A Michigan prisoner vents his spleen (unedited)

Perhaps it’s time to listen to the comments of our citizens who resident in Michigan prisoners. HFP gives one this opportunity today: 

Hopefully my kvetching falls on at least one influential person's desk who is sympathetic to changing the fallen state of the prison system.

We hit a tipping point after COVID when the convict mindset took a "don't care" attitude. The pandemic disrupted the tight routine necessary to maintain order, and as convicts continually pushed the envelope--with little push back by staff--their use of moonshine, drugs, and violence increased exponentially, as did gang membership. Add to this new levels of depression, fatalism even, after learning so many friends died, and the anger at health care's apathy toward actually caring only worsened the issue. 

Speaking of anger, this one falls directly on Michigan's Democrats: Their refrain since 1984 was they'd focus on prison reform if they ever reclaimed control of the state. Well, they had it, and they betrayed us! What actually got done for the majority of convicts? Granted, the way the Good Time bill was drafted made it a long shot, but Second Look was the best idea since sliced bread. Nothing guaranteed, the convict had to serve quite a bit of time before even being eligible, and most important of all, his/her behavior drove that second chance at freedom. Continue to act like an animal, stay caged like one; change for the better, and at least get a day in court to prove you can be an asset to society. And what did our liberal politicians do? Failed to even show up for the vote. Thanks for playing politics with our families' hopes after they put you in office. 

The Governor dangles the carrot of commutation before our eyes, and the parole board has been wonderful in arranging more public hearings than anyone since then-Governor Granholm's second term in office, but with so few signed it has become more an issue of frustration than realized hope. Obviously better than under the bad ol' days of Engler and Snyder, but as time drags out it feels like more of the same old song and dance. 

Fortunately, and thank God for them, Michigan's Supreme Court is not afraid to tackle the tough issues and chose to raise the juvenile lifer age to twenty and under. While sympathizing with the almost unendurable pain we've caused our victim's loved ones, at least the Court is enlightened enough to recognize the cognitive development studies on youth as mitigating circumstances for what we did. For those of us affected by this decision, the hope of eventual release has modified pretty much everyone's behavior for the better. Oddly enough, the reverse is true of those who were 21 to 25 at the time of their crime. Anger at the Court for not including them when listed in the studies has often turned into unwarranted, spiteful comments from jealous convicts, and while I don't personally know of any violence over this issue, I've put up with a lot of nasty remarks, or people doing disrespectful things and challenging me to do something about it. Leave it to the prison subculture to tarnish a good occurrence. 

Okay, I've managed to digress while thumping my chest from the tallest soap box on the street corner. As always, I appreciate all you and HFP do. 

God bless, Mr. D 

Our suggestion is that you forward this post to your state legislator. Let us know what you hear.