Barbara Levine, CAPPS associate director for research and policy, explained the criminal justice reform bills in this 12-minute WKAR interview. While the medical parole and judicial veto bills have since passed the full House (see post), the interview provides a detailed explanation of the bills and their impact. Very much worth listening to and passing on! WKAR [...]
America's Real Criminal Element: Lead by Kevin Drum In February of 2013, Kevin Drum an article for Mother Jones about what might be causing the downward trend in violent crime that had been occurring nationally in the '90s and early 2000's. While some people argued that the prison system, or the number of young men in [...]
Here's some additional information: Answers to Tough 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 [...]
The media is pushing back on the disinformation campaign about evidenced based parole reform. Examples: Brian Dickerson's column in the Detroit Free Press: Why fear-mongers are losing the prison reform fight For the last decade or so, smart people in both major parties have been looking for ways to reduce the $2-billion bite the Michigan [...]
WKAR Off the Record discusses presumptive parole with Barbara Levine Off the Record | October 16, 2015 Barbara Levine wants to change the state prison system. Bill Ballenger, Zoe Clark and Kathy Gray join senior capitol correspondent Tim Skubick. Watch>> Off the Record
Editorial: Presumptive Parole is safe for Michigan Enquirer editorial board 7:25 p.m. EDT October 15, 2015:It’s infuriating when politicians, bereft of facts, resort to fear-mongering to get their way in public policy debates. When it’s the state’s top law enforcement official, it’s disgraceful. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s intransigence on so-called “tough on crime” policies is [...]
Click to read online at MLIVE.com: William G. Milliken: Time to reverse Michigan's failed, costly imprisonment policies Read online Analysis of HB 4138 Failed policies of the past have kept people in prison long beyond the time they were safe to release, former Gov. William G. Milliken says. William G. Milliken was governor of Michigan [...]
The Detroit Free Press Editorial Board | July 14, 2015 An excerpt from Detroit Free Press editorial on the State of Michigan's decision to end its contract with prison food vendor, Aramark Correctional Services, early: "To truly reduce the cost of running our prison system, the state should change the way it sentences and paroles prisoners. [...]
Sunday’s Lansing State Journal column by Judy Putnam discusses the conservative and liberal support for CAPPS’s recommendations; you can thank the author at Jputnam@Lsj.com or comment online. Judy Putnam: Report offers ways to slim prison ranks Lansing State Journal | July 11, 2015 "A blueprint on how to reduce the number of prisoners in Michigan [...]
Downsizing Prisons Toledo Blade | July 13, 2015 "Get-tough policies such as three-strikes laws, most of which took effect in the 1980s, have more than quadrupled the nation’s prison population in the past 40 years. Ohio’s prisons held fewer than 8,000 inmates in 1974, compared to more than 50,000 last year. The race to incarcerate [...]