*The following was written by Mecosta County Sheriff Brian Miller in part of his monthly editorial for the month of December.

 

In yet another example of victims continuing to be victimized, the lame duck politicians in the House will be voting on a couple of bills while the Senate will be voting on one that are opposed by the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association and the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.

The first is House Bills 4160-4164, which is ‘Juvenile Without Parole’. These bills would amend different sections of law to prohibit sentencing an individual to a sentence of life without parole. This would apply if they were under 19 years old when they committed the crime. The package would also allow an individual, who was convicted and sentenced for a serious crime when they were under 19 years old, to be eligible for parole after serving 20 years of their sentence. These offenders would have been convicted of committing serious crimes against one or more innocent victims; some of whom no longer have a voice in the process because they were violently murdered.

The second is House Bills 4556-4560, which is ‘Second Look Sentencing’. These bills would prescribe procedures for hearings to reconsider the sentences of eligible incarcerated individuals who have served at least 20 years of their sentence. As I stated, this just continues the re-victimization of innocent victims who are trying to move on with their lives. In this case, all victims and the victim’s families are required to be contacted when a hearing is scheduled. One exception would be an individual convicted of a mass shooting offense, in which no other offender would be disqualified from receiving relief under this bill.

These bills represent an attack on the current practice of ‘Truth In Sentencing,’ a creation of a voter-approved ballot initiative. This extreme legislation does nothing to enhance public safety; rather, they pose a serious risk of harming our communities. Senate Bills 861-864 would dismantle Michigan’s ‘Truth in Sentencing’ requirements by allowing “productivity credits” to be earned by prison inmates toward time off their sentences. The bills are not retroactive and would not apply to life offenses, sex offender registry offenses, or crimes involving human trafficking (Penal Code sections 316, 317, 462b, 462c, 462d, 462e). However, they would allow for an inmate to earn up to a 20 percent reduction of his or her minimum and maximum sentence with a variety of options to get to this percentage. Credits are applied to all sentences if served consecutively and if the longest sentence if served concurrently. The problem with this is when a victim is supposed to be certain on a release date for their perpetrator, there is a chance that felon is released up to 20 percent earlier than they should have been. 

What are we telling our victims? These bills undermine hard-fought domestic violence victims’ rights gains in the past, like felony stalking, by minimizing those crimes and allowing perpetrators out early. I understand and respect the fact that prisoners want to better themselves, but they should not be allowed to do it at the expense of the people they have already victimized. While the bills are not retroactive, roughly 60 percent of the current prison population would qualify by completing educational, vocational, or behavioral programming, or earning a GED. 60 percent of the population getting out early is not regarding low completion or attendance rates, but it is about getting lower sentences through the backdoor. If 60 percent of the prison population qualifies, it is not a compliance issue, it is an attempt to lessen minimum sentences.

Again, my question is why our society continues to be lenient and not hold people accountable for their actions. Why do you think we have the recidivism rate we do? Yet, because of the passive approach of the administration of the Michigan Department of Corrections, criminals continue to run the streets and victimize people. If caught, they get a slap on the wrist, not the chains they deserve. Felons continue to commit felony crimes, including murder.

Until one of these lobbyists, advocates, or legislators have someone they care for, and love get victimized, these kinds of bills will continue to be attempted to be passed. Our politicians, especially those members of the House, need to understand the responsibility they have to the people that elected them to defend their public safety.

I have no concerns that our House Representative Tom Kunse or Senator Roger Hauck supports my thoughts. I just pray those beside them do the right thing.