Cutting the Prison Budget

I have been harping on the Michigan Prison situation for a long time. In a nutshell, we have way too many people in prison and spend too much money paying for it. In return, we have a crime rate no better than other Great Lakes states and have contributed to the destruction of lives and families by throwing too many non-violent offenders into jail.

Last week, the Detroit Area Chamber of Commerce came out in favor of cutting the prison population. Their reason is totally self-serving (eliminating the surcharge on the SBT) but that's irrelevant. The only way we are going to usher in a rational penal system is if politicians are forced to do it by people they listen to.

It's time for all the Chambers to recognize that Michigan cannot afford its destructive and ineffective corrections policies. Republican legislators may not care about the negative societal impacts of longer and harsher prison terms, but they do care about the business interests represented by the Chambers of Commerce.

Governor Granholm said she's wiling to talk about it and Democratic politicians need to get on board. The stars are lining up to fix the state's corrections policy and we have to make this happen before the chance slips away.