Earlier this week Michigan’s Good Time Bill, HB 5666, was not to voted on by legislators as expected. I received a comment from office staff about the overwhelming amount of calls and emails LeGrand’s office received as a result of the scheduled vote on the Good Time Bill that was introduced in the House at the end of February. I’m glad to see our persistence and diligence in following the the bill. Michigan residents are eager to hear about its progress and after a few days of research I’ve found that HB 5666 was not put to a vote.
The only bill from the Committee of Law and Justice that was discussed during the legislators’ meeting on April 10th was Representative Cochran’s HB 4971 on criminal procedure which adjusts the authority of counties to offer reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction by increasing the maximum reward an individual can receive for tips leading to a suspect’s arrest. This bill is unfortunately in the complete opposite direction of what those in support of the Good Time Bill had been hoping would be discussed during Tuesday’s meeting. This bill seems to be increasing the likelihood of incarcerating more individuals rather than re-assessing the sentences of those who are currently incarcerated.
Michigan is suffering from a clear problem and its hitting us hard. Michigan keeps inmates much longer in comparison to other states. These extra years of men and women staying in prison is socially and economically expensive, driving up prison costs by millions and millions of dollars a year, this consumes over a quarter of the state’s general fund. Not only is this problem costly economically on a state level but costly on a community level as African American families are heavily effected with over 44% of the states entire prison population being made of of non-white men. That’s almost half! Its more than disappointing, its disgusting to see the lack of the representatives’ interest in the demands of the people on correcting this gross issue. However, instead of blaming busy and corporate paid legislators who have little to no relation to those who are incarcerated, I blame the people, I blame us.
It is entirely our responsibility to make our demands clear. I’m proud of our ability to followup with legislators in response to our expectations for their having a vote on the bill, many people seem to be getting discouraged by the actions of legislators but rather than becoming disheartened I’m energized by opportunity to re-strategize. Now legislators are aware of our interest in the HB 5666 bill’s progress and outcome, but we cannot allow ourselves to be discouraged at their lack of interest in pushing good time legislation forward.
It’s clear that its going to take some more effort on our part in order for the Good Time bill to come back onto the table in the house. I’ve been advised by my comrades incarcerated in Michigan’s Department of Corrections to begin the circulation of an Initiative Petition. The Initiative Petition is an act of the people to create or amend existing legislation. This petition fully outlined below will enact adjustments related to prison code introduced earlier this year in HB 5666. This Initiative petition requires at least 252,523 valid signatures by May 30th in order for the proposed legislation, the Good Time Bill, to override the legislators voting process. After the successful collection of signatures the bill must be put for a vote by legislators to be either adopted or rejected within 40 days. If the proposed bill is not immediately adopted and is rejected by legislators then it is given another opportunity to become a law by moving forward to proposed to the people in the state of Michigan’s next general election which would be November 6, 2018. This is our opportunity to bring Good Time back in the State’s prisons so that rehabilitated prisoners can rejoin society to support their families and communities.
Whether the bill is adopted by legislators or voted into law in a general election, it is important that we give this bill a chance to become a law by showing our overwhelming support for the Good Time Bill. There are more than 40,000 men and women incarcerated in the State of Michigan whose sentences deserve to be reassessed according to the magnitude of their good behavior during their incarceration. Michigan is one of the very few states currently that don’t incorporate Good Time policies to allow a rehabilitated inmate to be released after effectively serving a portion of their sentence, this is a policy that is even instituted at a Federal Level. There is absolutely no reason why a person should lose more of their life just because of their misfortune of being incarcerated in Michigan. Below is where you can add your name to the list of people who support the enacting of Good Time in Michigan. Now is the time to push back against mass incarceration. Find your local representative to contact here.
If you’re having trouble filling out the online petition please fill out the contact form below and I will reach out to you to resolve the issue. We need your signature and your support.
If you have any questions or would like to assist in circulating a paper petition then you can print this petition document on 8.5X14in paper, scan and email the completed document to amanisawari@gmail.com.
