http://www.detnews.com/article/20090521/OPINION01/905210328/1008/Editorial--Legislature-should-adopt-sensible-legislation-for-narcotics-offendersThursday, May 21, 2009
Editorial: Legislature should adopt sensible legislation for narcotics offenders
The Detroit News
A near-unanimous state House of Representatives has passed four bills designed to complete a reform of Michigan's harsh drug sentencing laws that began in 2003. It is time for the Senate to help finish this sentencing overhaul.
The legislation continues the effort to make the punishment for drug crimes more proportionate and offers the potential to chop millions of dollars from the state's unaffordable corrections budget.
Another 200 to 400 inmates, currently serving long sentences, could become parole-eligible if these bills also pass the Senate and are signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. But similar legislation didn't pass last year for reasons that aren't quite clear.
Our prison system is costing the state $2 billion a year -- a tab that's projected to increase by another half-billion dollars in the next few years unless there are changes.
Six years ago, the Legislature repealed a controversial 1973 law that forced judges to impose long mandatory minimum sentences based on the quantity of drugs involved in a crime. Aimed at kingpins, it imprisoned hundreds of first-time nonviolent offenders for prison terms -- life in some cases -- longer than those given violent career criminals.
Around 500 inmates were paroled in the wake of that repeal. A study two years later found the recidivism rate for the group was 17 percent -- a small fraction of the average for all parolees in Michigan.
Bills under consideration are sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats. In general, they would make it easier to parole other drug offenders.
When Michigan faces a $1.7 billion budget deficit and a glaring need to get control of its prison costs, these kinds of sensible changes should be approved.
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