Michigan Criminal Legal Reform Advocates Plan November 12 Rally to Call for Passage of Second Look Sentencing Act
Michigan State Capitol building rally to also bring attention to Michigan Department of Corrections staffing shortages and aging prison population crisis.
Related to: Sentencing Reform, State Advocacy
Lansing, Michigan – On Tuesday, November 12 at 11:00 a.m. ET, formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, people who have been directly impacted by violent crime, and criminal legal reform advocates and experts from the Second Look Michigan Coalition will rally on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol in support of the Second Look Sentencing Act (HB 4556 / SB 321).
Second Look Sentencing Act legislation – supported by 76 percent of Michigan voters – will give incarcerated individuals an opportunity to petition their sentencing judge for a reduction of their sentence after serving at least 20 years, provided they are no longer deemed a risk to the community.
The November 12 rally will also call attention to two serious and intertwined problems facing Michigan: a severe staffing crisis within the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) and excess spending to incarcerate too many people who could safely return to their families and communities.
A Digital Day of Action is planned in coordination with the in-person rally. The online conversation on social media can be followed using the #SECONDLOOKMI hashtag.
Media is encouraged to attend the rally on November 12 and speak with directly impacted people, advocates, and experts. Full speaker list TBD.
WHAT + WHERE:
Rally for Michigan Second Look Sentencing Act
Michigan Capitol Building – 100 North Capitol Avenue
WHEN:
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 – 11:00 a.m. ET
BACKGROUND:
Research shows the Second Look Sentencing Act can make our communities safer, save Michigan taxpayers money, and create a more just and humane criminal legal system.
Michigan’s prisons are in crisis because of a severe staffing shortage – with more than 1,000 correctional officer vacancies and some prisons operating at less than 60 percent of full staffing.
More than 40 percent of Michiganders in prison are older than 60 and 4,200 incarcerated individuals in Michigan have already served at least 20 years. Evidence also clearly shows that people age out of crime. Even people who engage in repeat offending beginning in young adulthood usually desist by their late 30s.
In addition to solving the staffing crisis by safely reducing Michigan’s aging prison population, the Second Look Sentencing Act balances safety and compassion with an understanding that people can change.
The Second Look Sentencing Act also follows the evidence on safety and justice. Years of research has clearly shown that lengthy prison sentences do not deter crime. Instead, they divert financial resources from programs that could actually have a meaningful impact on public safety here in Michigan.
Michigan has the fifth-highest population of people sentenced to life in prison nationwide, and the number of people serving ten years or more in prison is twice the national average. Black people in Michigan are overrepresented in the population serving longer sentences. More than half of the prison population in Michigan is Black, and racial disparities are even more heavily skewed among the imprisoned population who were young at the time of the offense (65% Black) and those serving terms over 10 years (70% Black).
Groups supporting the rally and making up the Second Look Michigan Coalition include:
- ACLU of Michigan
- American Friends Service Committee
- Detroit Justice Center
- Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice
- Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration (MI-CEMI)
- Nation Outside
- National Lifers Association
- Progress Michigan
- Safe & Just Michigan
- State Appellate Defender Office
- The Sentencing Project
- The United Church of Christ – Michigan Conference
- Vera Institute of Justice
