Citizens Alliance on Prisons & Public Spending

Addressing the social and economic costs of prison expansion

    

Research Reports

Publications based on research conducted  by CAPPS.

The high cost of denying parole: an analysis of prisoners eligible for release
 

No way out: Michigan's parole board redefines the meaning of 'life'
 

Penny-wise & pound-foolish: Assaultive offender programming and Michigan's prison costs
 

Foreign Nationals in Michigan Prisons: an examination of the prison costs.

When 'life' did not mean life: A historical analysis of life sentences imposed in Michigan since 1900.

 

 

EPIC-MRI poll results:  Public supports CAPPS' recommendations

In Focus

 

 
Prison and Corrections Section of Michigan
State Bar supports restoration of
earned sentence credits for prisoners
 

Click here to read statement and analysis. 

There are alternate means of promoting transparency in sentencing.

 
CAPPS testifies on proposed corrections laws,
2010 budget

ü CAPPS Executive Director Barbara Levine urged legislators on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections on March 3, 2009 not to take any options off the table unless they pose a demonstrable risk to public safety as they consider ways to save money in the 2010 Corrections budget.  Click here to read testimony on HB4437. 

ü Levine testified on HB4509 and HB4510, which would expedite commutation processes for terminally ill prisoners. Click here to read the testimony. 

ü HB 4130 would allow the state to move deportable prisoners to federal custody after serving half their minimum sentences to reduce the state's prison population and save money.  Click here to read testimony supporting this bill by Barbara Levine. (See also news article on issue here.)
 

 
CAPPS announces Ten-Point Plan to Reduce Corrections Spending in 2010. (click here).

Comprehensive strategy would:

reserve prison beds for dangerous offenders.

promote successful re-entry.

increase parole rates for those who have served minimum sentences.

save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Conservative recommendations rely on common corrections practices.

 
The Council of State Governments Justice Center has released its long awaited recommendations to reduce corrections spending. See reports at:  http://justicereinvestment.org/
states/michigan/pubmaps-mi
 
CAPPS responds to Justice Center recommendations; offers safe cost-saving alternatives

"While the Justice Center options provide a useful starting point for discussion, they are modest in their vision and their impact."

Click here to review the response.

 
News coverage and editorial responses to the Justice Center recommendations. Here.
 
Presume parole at the minimum, barring objective factors indicating risk, to save the state millions of dollars and to restore fairness to the parole system, says Executive Director Barbara Levine in an opinion piece in the Lansing State Journal.  Click here to read the article.
 

Fall 2008 Consensus published. Click here.

● CAPPS strategies for reduced prison spending gain wide support.

● Clemency Council increases commutations

● Status of parolable lifer lawsuit told

● Puzzling parole decisions hard to fathom

 
Business groups urge corrections reforms

Detroit Chamber of Commerce recommends steps to reduce the state's prison population; many are similar to CAPPS' Six Strategies.  See here.

Detroit Renaissance plan to reshape state spending includes reducing state's prison population.  See here.

 
CAPPS Executive Director Barbara Levine was the keynote speaker at a Sept. 20 conference in Grand Rapids on prison reform.  Click here to read her remarks. 
 

Growth in Michigan's Corrections System
Historical and Comparative Perspectives

Influential nonprofit public affairs research organization report says:

"The single most important contributing factor in the growth of Michigan's incarceration rate has been average prisoner length of stay, which lengthened from 28.4 months in prison in 1981 to 43.5 months by 2005."

Click here to see full report.

 

Report from Pew Charitable Trust reveals Michigan      to be one of four states that spends more on prisons   than on higher education.  Click below to see the  report:
     
One in 100: Behind Bars In American 2008

 

What we could buy if we didn't spend so much on keeping so many people in prison:

 WWW.BalancingOurPriorities.org

 
 
 
 

 Contact CAPPS at: 403 Seymour Ave., Suite 200
Lansing, MI 48933
Phone: 517-482-7753
Fax:     517-482-7754
E-Mail: capps@capps-mi.org

 

 

 

New profile   alert!

Faces behind
the figures


Richard Fuller
Denied Parol
e

Derek Foster
Parolable Lifer


Thomas M Vangieson
Technical Rule Violator


Kenneth J. McMillan
Technical Rule Violator

 

The meaning of life:
Restoring fairness to Michigan's
parole system

A video presentation on the plight of parolable lifers.  Click on your preferred format below:

Windows Media (Internet Explorer users only)
Real Player
Quick Time

Note: Those with dial-up modems may not be able to view this presentation.

More about the video and how to order it

See more details on the issues involved

 

 
“Under cool appraisal we might well discover that we have more prisons than we need, rather than too few. That is because many offenders present little risk of further serious harm and do not require incarceration for public safety.”

 --- William Kime, Former Deputy Director Michigan Department of Corrections
 

 

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