The Case for Granting More Commutations: Knowing there’s no ‘real’ Truth in Sentencing

As we continue to push for the passing of the Good Time Bill (HB 5666)  in Michigan it’s important to critically think about the other resources that exist to help accomplish our goal to de-icarcerate the state. Michigan is a state where the average prisoner serves a longer sentence of any other state, with the average minimum sentence being ten years and over the past few years the state has seemingly been moving in the wrong direction when it comes to de-incarcerating our region.

In addition to Good Time Policies being in place to shave down the sentences of inmates who have demonstrated their rehabilitation through good behavior, another route to reducing the number of individuals who are incarcerated is through commutations. The State Governor has the power to commute sentences, and Snyder has only done this for four individuals over the coarse of his four years in office. All of those commutations have been medical nature, inmates being so ill that they’re in need of long-term critical care. However  commutations are not only used for medical relief of prisoners from the penitentiary. Our last state governor, Jennifer Granholm granted a record number of commutations, over 100 in 2 years, 32 of which being first-degree murder convictions. Commutations are used in order to re-sentence inmates, usually after their having successfully served a portion of their sentence. Individuals file their own commutation application or one is filed on their behalf.

Commutations exist because there is no real truth in sentencing, everyone’s path towards rehabilitation is different. Which is why effective good time policies are were in place, in order to craft the sentence to the individual but with those gone, commutations are another, more strenuous but just as effective method for making rehabilitation specific to a prisoner’s individual processes. The existence of commutation is an avenue that exists because of the fact that the criminal justice system isn’t always accurate in it’s sentencing or treatment of offenders. I’d argue that it’s more often inaccurate than not. Commutations are essential because many prisoners are judged much more harshly then necessary and others are able to re-evaluate their life choices and use the resources available to them while in prison in order to rehabilitate themselves to a point where they and their support system believe that they’re ready to re-enter society. This rehabilitation process often occurs long before one’s judge appointed sentence has been completed leaving many inmates to unjustly sitting in prison for years and even decades longer than useful and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars being wasted on individuals who could be productive members of society, supporting their families and paying taxes themselves.

I target the governor of Michigan because this state is plagued by Truth in Sentencing (TIS) laws for which prisoners are required to complete the full term of their minimum sentence without any possibility of being rewarded with time off for good behavior or through taking educational courses. These prisoners have no incentive for rehabilitating themselves. Because of this the commutation of rehabilitated prisoners should be a much more frequently used avenue that the governor uses to relieve the overpopulated prisons of the state. So far Syder hasn’t awarded nearly as many commutations as his predecessor Jennifer Granholm did, but it isn’t too late. Snyder has the greater part of the year left in office to demonstrate his attempt to de-incarcerate the state. This means granting more than just medical commutations, but also commutations for those sentenced to more serious crimes, like felonies and murders. It’s important for the governor to demonstrate that the entire range of individuals incarcerated within Michigan’s Department of Corrections can be rehabilitated. We must recognize that the state’s goal with incarceration is to rehabilitate and prepare individuals for reentry into society. The TIS laws were a step in the wrong direction for the state, illustrating that its programs and educational techniques were ineffective in reconstructing the lives of its inmates. With TIS laws i place impending much needed releases, Michigan should be awarding a record number of commutations with the highest average in comparison to other states without TIS laws.

The governor and the public can’t possibly believe that there’s a one size fits all sentencing of individuals. There must be some men and women who are sitting in prisons for years longer than necessary because of this law, men and women who are more than ready and adequately prepared to assist their families, raise their children and find steady jobs. There are men and women who have thoroughly exhausted the resources available to them in the penitentiary, who’ve assisted others alongside them behind bars in taking advantage of those resources. These men and women deserve to have the opportunity to develop their lives on the outside, be of service to their families and their community. For the state to ignore this fact by only granting commutations of medical nature is a gross injustice to society. Imprisoning individuals who are prepared and able to function as productive citizens is not only dehumanizing but also a waste of economic resources, it deteriorates our society socially and economically.

States who do not have good time credits in place to reassess sentences should at the very least have a higher average of commutations than those states who do award good time credits. The goal of prisons is not to harbor individuals for as long as possible, but sadly corporations like telecommunications provider GTL and healthcare provider Corizon, have made longer prison stays more attractive to the private sector. Regardless of how profitable incarceration is for these disgusting businesses, keeping prisoners longer, especially beyond their point of rehabilitation, is economically and socially costly. Its time that we push Snyder to grant more commutations during his last months in office. As we think about who the next governor of Michigan will be with elections coming up later this year we must plainly ask where each candidate stands on prison policies such as good time, re-sentencing life sentences and granting commutations. We must ask them directly what ideas they each have for reducing the prison population. Our governors are the executive power of our state and regulating our criminal justice system by reducing numbers in overpopulated prisons should be one of their top priorities.