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Some say state parole policy needs revision By SHAUN BYRON Of The Oakland Press
July 13, 2008 Many are asking this question while belts get tightened in a state that has been rocked by unemployment, a plummeting housing market and a crumbling automotive industry. Critics of programs that would allow early releases from prison point to the possibility of increased crime rates, which could spark emotional and fiscal costs on the law-abiding public. Proponents, however, argue that the longer sentences of nonviolent offenders and technical parole violators are unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money. It's a issue that carries the burdensome weight of balancing fiscal responsibility with making sure criminals are properly punished. Michigan's costly prison system There are 50,326 people being held in the state's prison system, a population that fell by 2.4 percent from last year. However, agencies have been releasing studies showing the state spends more on its prison system than other Great Lakes states and has longer lengths of stay when it comes to inmates. The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released a report stating that Michigan's prison population has grown by 538 percent in the last 34 years. The nonpartisan agency also points to the state's Department of Corrections expenditures and work force reaching record levels. The swelling of annual felony dispositions, increasing recidivism rates and more technical rule violations are three reasons the prison population has continued to increase. The report also lists a decrease in parole approval rates and policy changes aimed at being tough on crime as reasons why the length of stay for prisoners is longer. All of these contribute to corrections expenditures ballooning more than 5,200 percent in the last 34 years -- rising from $38 million to roughly $2 billion. This spending has included a larger work force, as well as more correctional facilities, prisons and camps. As it stands, Michigan is one of four states spending more on the prison system than on higher education. The Citizens Research Council estimates the prison population will grow by 5,800 prisoners over the next five years and annual spending will reach $2.6 billion by 2012. Policies behind escalating costs With comparisons made between Michigan and other Great Lakes states -- as well as the dollar figures and estimates -- came an investigation into possible causes. This led to a closer look at laws and policies that were changed and developed to keep people in Michigan safe. However, these policies also may have proven to come at the price of tax dollars. Matt Johnson, a fellow with the Citizens Research Council, said at least three specific policy changes have contributed to this increase in prison population and spending. "The first would be (that) in 1992, they switched (the parole board) to political appointees from civil servants," Johnson said, adding the change has made the board more conservative and the approval rate has declined. "The other thing was in 1998, when they implemented Truth in Sentencing." Under that law, Michigan requires felons to serve at least their minimum sentence in prison without early release. Johnson said a third reason for a larger prison population is the number of people reincarcerated as technical parole violators. "That is a percentage that used to account for 9 percent of the prison population, but is up to 26 percent," he said. It's the changing of these policies to reflect a more cost-effective way to run the state's prison system that has, in part, become the mission of the Lansing-based Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending. "The fact is there have been a number of policy changes that have caused the population to increase," said Barbara Levine, executive director for the alliance. "We are not advocating nothing new and modern, but a return to moderate polices of the past." Among their suggestions to change the policies is a recommendation to enforce parole guidelines to increase the paroles of low-risk offenders who have completed their minimum terms. According to the alliance, the parole board has steadily decreased granting paroles to inmates who score well in the state's guidelines for presenting a low risk of offending. Other suggestions include the restoration of the sentencing commission and reassessing the impact of sentencing guidelines to make them proportionate to the offense committed. When it was in operation, the commission would review the guidelines periodically to make changes where necessary. Limiting prison returns for technical violators and reinstating disciplinary credits also are being cited as ways to cut costs. The state, historically, has continued to meet federal guidelines by forcing violent offenders to serve 85 percent or more of their sentences. However, alliance officials say that, by definition, credit is given only to people who have earned it, which wouldn't include anyone that may commit another crime after being released. As for technical parole violators, they suggest limiting prison returns for those with no new criminal conduct to one year or less. Levine said by just restoring a credit system, the state would be able to get a better control of the prison population. "On length of stay, when you compare Michigan to the other states, it is so out there. It's like 15 to 16 months on average longer than other states," she said. "We