MPRI eNews
Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Update
August-September 2009: MPRI Gaining Editorial Support
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| Data Points |
Total MPRI Releases through 4/2009: 17,238
Expected number of returns: 5,568
Actual number of returns: 3,971
Improvement: 1,597
Note: While these results for MPRI parolees are precisely what was hoped for, it is still too early to say that MPRI activities alone caused the changes. For much more information, click here. |
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| Welcome to the August-September 2009 MPRI eNews! |
Parole and re-entry policies continue to be a hot topic in Michigan, but there's plenty of positive news. Despite some orchestrated distortions and fear-mongering, there is growing support for the idea that law-abiding citizens benefit from smart, effective policies that prepare prisoners to succeed and assist them upon release, rather than simply lock them up until they max out and hope for the best. And there's more evidence that it's working: Michigan's crime rate dropped sharply last year! Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative leaders, partners, and supporters are doing a great job of reaching out and explaining why our neighborhoods are safer, and how we save money as taxpayers through this approach. In Wayne County, the MPRI sponsored a tour of MPRI programs for elected leaders. In Kalamazoo, the county's top law enforcement officials stepped forward and stood up for the MPRI in a column in the Kalamazoo Gazette. A new study by the Citizens Alliance on Prisons & Public Spending debunks the idea that knee-jerk parole denials reduce crime. In the past few weeks, the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Lansing State Journal, and Oakland Press have all come forth with strong support for the idea that more prisoners can be successfully paroled with the right support and supervision. We're gaining momentum, but a campaign of fear and misinformation continues, and we need more help to set the record straight. Write a letter to the editor. Voice your opinion in response to online articles. Call talk radio shows. Communicate with your local lawmaker. Get the word out through blogs and social networking. Tell your community coordinator you want to help.
Spread the word. Send an e-mail to your list of colleagues, friends, or family who might have an interest in the MPRI eNews and suggest they have a look. Cut and paste this link into your e-mail, so they can subscribe:
Thanks for your help. And, as always, we thank you for reading! Please send us your comments and suggestions.
Jeff Padden and Paul Elam
Public Policy Associates, Inc. |
Kalamazoo Prosecutor, Sheriff, Public Safety Chief Laud the MPRI
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Law enforcement leaders in the Kalamazoo area fully recognize the value of the MPRI in protecting their community. Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Fink, Sheriff Richard Fuller, and Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Chief Jeffrey Hadley wrote a joint viewpoint column for the Kalamazoo Gazette pointing out the value of the MPRI and noting that the MPRI prevents crimes from occurring by giving returning prisoners the tools they need to be law-abiding citizens.
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| Editorial Support for the MPRI Grows |
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While the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative continues to take heat from those seeking to protect jobs at prisons, or score political points, it has been extremely encouraging to see a number of thoughtful editorials recognizing the effectiveness of the MPRI.
The Oakland Press asserted that the MPRI "helped cut down on the number of repeat criminal offenses, inmates in prison and the general crime rate." To see the Oakland Press editorial, click here. Meanwhile, the Detroit News pointed out that keeping criminals locked up beyond their minimum sentences does not make communities any safer. To see the Detroit News editorial, click here. And the Lansing State Journal calls it "encouraging news" that the state is beginning to parole more prisoners." The LSJ notes that the state can't afford to "imprison people who don't have to be imprisoned." To see the editorial, click here. |
| FBI Reports Sharp Decline in Michigan's Crime Rate |
Michigan's violent crime rate dropped by 10.8 percent in 2008, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports. We won't say the MPRI is the only reason. But it is self-evident that crime rates are affected by how well returning prisoners do after they are released on parole. To see a brief summary of violent crime rate changes in other states and major cities across the country, click here. |
| Free Press Columnist Decries "Fearmongering and Hysteria" of Re-entry Critics |
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Recidivism and crime rates are down, while parole rates are up. Those are key facts presented by Free Press columnist Jeff Gerritt to counter the misinformation by political critics of the program. Gerritt consistently does a superior job of explaining why effective support and supervision are a far more effective criminal justice strategy than locking people up for longer periods of time and then leaving them on their own once they are released.
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The High Cost of Maxing Out
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 Some critics of the MPRI continue to mislabel it as an "early release program." If that were the case -- and it's not -- the implication is that all prisoners should serve their complete maximum sentence before returning to the community.
So what if Michigan actually did that? The financial implications would be staggering, to say the least. A Public Policy Associates, Inc. memo analyzing the costs of that scenario finds the net annual increase in cost would be about $1.7 billion dollars. One way to pay for that is a 23 percent hike in the income tax rate.
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The 2010 Budget: Time Running Out
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 The new fiscal year begins on October 1, and the state is still without a budget -- including money for the Department of Corrections and the MPRI. Lawmakers will be facing plenty of tough decisions, and it's important for supporters of the MPRI to contact their local legislators to express support. Remind them that the MPRI both protects the public AND saves tax dollars.
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CAPPS Study Finds that Denying Parole Doesn't Make Us Safer
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 A new study of parole decisions between 1986 and 1999 concludes that denying parole when prisoners become eligible for parole does very little to reduce crime rates. The study by the Citizens Alliance on Prisons & Public Spending analyzed more than 76,000 Michigan prisoners. It found, for instance, that only 3 percent of paroled sex offenders returned to prison for new sex offenses, and less than 1 percent of those convicted of homicide returned to prison for new homicides.
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| State, Local Leaders Eager to Get Data from Learning Site |
State and local leaders gathered recently at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation offices to share the latest information on the Learning Site study of the MPRI in Kent County and Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility. The Learning Site is an effort to fully implement, monitor, and evaluate the MPRI and take the lessons learned from the project to other MPRI sites. The project was launched in cooperation with the JEHT Foundation and is funded by the Department of Corrections. The event was also a chance to thank the leaders and funders of the JEHT Foundation for their steadfast support of the MPRI. Sadly, JEHT closed in January, a victim of the Bernard Madoff scandal. To see a summary of the Learning Site study, click here. To see a photo of JEHT Foundation founders Ken and Jeanne Levy-Church,(far left and right), former JEHT Foundation President Bob Crane, and Michigan Department of Corrections Director Pat Caruso, click here. To see a photo of Bob Crane and George Keiser, Director of the National Institute of Corrections Community Corrections Division, click here. To see a photo of Le'Ann Duran, Manager of the MDOC Office of Offender ReEntry and Bob Crane, click here. | |
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