State hurts itself with Corrections spending

Michigan needs to tackle its misguided policies

 

6:49 PM, Apr. 5, 2011  | 

 

Michigan must start applying reason to its spending on prisoners. There is simply no other option. With a Corrections Department budget of $2 billion - some 25 percent of the state's general fund - the problem is too urgent to ignore.

The Associated Press reports that 8,000 of the state's 44,000 inmates have served longer than their minimum sentence, costing the state some $280 million per year. In part, that's because Michigan keeps nonviolent offenders behind bars longer than other states. On average, Michigan prisoners serve 140 percent of their minimum sentence.

Ultimately, a prisoner here with a five-year sentence is likely to serve seven years, although research shows those extra years don't impact recidivism.

Adding to the problem, Michigan's prison costs are $35,000 per inmate per year, while other Great Lakes states spend thousands less.

At the same time, other states have similar minimum sentences to those used here, but release inmates at their minimum sentence or sooner because credits are allowed for good behavior.

Michigan, in contrast, did away with such "good time" credits years ago, choosing truth-in-sentencing policies that enforce a minimum sentence.

The reality is that Michigan chooses to keep prisoners longer than necessary as a matter of politics, not because it's good public policy. And it's no longer practical or sustainable to do so.

Truly violent offenders do need to stay behind bars longer. But nonviolent offenders need a constructive path back into society, where they can work and contribute taxes rather than draining the state's coffers for an extra year or two because it's politically expedient to be "tough on crime."

There are steps that could be taken to get off this expensive and ineffective path.

Bills have been introduced in the past that would keep all but violent offenders from serving more than 120 percent of their minimum sentences. Alternately, Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, suggests exploring a certain sentence rather than a range of years, a practice he says has been used to control costs elsewhere.

Gov. Rick Snyder has focused on taxation and the economy, leaving the Corrections battle for another year. Michigan can't wait much longer. The state can't continue spending $2 billion per year on Corrections while cutting education and other services.

An LSJ editorial