Bill Schuette For Michigan Attorney General

The Detroit Free Press is again urging the 
early release of thousands of prisoners in 
an effort to balance the state's budget 
("Bolder prison changes would save state 
millions," Feb. 19). We disagree for two 
important reasons: 1) It is bad public 
policy; 2) It has been tried and it has not 
worked.

The first obligation of government is public 
safety. Public safety is not one of those nice 
things government should provide only 
when revenues are flush.

There is a flaw in the Free Press' thinking 
when it declares, "The only way to save real 
money in Corrections: by reducing the 
population.

"

The real way to endanger the safety and 
security of Michigan's families is by 
reducing the population and releasing 
dangerous prisoners early. There are 
reasons why the state puts violent 
individuals in prison: because they have 
done terrible, brutal things to innocent 
people.

To suggest, as the Free Press does, that 
Michigan lower its prison incarceration rates to match those of surrounding states is misguided and dangerous, since 
Michigan is not like surrounding states in 
two important areas. First, according to the 
Council of State Governments, Michigan is 
the most violent Great Lakes state and has 
the fewest police officers in the entire 
region, in addition to having an extremely 
low rate of solving violent crime. Second, 
Michigan sends very few convicted felons to 
prison, with only a 10% initial prison 
commitment rate and an overall rate 
including probation violators that is half the 
national average.

In fact, many serious offenders, from drug 
dealers to third-time drunken drivers, 
never see the inside of prison walls under 
Michigan's current sentencing guidelines. 
Rather, in a vast majority of criminal cases, 
only those who commit very violent acts 
such as murder, rape or child molestation, 
or those with a lengthy criminal history, 
gain admission. Therefore, releasing 
thousands of prisoners early most 
assuredly compromises public safety.

Here are some constructive steps Michigan should take in an effort to reform our prison system: 

• Emulate success, and take a closer look at how other states deliver corrections services. If Michigan's cost per prisoner were the same as Texas, we would save approximately $757 million per year, according to the Pew Center on the States.

Similarly, Arizona has roughly the same number of prisoners as Michigan and yet its corrections budget is about half that of Michigan's. 

• Remember that crime victims and their families have rights, too. Their lives have been changed forever, and we owe them certainty in sentencing.

• Protect Michigan's Truth in Sentencing law to give credibility to the sentencing process in the eyes of victims and the public, and to ensure that dangerous criminals do not leave prison before serving their minimum sentence.

• Finally, do not restore good time credits to "incentivize good behavior." Such incentives are already in place -- prisoners know that if they fail to behave, they will serve more than their minimum sentence, possibly years more. 

In the final analysis, catch and release may be good for the sports fishing industry, but it is poor public policy when it comes to criminal justice.