Trying to establish shorter sentencing guidelines was tried and was unsuccessful. Yes sentences are assigned by a Judge but Judges are also not allowed to sentence outside of guidelines when they want to. At times their hands are tied as well. Judges used to sentence someone to life and that used to mean 25 yrs but when Engler changed the make-up of the parole board to elected positions instead of under MDOC the parole board determined that "life should mean life" thereby re-sentencing these individuals. Funny, I didn't think the parole board could over-ride the sentencing judge!! That is why the Supreme court has weighed in on this and found in favor of the lifers!!!
Saying that they can simply charge less per inmate per day doesn't make much sense. The cost has to do with the amount of money that the Department of Corrections spends on salaries, and other necessities. They have cut as much as they possibly can. In most cases those things that the general public thinks they pay for are paid for out of the Inmate Benefit Fund. Funds that inmates contribute to. They can't simply charge themselves less. Doesn't work that way.