Criminal Law

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

toya2012 — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:39:42 GMT

i agree my mom has been in jail since 2004 and she has changed her life around she is on the thing but they just have to approve it i need her to be here with me

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 01:09:14 GMT

I am all for good time, there are those who have done things wrong when they were young and stupid or messed up somehow, and they have learned and straightened themselves out. They didn't have the money to get themselves out of it, so in prision they go. I believe that prisions are made up of those who are poor. That people with the money to get themselves off and not to say they don't straighten themselves out but if they don't they will just get off again. My son had some problems and got in some trouble, I did not have the money to get him out of it, he took off, he got off drugs and started his own business. He turned his life around and was doing well. They found him and they did not look at that at all, now instead of being a contributing person in society, he is costing society money, and when he gets out he may have lost his will to work hard and may have picked up bad habits from being incarserated. He keeps studying and has a plan set to restart his life and buisness when he gets out but he is not quite half way thru. If good time was in, he would get out in alot less time and again contribute to society instead of cost society. In prision they are doing nothing to help him. I know he made a mistake or two in his life, who hasn't but like most he had turned it around himself, I don't understand why that would not come into play. I think it would be better use if they got out early and had to do community service on top of working. So they would learn something, like giving back instead of getting hard and more useless. Give good time back, and give those who have learned a chance, make those working in that system more giving to sucess instead of expecting failure.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

Aboyd10 — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:53:28 GMT

I need to know how we can get this Good Behavior done we can start getting money back into the State of Michigan.

Thank you

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

llwalker — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:38:27 GMT

There is no new information about this bill.

Everyone needs to contact their representative and tell them to get off their duffs and bring this bill to the floor for a vote.
This is just a house bill and if passed, it would have to go before the senate to get passed.
The roadblock there is Alan Cropsey(R). I hear he is term limited (thank the lord). He has been the main roadblock to prison reform.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

AceO18 — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:03:47 GMT

Does anyone know any new information on this Bill?

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

ru4thechrist — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:52:56 GMT

I know what you r saying and you have a good argument, but i have a friend who is in the prison system who did not do the crime they say he did and is about to loose 13 years of his life for nothing. The only chance he and many others who have been wrongfully convicted have, of getting back home to there families. If they want to let people out, first ones to go should be the ones where there was not sufficent effidence to convict them. There have been many men in prison and they were innocent so we do know that this happens i have watch on the news several times when they released innocent men. So i say if they want to release some just go through the files one by one and do there own investigations. It might cost them a little money but i think that either way they will pay. i think it would be in there best intrust to go throught the files and see what type of person they are letting out.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

nikki239 — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:14:11 GMT

I am guessing that you have never been in prison or even know anyone in prison. You have know idea what you are talking about when it comes to prisoners. Do you really think that there are 7,000 inmates in the prison system that has not received a ticket. Do you really think that the panel can pick and choose just by looking at their files? Have you ever read one of the files of the inmates that has already been released? I don't think you really want to know the inmates that have been released already and what is in their files and where they are living now. I am not saying that all inmates are bad and that they cannot change. What I am saying is that the ones they are releasing are non violate.......Right...... Did you know that some of ones that are being released, are non violate are sex offenders?. Do you really think that a sex offender is non violate? What about the sex offender that was released in California, that killed the teenager. What about raising sales tax? Then everyone pays......

I am worried about the way the State is going.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

rgarza0331 — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:44:23 GMT

Are you going to be the one that picks and chooses who is released? If you actually read through the bill, you would see that there are many stipulations that must be met before any inmate is relased! Each one of these inmates will have to have their prison records reviewed by a panel. If they have had no tickets during their incarceration, then they can go before another review board. Do you really think the state is going to open the doors and just let everyone out? Besides, if the state does not get some form of relief on the budget you may not have a job anyway, because they won't be able to pay you. They have already laid off state troopers, and other state employees, what makes you think that prison guards won't be next?

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

nikki239 — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:11:40 GMT

I don't think that anyone out there knows what they are talking about, when they want to release imates early. I work in the prison system. People don't understand unless you have had a crime commented against you or someone you love. What about the sex crimes? Which one of you in the House or Senate will vote to release these imates early, because they are behaving in prison? What about the victims and thier families? What happened if one of these crimes were commented on your child or grandmother you know? Are you going to be the one to pick and choose which one will be released? You can start by cutting the House and Senate retirement. I would love to get a pension from the State, for only working four years. What about the benefits they get after four years? I don't get benefits or get a pension from the State when I retire.......

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

zenwishes — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:59:06 GMT

I am in support of these bills. It is time for the State of Michigan to get their priorities together and to spend more on education than on corrections. It is a sad day when the education budget is continually cut so that we can incarcerate more and more people for longer and longer periods of time. A larger portion of our population is incarcerated than is true in any other 1st world country. Something is not working with our system.

Passage of these bills would:

1) Save the state millions of dollars each year. This is not a small consideration as our budget is in a sad state of affairs and something must be cut if we continue to spend this much on corrections each year.

2) Encourage rehabilitation as there would be rewards for good behavior and loss of these rewards for unacceptable behavior. It has been proven that good behavior over a period of time becomes a habit. Good time would encourage the building of responsible behavior over time.

3) Provide for a safer environment within the corrections system for both employees and prisoners as corrections staff would have some control over behavior through the awarding or not awarding of good time.

