Shorter sentences a bad idea, Cox says
Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

LANSING -- Attorney General Mike Cox and a group of Michigan law enforcement leaders today denounced the governor's plan to reduce sentences for dozens of crimes to save money by sending fewer criminals to prison or county jails.
Cox said revisions of state sentencing guidelines, proposed by state corrections officials and Gov. Jennifer Granholm, are "seriously flawed," will endanger citizens, have only "marginal impact" on lowering the number of inmates behind bars and shift more of the burden to county lockups.
"It's only about saving money," said Jackson Police Chief Ervin Portis, who heads the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. "Where's the concern about public safety?"

Law officers and Cox said administration proposals would relax penalties for 225 crimes, many of which send relatively few offenders to prison. But lowered punishment for such crimes as fleeing police, identity theft and election fraud would endanger citizens and officers, send the wrong message and help free violent criminals who have pleaded guilty to lesser charges, they said.
Last week, Senate Republicans vowed to oppose any effort to tinker with state sentencing rules, arguing that cost-saving efforts should be directed at lowering the daily costs involved in incarcerating prisoners, reducing the number of repeat offenders and privatizing such services as meal preparation and mental health care.
Rep. Paul Condino, D-Southfield, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Republicans should "take a chill pill" and wait to see what legislation is are filed in the Legislature before going on the attack. For example, he said as far as he's concerned, the more than 200 pieces of legislation won't include any proposed reduction in penalties for the crime of fleeing officers.
Condino said his committee on Wednesday will take up legislation to reconstitute a state sentencing guidelines commission, which currently is inactive but used to review sentencing rules every two years. The commission would put any proposed sentencing changes in the hands of criminal justice experts rather than politicians, he said.
Condino also is pushing for the creation of mental health courts to could reduce the proportion of mentally ill in prison -- about 22 percent of the more than 50,000 state inmates.

"I'm hoping I can at least achieve a consensus we have to make some reforms in corrections," he said. "How is it we could incarcerate only 18,600 inmates 30 years ago and now it's over 50,000?"
Prisons are a target in the battle over next year's deficit-laden state budget because they eat up nearly $2 billion a year in tax revenue, more than Michigan spends on its 15 state universities.
Lawmakers and Granholm are forced to cut costs, and likely raise taxes, because financial experts say state revenues otherwise would fall nearly $2 billion short of what's needed to fund government services.

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Rep. Paul Condino, D-Southfield, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Republicans should "take a chill pill" and wait to see what legislation is are filed in the Legislature before going on the attack.

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...Is this a legislature or middle school?

My favorite part of the article is: "lowered punishment for such crimes as ... election fraud would endanger citizens and officers, send the wrong message and help free violent criminals" Just what kind of elections are thay having up there that fraud would endanger officers?

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Originally posted by Larry L:
Just what kind of elections are thay having up there that fraud would endanger officers?

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Man, you don't get it. Election fraud! How do you think all these laws are getting passed to let all the felons out of prison? Because the felons are voting, dude! That's election fraud. They're voting their way out of jail by electing pro-felon legislators! It's a conspiracy, man!