines are designed
to ensure that the punishment is proportional to the crime, and
that people with similar prior records, who have committed similar
offenses, are similarly treated.
The guidelines award points
according to the seriousness of the offense and the offender’s
criminal history. The total number of points determines the
sentencing range.
Judges must select a minimum
sentence within the guidelines range, unless they have a
substantial and compelling reason to depart.
Departures, which cannot be
based on factors already counted in the guidelines, may be
appealed to a higher court.
Under the guidelines, less
serious offenders are "locked out" of prison and must be sentenced
to community-based sanctions. At the other extreme, prison terms
for the most serious offenders increased. And some defendants fall
in "straddle cells" that allow the judge to decide whether a
prison term or alternative sanction is
appropriate.
In deciding who should stay in
prison, for how long, the Legislature considered the capacity of
the state prison system.
The sentencing commission was supposed to review the
guidelines periodically and recommend any needed
revisions. However, the Commission was abolished
in XXXX and no systematic assessment has been done of how
the guidelines are actually working.
For many serious offenses, Michigan allows a sentence of "life
or any term". For these offenses, the judge picks both the minimum
and maximum, or imposes a parolable life term. The Legislature has
determined that these lifers are eligible for parole after serving
either 10 or 15 years, depending on the offense date, and may be
released unless the sentencing judge objects.
"Truth in Sentencing"
Also in 1998, the Legislature adopted "truth in sentencing"
provisions that require prisoners sentenced after the effective
date to serve every day of the judicially imposed minimum term in
a secure facility. The purpose was to ensure that victims and the
general public feel confident a minimum prison term is what it
appears to be.
"Truth in sentencing" had two major consequences. It
prohibited awarding any form of credit for good behavior or
program participation. This increased the average
length of stay for prisoners who are behaving
properly. Second, it caused the eventual demise of the
Community Residential Program (CRP) which had allowed carefully screened
prisoners nearing their first parole eligibility date to
re-enter the community under close supervision at corrections
centers or on electronic monitoring. At its height, there were 3,500 prisoners
in CRP.
The Purpose of Parole
Parole is a conditional release. During a period that can range
from one to four years, the parolee must meet the terms of
supervision or risk being returned to prison for any period of
time, up to the maximum sentence.
The primary purpose of parole is to protect the public by
providing a structured re-entry to society at the proper time for
each individual prisoner.
Parole can deter crime not
only through supervision, but by assisting parolees with the
services they need to succeed in the community, such as finding
housing and employment, and obtaining substance abuse or mental
health treatment.
By basing release partly on
in-prison conduct, parole also aids institutional management.
By changing rates of movement
through the back door, parole also affects the need for prison
bedspace.
Keeping prisoners who could be safely released long past their
minimum terms is not only expensive, it diminishes the likelihood
of successful re-entry when release finally occurs. As prisoners
simply mark time and grow older, they become less employable and
their community support systems erode.
Keeping prisoners until they serve their maximum sentences and
have to be released is especially dangerous to the public. These
prisoners go directly into the community without any supervision
on parole or assistance in readjusting.
Current Parole Practices
Prisoners come within the parole board's
jurisdiction when they have served the minimum time their
sentences require. It is the parole board’s job to distinguish between those
prisoners within their jurisdiction who are high risks for
re-offending and those who are not. The current statutory standard
prohibits the board from granting parole if it lacks "reasonable
assurance" that the person will not become "a menace to
society.
" Parole board members used to
be experienced corrections professionals who had civil
service protection. Since 1992, the board has been composed of
appointees whose criminal justice experience varied widely. Rather than
paroling on the minimum sentence unless there is a clear reason
not to, some board members tend to revisit the crime and reject minimum
sentences with which they disagree.
The parole board has release guidelines designed to predict the
risk that a prisoner will re-offend. The guidelines award points
for such factors as offense, prior record, age, institutional
record, and mental health status. However, they do not effectively
constrain parole board decision-making for several reasons.
There is no system for
reviewing departures from the guidelines.
In a great many cases the
guidelines are designed to give the board total discretion.
The board does not even use
the guidelines in reviewing parolable
lifers.
The result is:
The proportion of paroles
granted declined from 68% in 1990 to 48% in 2002. In 2010, it was
56%. At the end of 2010, a total of 9,322 prisoners were past their
earliest release date. Nearly 1,200 people were required to "max out".
Roughly 850 parolable lifers
are also within the board’s jurisdiction.
Paroling a prisoner who has completed the minimum sentence is
not an "early out". Speaking as if the maximum is the
"real" sentence, and service of anything less is "early release",
simply ignores the whole concept of parole.
The minimum is the term the
judge, with legislative guidance, has determined to be appropriate
punishment for that offender.
The minimum is also the basis
on which most plea agreements are negotiated.
While prisoners were never
automatically released as soon as they were eligible,
historically, prisoners who behaved well and were not currently
dangerous could expect parole. Few people were held to the
statutory maximum, and parolable lifers were often released after
serving 12-14 years.
Parole Revocation
Parolees may be returned to prison either for committing a new
crime or for violating the conditions of their supervision. The
most common violations are failing to report to a parole officer,
not participating in a required program, and substance abuse.
The rate of parolees per 1,000 whose
parole was revoked declined from a high of 347 in 1998
to 190 in 2010.
● The revocation rate was 109 for technical
parole violators
●
The rate for parolees returning with new sentences
was 81.
The decline in revocation rates occurred despite the
fact that more people were paroled.
For further discussion of
issues regarding sentencing and parole, see the links to
the following issues:
Reducing CorrectionsSpending
Presumptive Parole
Parole Process Reforms
Sentencing Credits
Lifers
Prison Programs
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