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 [...]
"How parole boards keep prisoners behind in the dark and behind bars" is an important investigative piece on parole board processes throughout the United States, featuring the case of a Michigan lifer. CAPPS's director of research and policy, Barbara Levine, is quoted. Washington Post: How parole boards keep prisoners in the dark and behind bars [...]
On June 10, the Detroit News published an editorial about CAPPS report, "10,000 Michigan prisoners: Strategies to reach the goal" Nonprofit's reform recommendations complement Snyder initiative and would cut inmate population by 25 percent, saving $250 million The Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending is releasing a comprehensive report today with the ambitious but [...]
New York Times | 1.5 Million Missing Black Men APRIL 20, 2015 By JUSTIN WOLFERS, DAVID LEONHARDT and KEVIN QUEALY For every 100 black women not in jail, there are only 83 black men. The remaining men – 1.5 million of them – are, in a sense, missing. In New York, almost 120,000 black men between the ages of 25 [...]
As number of elderly prisoners grows, prison system creaks under burden of rising health care costs January 6, 2015 5:00AM ET | Al Jazeera by Steve Friess @stevefriess George Hall, 79, sits in his room on Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, at the Lakeland Men's Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Michigan. Tim Galloway for Al Jazeera America COLDWATER, Mich. — [...]
CAPPS/Mackinac Center OP ED: Michigan's parole policies waste money, need reform Barbara Levine and Michael LaFaive 5:18 p.m. EST December 13, 2014, Detroit Free Press (Photo: 2009 photo by ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press) Michigan spends nearly 20% of its general-fund dollars locking people up. A portion of that money could be better spent elsewhere, such as on [...]
Associated Press, November 30, 2014 Download>> Savings eyed in criminal justice featured in Associated Press "Michigan lawmakers are considering changes in the state’s criminal justice system, including a fairer path to parole for prisoners and a data-driven effort to rewrite sentencing guidelines for certain crimes. The case is being made by a western Michigan Republican, [...]
Jake Neher, Michigan Radio, November 20, 2014 Click here to read more. "Michigan spends about $2 billion every year on prisons. The legislation seeks to reduce the length of some prison stays and provide more supervision for people after they are released from prison. The most widely supported proposal would create a commission to oversee [...]