don't think the prison population does need to be where it's at for safety. It doesn't protect the public. It just costs money." New approaches State Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan says Gov. Jennifer Granholm has discussed prison reform for years, citing the Michigan Prison ReEntry Initiative that is being piloted. The program's aim is to provide services, support and supervision from when a person enters prison to after they've been released back into the community. Marlan said they started putting the initiative together about two years ago and the program is being piloted at eight sites with another seven being added. About 8,000 people have gone through the program already, with an estimated 25 percent reduction in the recidivism rate. Marlan said that translated into 400 fewer people in prison, with the savings being passed on to taxpayers. The state's corrections department also continues to look at options for people with technical violations and has discussed releasing certain segments of the prison population, such as sick or older prisoners, he said. Marlan said the corrections department has looked at contracting out services, such as transportation and mental health services. "We are looking at a lot of things that we can do internally in the last four or five years," he said, adding that 85 percent of the state's corrections budget actually goes to paying people to keep track of and supervise prisoners. One critic of certain reforms is Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, who said he believes a lot of the reforms have instead shifted state prisoners to county facilities. Bouchard said these sometimes come with the promise of money in one form or another, but eventually turn out to be anything but beneficial. "We can't afford to have any more prisoners," he said. "We don't have the place to take any state prisoners, period. That's why we've opposed proposals in the past." As for early releases, from a law enforcement standpoint, Bouchard said he would like to see the list of people who would be eligible and what their criminal history is like. "Do they have violent behavior in their background? Do they have violent behavior in prisons?" he asked. "Those are things you have to take into consideration. "They may be in prison on a nonviolent charge, but they could have been arrested on a charge that was pled down or a have a history of violence but just not on that case." Bouchard says the state would do better to look at competitively bidding service contracts such as food service. And as for the studies, he said they don't take into account the societal costs and emotional costs of allowing a violent offender to roam free. "I think (lawmakers) keep looking for ways to shift the costs, like at the county level, without doing the in-depth changes that need to be done," he said. "I think if you did those changes, you would be able to keep the correctional officers more safe and still lock up the folks that need to be locked up." As for Marlan, he didn't directly answer a question regarding whether the reluctance to change certain policies was so that politicians wouldn't look soft on crime. He did, however, point to the Citizens Research Council determining that the overpopulated prison system isn't the result of a higher crime rate. "Our citizens are the same as elsewhere," he said. "It is not because of the crime rate or that we are more violent. It's because of the policy decisions -- decisions about punishment that can be looked at and revised." Emotional costs? Ryan Copenhaver is one of the little more than 50,000 people in state prisons. He wasn't even 20 years old when, in 2000, he pleaded no contest to charges of drunken driving causing death and serious injury. After serving his sentence, he was placed on parole and kept a clean record of compliance. In 2006, Copenhaver was three months away from being a free man when police found two "air guns" on a bookshelf. Copenhaver was taken back into custody days after officers found the two air guns. Following a hearing, the state's parole board ruled he will not be eligible for release from the Kinross Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula until January 2011. In June, he was moved to a facility within the complex for low-risk inmates, who are typically doing well and abiding by the rules, according to prison officials. His family and friends continue to lobby for his early release, hoping he can come home to them. Once a week, phone calls and letters are his window to the life he left behind. If released early, his employers at Gordon Food Service in Waterford Township and Matrix System Automotive Finishes in Walled Lake have both said they would take him back. Copenhaver, now 28, still plans to attend college and help his dad care for his ailing mother. He aspires to one day be a writer. "It took me quite a few months to recover from it," he said of his being re-incarcerated. "I'd just like to get my life back on track." However, that train may remain derailed for a few more years or until the state's parole board changes its mind. "I'm accepting it for what it is, but I'm not giving up," Copenhaver said. "I'm still trying to fight it and find out some way to get back home." Contact staff writer Shaun Byron at (248) 745-4685 or shaun.byron@oakpress.com.
Click here to download a report on Michigan's prison system from the Citizen's Research Council on Michigan
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