Second Look Legislation Gaining Support in Michigan

According to Michigan Representative Kara Hope (D - Holt) of the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee, the state of Michigan spends about $48,000 a year per prisoner and holds over 32,000 prisoners in the state. Of those 32,000, about 32% have served a decade or more of a sentence, and many of those incarcerated in Michigan’s prisons are serving sentences that are not representative of current sensibilities about length of punishment. People in prison are growing older, and the cost of medical care for elderly continues to rise.

Outside of the petitioning the governor’s office, there’s no current mechanism for re-examining people’s sentences. House Bills 4556-60 would give those incarcerated a second chance by allowing them to petition their sentencing judge to take a second look at their case for a potential reduced sentence. Those who petition for a reduced sentence under the legislation would need to have served at least a decade, and would need to show they are no longer a risk to the community, officials said.

"This is not a way to just let everybody out, but this does give a pathway to those individuals to show judges that originally sentenced them that ‘hey, take a second, look at me, and I can prove to you that I have been redeemed, that I’m ready to be a productive member of society," Representative Jimmie Wilson Jr. (D - Ypsilanti) said.

The individual's sentencing judge would also consider the following factors:

• Age of the person at the time of the crime and research on brain development
• The individual's history while incarcerated
• The individual's role in the offense compared to their co-defendants
• The individual's mental and physical health, whether that be in present time or at the time of the crime
• Whether the person was a victim of human trafficking
• Whether the person experienced domestic abuse, and other factors

In addition to giving individuals a second chance, the legislation would provide the opportunity for the state to improve public safety and save "hundreds of millions of dollars" by preventing crime instead of responding to it, according to Rep. Hope. It would also address the state's "gross racial injustice," and a 1,500-position staffing issue faced by the Michigan Department of Corrections.

"This is a time where a good government and compassionate policy come together, where we decide not to be reactionary, not to act on fear," Rep. Hope said. "Michigan’s criminal justice system: 51% of Michigan’s prison population is Black, while Black individuals only make up 14% of our total state population. It’s time that these bills get moving, and I am proud to be a part of that."

To learn more about Michigan's Second Chance Look legislation, watch the testimony of Ronald Simpson-Bey, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships with JustLeadershipUSA, testifying at a hearing yesterday for the legislation in front of the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee.