Political Posturing Cripples Prison Reform in Michigan

Every election cycle leads to either increased hope or discouragement among Michigan's prison population. Will the new administration or legislature support or oppose prison reforms? Will anything change, or will everything stay the same? 

Michigan's recent election turned the legislative power in Michigan from a Democrat majority to a Republican majority, for example. So many prisoners had hopes that with the Democrats in power, prison reforms would pass. Perhaps Good Time legislation, or other options where we could earn time off our sentences for educational achievements would pass. None of these happened, though. So many promises resulted in dashed hopes. 

The Democrat leadership did not have the political courage necessary to even debate the proposals. Instead, they cowered to populism and political pressures. The House leader even refused to bring bills up for debate. So much for progressive politics. 

Now, the Michigan House is in the control of Republicans. Congressional leaders in the Republican party have expressed disinterest in passing any prison reforms that would undo the Truth in Sentencing law, despite the fact that this law has led to significant increases in average prison sentences in Michigan. Michigan is now the state with the highest average prison sentence in the nation. 

Although Republicans are often thought of as anti-prison reform, they are often utilitarian in their approach to legislation. Will it save State money? If so, it might be considered. That is, if the leadership has the courage to bring it to the floor for debate. 

When Donald Trump was last in office, he had threatened to take away federal funding from Michigan due to some of its prison policies. Now that he's back in office, I wonder if he'll renew that threat? There's nothing like money to motivate change. 

Trump might say he's tough on crime, and some of his policies DO reflect that position, but he's also very pragmatic. He was responsible for some pretty smart reforms in the federal prison system. Like him or not, he's willing to tackle unpopular policy changes if he believes it's good for the country. We'll see what that will mean for prison reforms in Michigan, if it means anything at all. 

It's no secret that Trump is not a fan of our governor. She certainly hasn't had the political courage to enact any necessary reforms in our prison system during her tenure, so she's not popular in prison either. I wouldn't expect that to change much, either, since she's eyeing to possibly replace Trump in four years. 

It's crazy that political maneuvering and individual political ambitions have ANY influence on policy changes, but that's the reality in American politics. The next few years will be interesting to see how the winds of change blow. I hope they lead us to finally see some much needed prison reforms in Michigan.