Michigan Marks Historically Low Rates of Returns to Prison

 This past week, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) announced that Michigan's recidivism rate (the rate of re-offenses resulting in a return to prison within three years of release) is at a historic low. Following several years of decline, Michigan's recidivism rate is now at 26.6%, placing Michigan among the best in the nation. 

For years, the national recidivism rate has stood at 66%. While this number has probably dropped nationwide in recent years, Michigan's current rate is noteworthy. But we must ask why Michigan's rate is so low. Several factors, in reality, play into this historically low recidivism rate in Michigan. In no particular order, these include: 

1. Decreases in crime rates over recent years. This national trend is also happening in Michigan, despite some upticks in the last year (probably related to stress caused by Covid-19 restrictions). 

2. Changing parole laws. Over the last two years, especially, the Michigan legislature has passed several changes in the Department's treatment of parolees. Fewer parolees are returning to prison for technical violations; instead, community-based solutions are utilized in an effort to address the complexities and struggles many returning citizens face when leaving prison. 

3. Increased focus on education. Over the last five years, the MDOC has partnered with several colleges and universities to offer post-secondary education for prisoners. Implementation of Vocational Villages in order to train returning citizens with vocational trades has also expanded educational opportunities. As the often-quoted RAND Corporation research has shown, education is directly correlated with a reduction in re-offense rates. 

4. Better re-entry services. Over the last several years, Michigan has focused heavily on re-entry services for returning citizens. Prisoners now leave prison with a birth certificate and state ID. With the help of the MDOC, some Vocational Village graduates leave prison with jobs already lined up. Community-based services (both private and government-sponsored) for returning citizens are more robust, and these services directly address the many challenges returning citizens are known to experience. 

Each of these factors contribute to Michigan's historically low recidivism rate, and Michigan citizens should be proud of the work legislators and corrections leadership have put in to make these changes happen. Lower recidivism rates means fewer victims of crime, which means safer communities. 

Changing outdated and harmful corrections philosophies has led to greater success in reducing re-offense rates. As Michigan continues to work towards higher success for its returning citizens, it is time for the legislature or citizens to act on good time legislation, and eliminate prosecutorial immunity and mandatory minimum sentences. Now is the time to act on changing these and other outdated and harmful philosophies that have led to high incarceration rates in Michigan and nationwide.

Good Time Bill Rumors and Calls for Help

 No rumor has spread more often or been filled as fullly with information as rumors about good time bills have in prison. I remember just two or three years into my prison sentence having someone tell me that a good time bill had passed in Michigan. When I expressed skepticism, he assured me that he had a newspaper article to prove it. The problem? He could never produce the article. 

I suppose prisoners' desperate hope for good time feeds these unfortunate rumors. After all, Michigan is just one of six US states that have no form of good time for prisoners. It seems inevitable that eventually that will change. Of course, every prisoner hopes it happens in time to help reduce his or her sentence.

Here are the facts: Two or three years ago, Michigan Representative David LeGrand introduced a good time bill, which died in committee. Last year, a grassroots effort to put a good time bill on the Michigan ballot failed because Covid-19 made it nearly impossible to get the necessary signatures. Plans are now underway to reorganize the effort for inclusion on the 2022 election/voting cycle. 

Additionally, in 2020 Senator Jeff Irwin introduced SB1242, a good time bill, in the Michigan Senate. For reasons likely tied to the Senate's focus on covid-related issues, this bill also died in committee. Nevertheless, he is committed to re-introducing the bill in 2021. Michigan Justice Advocacy, a justice related advocacy organization, is working to organize the necessary resources to see this bill pass in 2021. 

It is time for Michgian to bring back the carrot side of criminal justice. Focusing on the stick (e.g. imprisonment) is an important part of holding those who commit crimes accountable, but the carrot (e.g. time off for good behavior) is also critical. Furthermore, Michigan's average sentences are 20% longer on average than other Midwestern states. If prisoners can earn time off their sentences for good behavior, it would bring Michigan in line with what 44 other states offer and reduce the average time Michigan's prisoners spend locked up. It would also free up financial resources that Michigan desperately needs as it recovers from the economic devastation Covid-19 has handed our state. 

You can help make good time a reality in Michigan. You can contact your legislator to urge passage of a good time bill, and you can get further involved. The Michigan Justice Advocacy organization is also looking for people who can help organize resources and join committees. If you would like to get involved, or even to stay updated on the critical work MJA is doing, use their social media presence at: 

Facebook: MIJusticeAdvocacyOrg
Instagram: @MIJusticeAdvocacy
Twitter: MIJustAdvocacy

Giving prisoners time off their sentences for good behavior does not fail to hold them accountable for their crimes. Instead, it encourages the changes they need to demonstate in order to leave prison safe, productive citizens. We can all get behind that goal.

