Brian Dickerson, Detroit Free Press, November 15, 2014
Click here to read the full article.
“Will the Senate’s paroxysm of responsible leadership inspire lawmakers to do other grown-up things in the remaining days of lame duck?
State Rep. Joe Haveman, is hoping that it will. Haveman, the term-limited chairman of the the House Appropriations Committee, has dedicated the last days of his third and final term promoting a series of four bills (House Bills 5928-31) that would effect broad changes in sentencing, probation and parole. If adopted, the reforms would likely reduce the amount of time that criminal offenders spend in prison.
Haveman, R-Holland, hails from one of the most conservative House districts in Michigan, and the legislation he hopes to shepherd through lame duck is the culmination of a methodical, sustained effort that began 18 months ago. That’s when Snyder, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert Young and legislative leaders enlisted the nonpartisan Council of State Governments to study the state’s sentencing practices.”