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Legislation

UPDATE: Medical parole package (5078, 5079, 5081) pending in Senate Judiciary Committee

On February 17, the House Appropriations Committee voted to approve an amended package of medical parole bills, HB 5078, 5079. and 5081. The full House of Representatives voted out the three CAPPS-supported bills on May 4, 2016. The bills were then referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where they are still pending after an initial "no" [...]

Update: “Proos” criminal justice reform package now pending in House Criminal Justice Committee

Senator John Proos (R - Saint Joseph) is spearheading an 18-bill package of criminal justice reforms. The multi-bill “Proos package” was introduced on May 3 and referred to the Senate Committee on Michigan Competitiveness, chaired by Senator Mike Shirkey (R-Jackson). The Senate voted the entire package out by broad majorities in June 2016. The bills are [...]

Medical parole bills pass the House by 95-13 on May 4; still pending in Senate Judiciary

Download>> HB 5078, 5079, 5081 written testimony After passing the House by an overwhelming bipartisan 95-13 vote, the medical parole package stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 24. Republican Senators Colbeck, Shuitmaker and Rocca cast the three “no” votes on the five-member committee. However, the Committee also agreed to reconsider the vote at [...]

Senate Bill 689 would move prisoners to county jails; CAPPS report details how this impacts prisoners and their families

Text of SB 689 Several years ago, the MDOC adopted a new policy of housing selected prisoners in county jails.  The initial Director’s Office Memorandum (DOM) provided that anyone classified at security Level 1 who was serving a flat sentence for an offense other than criminal sexual conduct could be sent to serve their time in [...]

Judicial veto bill (HB 5273) introduced by Rep. Pagel

Judicial veto bill (HB 5273) CAPPS has long worked to address the parole review procedures that have kept parolable lifers incarcerated long past their first parole eligibility date, regardless of their current risk to public safety. HB 5273, introduced by Rep. Pagel and cosponsored by Rep. Howrylak and referred to the House Judiciary Committee, would [...]

Medical parole bills introduced; CAPPS testimony

In November, HB 5078-5080 were introduced in the House of Representatives and sent to the Appropriations Committee, which would allow the parole board to grant medical paroles to people who are physically or mentally incapacitated. The bills, sponsored by Reps. Pscholka, Pagel, and others, establish the process by which the parole board can consider and [...]

2018-04-04T15:10:14-04:00December 19th, 2015|Categories: 2015 - 2016, Elderly, Legislation, Legislative Session, Parole, Publication Type, Testimony, Topic|

HB 4138 – Key points, answers to tough questions

Here is information prepared to help you discuss HB 4138: HB 4138 is evidence-based parole reform. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Kurt Heise (R-Northville)  was the product of extensive negotiations among key stakeholders, including law enforcement, and has strong public and bi-partisan support. HB 4138 applies to eligible prisoners who score lowest risk on the parole board’s [...]

Answers to Questions about House Bill 4138: The “Presumptive Parole” Bill

1. Will HB 4138 change the basic parole process in Michigan? Not at all.  Parole guidelines that have been in effect since 1992 assess the risk of a prisoner reoffending.  The statute has always said that prisoners being considered for parole who score low risk on the guidelines should be released unless the parole board [...]

Evidence-based parole reform bill (HB 4138) is an important step forward

Download>> CAPPS HB 4138 summary CAPPS has long worked to establish a presumption of parole for prisoners who are a low risk to public safety. On June 16, the House Criminal Justice Committee voted 7-1 to report a bill to the House Floor that establishes a statutory presumption of parole under certain circumstances. HB 4138 (H-4) [...]

Legislature creates Criminal Justice Policy Commission; parole reforms defeated

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 [...]