Tale-Wagging Excitement in Prison

 I've been housed at three different prisons that have dog training programs. In these programs prisoners train dogs to be service dogs or well-trained pets, or socialize retired racing greyhounds to be pets. These programs provide a highly structured environment in which dogs can learn, but they also give prisoners purpose and teach them empathy and how to care for something other than themselves. 

There is one problem with male prisoners training service dogs, though. The dogs have few opportunities to interact with women. As a result, as I have often seen, the dogs respond very excitedly when a female corrections officer or prison staff member shows them attention. They can hardly contain themselves, forgetting their training and barely hearing any commands they're given. 

First, their tails start wagging, followed by their whole bodies wagging with excitement. Tongues all hanging out, the dogs dance in place, unable to contain themselves. It's a woman!

When I saw this happen again this past week, I had to smile. Of course, it's cute to watch a dog get so excited, but that's not why I smiled. It's because it dawned on me that some prisoners act the same way when they see a woman. After all, we too have very little interaction with women. 

Of course, we don't see male prisoners dancing about, wagging their whole bodies while their tongues hang out. Rather, we see awkward and uncomfortable stares, hear inappropriate comments, and...well I guess, at least figuratively, see tongues hanging out. 

Prisoners don't benefit from food-rewarded training that helps them to learn to control themselves. In fact, there is little discipline building training in prison, unless a prisoner decides to discipline himself. Unfortunately, with so little interaction with women, some male prisoners forget how to conduct themselves with respect when they interact with women. 

I'd never want a woman I cared about to work in a prison, but I have a lot of respect for the female officers and prison staff who have figured out how to treat male prisoners with respect and dignity while still demanding they receive the same in return. It's a difficult line to walk, I'm sure, when surrounded by a bunch of tale-wagging, drooling, unruly...men.

Prisoner's Parting Words Reveal Lack of Hope

 I am housed in a prison from which prisoners frequently parole, so I often have the occasion to either pray with or give parting words of advice to prisoners on their way out the door. For many of the prisoners I do not know well, I simply shake their hand and say something like, "Try to do the right thing out there. I hope I don't see you again unless it's on the outside." 

Such was the greeting I gave a guy who paroled this past week. I knew him by name and had spoken with him a few times, but he wasn't in the circle of men with whom I hung out. Still, I was happy to see him leaving and expressed the above sentiments after giving him a handshake/hug. I have done this literally dozens and dozens of times in the past, nearly all with responses similar to, "Thanks. I'm not coming back again..."

Imagine how startled I felt when this particular prisoner responded to me, rather honestly, with, "I'm quite sure I'll be back. I'm pretty sure I'm not done with this life. I've got at least one more bit in me." 

While I appreciated his candor, I couldn't help but feel a profound sense of sorrow for this man. His particular issue involved drugs, and he honestly knew that he was not ready to give up the life of an addict. But the utter sense of hopelessness I felt in his words troubled me. 

Prison is intensely isolating and lonely, and I wouldn't wish this existence on anyone I cared about. Yet, this man's life outside of prison apparently held no joy, no hope, for him. His sense of hopelessness was such that he expected prison to be his reality or the foreseeable future. I wish I had been able to reach him while we lived in the same housing unit in prison, but he clearly was not yet ready to turn the corner. 

Addictive and criminal mindsets do not change overnight, but neither do they change at all until the person is ready for a change. Honestly, I don't know this man's background, so I couldn't say what sort of life he faced in leaving prison, but he had to have felt hopeless enough that prison was his likely, and even preferred, outcome. As a society, what do we do with situations like these? 

Criminalizing addiction is not a good idea, but you also can't help someone with treatment if he is not yet ready for a change. While this man's particular situation involved addiction, the same holds true for criminal mindsets. Prison reforms are often aimed at minimizing the risks of paroling prisoners reoffending and returning to prison. That's a worthy aim. But what do we do with those who are bound and determined to continue living a criminal lifestyle? 

I honestly don't think there is a good answer. We do the best we can to provide tools and hope for those who otherwise have neither. We smooth the path to success as much as possible, but in the end the person has to want it. Sadly, not all do. But let's not give up simply because some fail to make the change. Some people learn quickly from their mistakes. Others, well, they might just take a little longer to hit the corner where they finally turn their lives around. The key is to keep urging and educating change and rewarding it with encouragement and support along the way.