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December 14, 2006
More questions and answers with Corrections chief Patricia Caruso:
QUESTION: Michigan's sentencing structure and parole polices are two reasons its incarceration rate is the highest in the Midwest. Besides your re-entry program, are you considering other ways to control the inmate population, including changing sentencing guidelines and parole polices?
ANSWER: Sentencing guidelines should be on the table. The original sentencing commission that put them together intended that they be continually reviewed and examined, and we never have gone back and looked at that. It deserves public discussion and debate. When we talk about incarceration rates, that's a piece of it. Sentencing guidelines affect how many come in and how long they stay.
Q: What about changing parole policies and practices?
A: I don't think that's a significant piece of the problem. The parole board is monitoring the population. If there are people who are candidates for parole, someone is working at culling that out. You might get a couple of more people out that way, but that's not going to relieve overcrowding.
Q: How has it been for you this year, with ongoing controversies over wrongly released inmate Patrick Selepak, prison health care and the election campaign?
A: It wasn't fun, seeing my face on campaign flyers. But I learned to take some strength from some of it, too. On the Selepak issue, I talk about how some states have eliminated parole because the director and governor didn't want to see ugly pictures of themselves on campaign literature. So they went to flat sentencing and just let people out. Then, when a Selepak comes along, they're not responsible. If that's the alternative, I'll take this. I know our department is going in the right direction. I know we're doing the right things. I'm very proud of the job that our staff does.
Q: But are you prepared to review the system with an open mind and commit yourself to making any necessary changes?
A: I have a 100% open mind on this. I look forward to the review starting. We need to make some changes. I think they are more organizational than systemic. There's a problem with recruiting and retaining medical staff and, frankly, your series has hurt us in that respect. It was hard before and it's harder now, especially in Jackson. We have a health care professional shortage -- and not just in Corrections. Look at California, where a judge is now running the (prison) health care system and has ordered the state to triple the salaries of health care staff. We don't want to be in that situation.
Q: If you're really interested in improving prison health care, why did you appeal U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen's order last month to reinstate some of the mental health provisions in a federal consent decree?
A: With putting mental health back in that consent decree, we end up spending more resources responding, documenting and proving things to the court than we do providing services and care. For the long-term health care of prisoners in this state, it's the worst thing to do.
Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.