Michigan Prison Coronavirus Infections and Deaths Exceed Federal Prisons'

I watched a "hearing" this past week on CSPAN concerning Covid-19 in prisons. The hearing was conducted via video and, besides the congressional members present, three guests who testified were also present. The prisons in question were federal prisons, and I was taken aback by some of the data shared. For example, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) oversees roughly 150,000 prisoners nationwide. While the BOP has not tested all of its prisoners for coronavirus (and may be hiding some infections from reporting), in this hearing it was reported that roughly 2,500 federal prisoners have tested positive and 59 prisoners have died from coronavirus.

This week Michigan finished testing all of its prisoners for coronavirus. I do not know the final numbers, but prior to completing their testing, I know that far more than 2,500 prisoners had tested positive for Covid-19. What's more, Michigan has had more than 59 prisoner deaths, a much higher percentage of both infections and deaths than reported in the federal BOP prisoner population. Although this hearing revealed that the BOP has failed to utilize it with any significance (unless you count "famous" prisoners), the federal government passed legislation earlier this year allowing the BOP to release prisoners early who are non-violent and elderly prisoners who are at a great risk of infection (called "Compassionate Release"). It is unfathomable to me why the BOP has not utilized its power, authorized by Congress, to release more prisoners during this pandemic. 

It is also frustrating and inexplicable why Governor Gretchen Whitmer has not acted to provide the Michigan Department of Corrections with the same authority the federal government provided the BOP. Michigan has stepped up its parole process to release more prisoners who are at or beyond their earliest release dates, but Governor Whitmer claims she does not have the authority to release other prisoners early. This is simply not true. Her predecessors have used Executive Orders to initiate time cuts and other measures to reduce the prison population, but this governor has not. Perhaps she is reluctant to let potential problems derail her possibility of being Senator Biden's pick for running mate. Whatever her reasoning, her failure to act has already cost the lives of more than 60 Michigan prisoners, many of whom were elderly or medically frail and who could have been released under a similar compassionate release program.

If nothing else, this pandemic has revealed a disturbing fact. The Michigan government is not as pro-prison reform as it claims to be. Why does it take a pandemic to speed up the release of prisoners who are already eligible for parole? Shouldn't the prison system be releasing prisoners as soon as they are eligible anyway? If a pandemic generates pressure for the release of non-violent and elderly/frail prisoners, why have we not released these prisoners prior to a pandemic? Worse yet, why are we still not releasing them? If it is unnecessary to keep these prisoners locked up when they are at risk of infection from a virus, why are we wasting money keeping them in prison in the first place? Maybe we ought to rethink who we send to prison and for how long we send them. 

It's time for Governor Whitmer to act, and if she won't then the Michigan legislature must. If both refuse to take action to protect those they keep locked up in petri dishes called prisons, then perhaps it's time for the people to take action. It's time for the people to speak with their votes and by signing petitions like The Michigan Prisoner Rehabilitation Credit Act (www.mprca.info).