Ten Important Points of Criminal Justice

On June 18th close to 125 supporters attended a Juvenile Lifer rally in Detroit, Michigan. This meeting was conducted to promote a 10-point criminal justice reform package put together by the rally organizers. Numerous prisoner advocacy organizations, including Humanity for Prisoners, support this 10-point reform platform. 

With an annual budget of over $2 billion for corrections spending in Michigan, and the sentencing laws and policies of Michigan ensuring an ever-growing population of incarcerated individuals, something must be done soon to stop the hemorrhaging of Michigan citizens' tax dollars. Smart prison and criminal justice reform will allow the State of Michigan to invest tax dollars in other much needed areas, including education, and infrastructure, while not increasing the state's crime rates. The 10-point platform includes: 

1. Abolish life without parole (LWOP) sentences for all juvenile offenders and impose 25- to 60- year sentences on all juvenile lifers when they are resentenced.
2. Restore good time eligiblity so prisoners can earn early release for completion of rehabilitative programming and demonstration of positive behavior. 
3. End truth in sentencing, which is largely responsible for maintaining a large prison population, despite a widely recognized consistent statistical drop in crime for several years.
4. End mandatory minimum sentences and give discretion to judges to impose sentences based on all the facts of an individual case since no two cases are the same. 
5. Institute presumptive parole for prisoners who complete all program requirements and screen high probability of parole so prisoners are not arbitrarily denied paroles they have fairly earned. 
6. Stop sending women to prison who have been the victims of violence for defending themselves against their abusers.
7. Increase rehabilitative programming opportunities for all prisoner demographics, including those serving long sentences since 95% of all prisoners will become returning citizens one day. 
8. Allow the Parole Board to obtain jurisdiction over prisoners serving long indeterminate sentences and begin annually reviewing them for parole consideration after they have served 20 years.
9. Allow prisoners serving parolable life sentences to become eligible for parole/release annually after serving 20 years; and allow prisoners serving non-parolable life sentences to become eligible for parole/release annually after serving 25 years.
10. Reduce the exorbitant cost of prisoner phone calls from $0.20 per minute to $0.10 per minute to help prisoners maintain family and community ties and foster rehabilitation. 

If you support these smart reforms, please register your support at the following website:
www.TinyURL.com/mipr2017

Also, please post a link to the above website on your social media urging other Michigan taxpayers to support these important criminal justice reform issues.