Coming to prison is often not the end of 'punishment' for Michgian prisoners. Many prisoners continue to regard authority of any kind with distain and the administration has a series of misconduct reports ("tickets") they hand out, often very freely, in return.
Misconducts are broken down into three categories: Tiers I, II and III. Tier III is for very minor infractions such as violation of a posted rule (messy bunk area, or carrying food from the chow hall for example). There is virtually no hearing or due process provided when a prisoner is issued a Tier III violation. The penalty is usually anywhere from a verbal reprimand and 'counseling' to a few days of LOP. This is a minor 'loss of privileges' such as phone and microwave use, and yard restrictions.
Tier II offenses include stealing, possession of stolen property, insolence to an officer, and so forth. While an inmate can request a hearing investigator and witnesses, the investigator is from administration and rarely interviews witnesses. There is nearly an automatic 'guilty' finding on most Tier II offenses, whether guilty or not. The administration is rarely interested in actual facts, and some officers fabricate offenses to harass inmates they have problems with or don't like. While some inmates would have you believe this happens often, I suspect it's not as widespread as some might believe. Most Tier II misconducts carry a few days LOP or Top Lock (more restrictive than LOP). Some may cause you to lose your prison job, or land you in the hole for a short stay.
Tier I offenses include fighting, threatening behavior, nearly all sexual offenses, and so forth. These are more serious and usually include an automatic trip to segregation (the hole). Policy requires a hearing to be conducted within a few days so a not-guilty finding won't keep someone in segregation unduly. Hearing investigators are nearly automatic and the results are often the same as Tier II offenses. While it's possible to be found not guilty on a misconduct, most of the time these occur from technical violations such as the officer using the wrong misconduct code on the ticket. The hearing officers almost never believe an inmate over an officer, regardless of the evidence.
Tier I and II offenses include "points" that go on your prison record and can contribute to transferring to a higher security level, and may even effect parole. Staying misconduct free, and maintaining a job are two ways to reduce your points and therefore make you eligible for reduced security levels.
It's difficult to maintain a misconduct-free record in prison, but it's not impossible. Most inmates who receive misconducts regularly resist authority and they accept the misconducts as part of the consequences.
