Granholm eyes release of 5,000 from prison
By Michael Carney Capital News Service LANSING - Faced with being full by September, Michigan prisons could release 5,000 inmates as part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to change incarceration guidelines. An estimated 3,400 current inmates would not be in prison today if revised sentencing guidelines proposed by the governor had been in place when they were convicted, said Russ Marlan, a Department of Corrections press aide. Elderly nonviolent inmates, medically unfit inmates and those likely to be deported would make up the remaining 1,600 eligible for early release. Michigan sentencing guidelines give judges a lot of leeway for non-violent crimes. In 1998, when guidelines were put in place, it was expected that judges would send 20 percent of convicted felons to prison, but, they've put nearly double that percentage to behind bars, said Marlan. Michigan would save more than $120 million this year through the proposed early release plan, he said. About $30 million of that would be allocated in programs and officers to monitor the former inmates, he added. John Lazet, the press secretary for Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, said, "The statistics are accurate, but not true. " Cropsey chairs the appropriation subcommittee for the Department of Corrections. Lazet said the state would likely need to close at least one prison to save the promised $120 million. Liz Boyd, press secretary for Granholm, didn't dispute the possibility in closing a prison in the future. "It could be the ultimate result," she said. "But it will be a couple of years before that would happen. It's a bit premature to be talking about it." Critics said the early release of inmates poses a threat to the public. Mel Grieshaber, executive director of the Michigan Corrections Organization, a union for state correctional officers, said, "There are some risks there. We believe there are still a lot of bad guys there. "We think there is a downward pressure to lower (security) class levels because of dollars," Grieshaber said. "Dollar-driven policy doesn't make good public policy. "Our advice for the decision makers is to move cautiously," he added. Michigan classifies inmates into five levels, with a level five inmate ranked as the most violent or dangerous. To illustrate the union's concern, Grieshaber said a prison nurse in Marquette was attacked and nearly sexually assaulted recently by an inmate who would have been considered for early release under Granholm's plan. "Things like that happen every day," he said. Another aspect of Granholm's proposal includes expanding the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative, a program currently in eight communities and designed to help released inmates to reintegrate into society, said Marlan. The recidivism, or repeat offense rate, dropped 21 percent among project participants, he said. "We are releasing people with no plan for success or assistance. This plan will help people who are leaving, leave more successfully." The program currently operates in major cities, as well as a nine-county area around Traverse City. "It takes people from the community to talk to people a month before they are released to help them make a plan," Marlan said. "It helps them go from a structured environment to a structured environment."
