Put all of those tough-as-nails parole policies together, and here is the impact in Michigan: More than 17,000 prisoners have served the time required by law for their offenses. Yet they continue to inflate the prison population, at an annual cost to taxpayers of $497 million.

We are not naive. The parole board was recreated under Gov. John Engler because of a dangerous laxity. Paroles were given to prisoners who turned out to be bad risks; some citizens lost their lives due to these poor parole decisions.

The solution, well-supported by the public, was to appoint parole board members who were accountable to the governor. Safety, to an appointee, is to be stingy in giving out paroles.

But even public safety must be kept in balance with fiscal responsibility. Taxpayers cannot afford to lock up every felon. At about $20,000 average per inmate per year, the cost balloons out of sight. And that doesn't even take into account the social cost of indefinite imprisonments of nearly 50,000 inmates, many of whom pose little risk to anyone.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, in a series of budget forums throughout the state, found that 26 percent of people in the forums would be willing to see prisoners released 30 days early. That could easily be done as part of an executive order, an option the governor is weighing.

But the Citizens Alliance report argues persuasively that the state needs more than just a 30-day early-out program. The parole board needs to loosen up. Its decisions should be discretionary, based on the facts of the case under consideration. There should not be an arbitrary policy of no paroles, no matter what. Taxpayers cannot afford so stingy a parole board.

--The Jackson Citizen Patriot