Mich. House passes bill adopting 'presumptive parole'

LANSING — Prisoners who have served their minimum sentences and who score well on behavior and type of crime criteria could be approved for parole faster under a bill that received bipartisan support in the House of Representatives Thursday.

The bill would adopt a "presumptive parole" standard in which the state Parole Board would release well-behaving and nonviolent criminals after serving their minimum sentence, unless the board came up with verifiable evidence that the prisoner shouldn't be released.

Supporters said it was a compassionate and moral reform that the Michigan Department of Corrections has estimated could lead to a reduction in inmate beds of 3,000 over the next 10 years, saving the state $80 million a year in incarceration costs by year 10. Opponents said an increase in the number of prisoners released would risk public safety.

"Michigan leads the country in incarcerations," said state Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth Township, who sponsored the bill. "We are spending billions to put people in prison when we could be spending that on our kids and our roads. Michigan has become a national penal colony for thousands of people."

State Rep. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, said he knows two inmates in their 60s and 70s — men who are old and sickly — who have been rehabilitated and could become productive members of society, but will end up serving their entire maximum 9-year sentences.

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"We have a system that clearly and obviously is holding some people in prison too long," he said. "Why do we even have minimum sentences if we’re not going to use them?"

But state Rep. John Chirkun, D-Roseville, said local law enforcement will be left holding the bag by having to deal with additional people released from prison.

"This bill’s proponents say it will save significant tax dollars, but at what cost," he said. "As a former deputy sheriff, I cannot support a policy that will put our communities at risk."

The opponents were buttressed by Attorney General Bill Schuette, who sent a letter to House members saying he couldn't support the bill. After the bill passed, Schuette said in a statement that he will fight for amendments to the bill when the Senate considers the bill.

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"Requiring prisoners to be paroled simply because they’ve served their minimum sentence rather than releasing them only after a full parole board review seriously endangers the public," he said in the letter.

But Heise said the sentiment made for good "bumper sticker" reading, but misrepresented the legislation.

"Violent people aren’t going to be eligible for parole. Let’s forget the hype and emotion that’s been stirred up over this thing. This is the trend. We put people in jail because we wanted to be tough on crime, but did that work?" Heise asked. "It’s the right thing to do for our budget, our citizens, and the right thing to do morally."

The bill, which passed on a 67-39 vote, now moves to the Senate, where it will face a tougher road to passage.

Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, said he has some concerns about the bill, especially with Michigan's high recidivism rate.

"How many of them come back. It’s like 60% of them end up back in prison again and we can't keep doing that," he said.

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Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.