Thank you for your support throughout the reform debates! Here's a quick summary of the outcome with links to the bills: A Senate substitute bill (S-9) for House Bill 5928 creates a Criminal Justice Policy Commission with a four-year sunset provision. 2014-HCB-5928 Unfortunately, reforms of repeat offender sentencing that were included in HB 5928 were not included in the [...]
Three steps forward and one giant step backward for criminal justice reform: The package of criminal justice reform bills that emerged from the Council of State Government process (HB 5928, 5929, 5930 and 5931) is pending action in the Senate. CAPPS endorses three bills in the package: HB 5928, 5929 and 5930. The bills would [...]
Long-awaited legislation to reform Michigan laws that currently allow juveniles to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, or JLWOP, was introduced in June and is now awaiting action in the House Criminal Justice Committee. The bills have strong bipartisan support. One of the bills in the package, HB 4809, also includes important [...]
CAPPS issue brief | January 2013 The parole process for lifers People who are serving “parolable life” sentences become eligible for release after either 10 or 15 years, depending on the date of the offense. The parole board must conduct a public hearing at which the prisoner is examined extensively and both supporters and opponents of [...]
For nearly two decades, much of the growth in Michigan's prison system was caused by a decline in parole grant rates. Thousands of prisoners with good institutional records who had served their minimum sentences were denied release annually. The size, and thus the cost, of the prison system depend on how many people enter [...]