Further delay on acting on these bills is costing additional money. It is possible to vote for these bills and still be tough on crime. There has been no evidence that the awarding of good time in any way encourages recidivism. In fact, common sense would argue otherwise.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

Scottswife22 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:27:42 GMT

I also am in support of bill 44974498,and 4499. I believe that anyone that is against this doesnt have any experience with the michigan department of corrections. I believe that Michigan is one of the few states where the time doesnt fit the crime. If some one commits a crime here, and commits the same crime in many other states, you do almost double the time in the state of Michigan. NOT EVERY ONE, locked up should be there, or should be there for the length of time Michigan gives them. My husband took a stupid attack, he was a master mechanic, we owned our own business. One night on the way home from work, he was being pulled over, he was driving on a suspended licenses due to Michigan Driver Responsibility Fees, ( in 2008 you had to pay the full amount ) Now you can sit up payment arraingments, if this arraignment was available back in 2008 he wouldnt be in prison right now. But he flipped out, and freaked out, because he knew getting a driving on suspended was going to hurt his career. In a SPLIT second, he decided to try and out run them, ( mistake on his part ) but that split second decison of trying to not lose our business, and his ability to test drive cars, cost us 3 years of our lives. He has a year left. IS there any one that thinks, this crime deserved 3 years? We lost our business, I am disabled, and cant work, 2 of my land lords have now lost the house I am living in to foreclosure. If it wasnt for my kids helping out, I wouldnt be able to make it. If he had gotten a sentence from another state he would be home by now. Give back good time, do away with TIS, and cut the budget. Its all a win win situation.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

llwalker — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:29:58 GMT

A minimum sentence only became that when TIS was adopted in Michigan in 1999.
John Engler did this, and only this to benefit himself with his prison building program.
Build more prisons so he could line his pockets.
The state of Michigan receives millions of dollars per year from the Federal Government, you and I, to have Truth in Sentencing.
However, where this has gone awry is that inmates are kept LONG after they serve their minimum sentence because the parole
board doesn't feel all comfy cozy with paroling someone.
It seems that all it takes are a few parolees who screw up to make it difficult for any other inmate who is attempting to change their life for the better and atone for their mistakes.
Laws are in place, not to protect citizens, but to make people behave a certain way. Laws don't protect you, the enforcement of the law does when someone doesn't behave the way they are required to by law.
What is really needed here is integrity and steadfastness in running the prison system to correct behavior. No correction in behavior will most asuredly result in the same behavior again and again.
Why don't you petition the legislature to change the name of the prison system from Michigan Department of Corrections to Michigan Department of Prisons and Punishment.
Life cannot be "unmoving", as it is ever changing as knowledge is attained. If you are "unmoving" in anything, then you are frozen in time. When I hear statements like yours, it reinforces my thoughts that the majority of people in this state are hateful, mistrusting, and don't want anyone else to intrude on their little peninsula.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

LiberTea — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:48:58 GMT

I oppose HB 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior)

The fulfillment of a minimum prison sentence is critical in demonstrating the perseverance of Michigan's courts and law enforcement officers in upholding the law, and providing a just punishment for the law's offenders.

Michigan's laws are in place to protect its citizens. If Michigan can not demonstrate integrity and steadfastness in the punishment of law breakers, there is little reason for citizens to abide by the law. We must be unmoving in our decisions.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

motherrosa — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:23:42 GMT

I am in favor of bills 4497,4498,4499. I believe that people deserve another chance in life, especially after they show a change in how they want to live their lives. We all have made mistakes in life,due to bad judgement and hanging with the wrong type of friends. But prison can either change you for the better,or for the worse. It depends on the person and their heart and mind set. Most times being away from family wakes you up in a hurry, because then you have nothing but time to think and reflect on the choices that you have made and the people that have been hurt and affected by your decisions. Please bring back good time and yes some prisoners will fail and end up back there, but I feel that most of them will do everything within their power to never go back their again, because contrary to what the public make think about prison, it is not a country club nor a spa to vacation at. People are cruel and treatment is worse. I am the mother of a daughter who is in prison and her sentence did not fit the crime. If we look at our criminal justice system blacks are sentenced harsher and longer than whites for the same crime, and this is coming from a person who worked at the courts for thirty years. So please bring good time back and help reduce the budget strain on the state and the families that help support the immates.

Re: 2009 House Bill 4497 (Revise prison time off for good behavior )

leapfrog244 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:11:12 GMT

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is not important, however I am a law abiding citizen that pays Taxes and a vivid hard working citizen... And have been since I can remember. I am 45 and still struggle with the everyday challenges that seem to arise. I husband is the one that has been incarerated and I am writing in regards to Bill 4497- 4499. I am all for the Good time Bill. My husband has been incarcerated since Aug. 2007 and he has not had any kind of disciplinary action against him. He has never been in any trouble previous to him being incarcerated in 2007 and is a very good person with a big heart. I know that he has learned a very valuble lesson while being incarcerated. He did make a mistake as we all do and has learned from this. That is why i believe that this bill should be passed: I know that our other governing states have passed the Good Time Bill... and have been sucessful. The state of Michigan has only let out prisoners that have passed thier minimum sentence and been flopped plenty of times before that. Please take in consideration the Money that the State of Michigan can save if this Bill is passed. What would be more appropriate than to pass this bill and save millions of dollars... To me it's a huge start to help the economy out.

Please take my thoughts inconsideration.

Thank you,