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October 27, 2004
Michigan voters appear ready for money-saving changes in the state's $1.7-billion prison system. Small wonder. Corrections eats up nearly 20 percent of state general purpose revenues. Michigan now spends about as much on prisons as on universities.
With violent crime dropping here and across the country, it's time to take a hard look at the issue of crime and punishment. The problem has been ignored in this year's presidential campaign and statewide elections, and that ought to change. Michigan's prison population is nearing 50,000. Nationwide, a record 6.9 million people -- one in every 32 adults -- are either locked up or on probation or parole.
Michigan citizens indicate they're ready to take the lead. A statewide poll released Tuesday, conducted by EPIC-MRA for the Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending, found most residents -- 75 percent -- support spending less on incarceration and more on crime prevention. In fact, they ranked prisons last in state spending priorities. Most also supported changes in parole policies that would safely release more offenders.
The state Department of Corrections has made some good moves to control the prison population, such as beefing up community corrections and re-entry programs and locking up fewer parolees for technical violations. But the Legislature needs to do more, including revising sentencing guidelines, making the 10-member Parole Board more accountable, and giving lifers eligible for parole a right to regular review.
The cash-starved state can no longer afford business as usual. Without changes, Michigan faces a huge and growing investment with little return.
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.