Granholm OKs clemency for 100 inmates in 2 years

1. Granholm OKs clemency for 100 inmates in 2 years Associated Press January 17, 2010 http://www.freep.com/article/20100117/NEWS15/100117023/1008/NEWS06/Gov.-OKs-clemency-for-100-inmates-in-2-years

2. Clemency to 100 inmates • LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm has granted clemency to 100 inmates held in Michigan's prisons over the past two years -- a pace of commutations far higher than any in the last four decades, according to state statistics. • The Lansing State Journal reported Sunday that during Granholm's first five years in office, the one-time federal prosecutor approved 18 commutations. All those prisoners had medical issues, and many died within months or even days of their release. • But in 2008 and 2009, Granholm commuted the sentences of 100 prisoners, according to statistics from the Michigan Department of Corrections. That is far more than any two-year period in the last four decades. • Officials told the newspaper the reasons for the increase stem from the state's budget crisis and a state-commissioned report that said Michigan is keeping people in prison too long and spending too much money on its $2 billion-a-year prison system.

3. About 13,000 prisoners paroled • "The report and the fiscal crisis facing the state are factors that caused the governor to reconsider the manner in which she considers commutation requests," said Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan. • Granholm's office forwarded all questions regarding clemency to Marlan. • Last year, the state parole board added five members and was renamed the Michigan Parole and Commutation Board as part of an overhaul to help reduce the size of the prison population. About 13,000 prisoners were paroled in 2009 — the most ever.

4. Michigan has been cutting • Michigan is cutting! From a peak of nearly 52,000 at the end of 2006, the state has reduced its prison population to 46,648, as of Aug. 28. But to get to $500 million, state leaders must embrace a larger, more aggressive version of what's already happening. Working from an average prisoner cost of $29,000 annually, it would take the release of roughly 17,000 prisoners to yield $500 million. But since the type of prisoners eligible for release would be in lower (and thereby cheaper) security levels, the necessary releases most likely would exceed 20,000. • A daunting prospect, to be sure. But not as much for public safety as for political comfort. • Michigan is an outlier in the region. It spends $2 billion on corrections while Ohio spends $1.8 billion and Indiana less than $700 million. Yet, even Michigan doesn't imprison most criminals. As is the circumstance elsewhere, Michigan only sends a fraction of convicted felons to prison each year. The rest are on probation or parole. Yet about $9 in every $10 Michigan spends on corrections goes to imprisonment. http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20091209/OPINION01/91209006/Day-One--Michigan-must-slash-prison-population

5. The Economics MB $ • Why do we put people in prison? MC • If we let some go, what will happen? Costs NET • Decreased Costs Benefits N1 N0 # of prisoners