While plenty of coverage has been given to democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, there’s another democratic candidate that Michigan prisoners have endorsed as the one to vote for,
“Have all of your Michigan contacts vote for Shri Thanedar for governor on August 7th. His campaign centers around prison reform. He’s the only one I’ve heard say anything about it.” – DeShaun Foster, MDOC Gus Harrison CF
With Michigan’s Good Time Bill still up in the air its important that our selection for Governor has the well-being of prisoners and prison reform at the top of their agenda. Many candidates push criminal justice reform to the end of their list of priorities but Thanedar has centralized criminal justice on his platform. He has a passion for making many transformative changes in Michigan’s overcrowded prison system and prisoners along with their families, advocates and supporters have taken notice. His choice to centralize reform has separated him from other candidates in an indisputably unique way. When seeking ways to improve the criminal justice system, Why don’t we look toward the ones who are most affected by those changes? Those that are greatly effected are the ones who are capable of providing the solution.
Time to Put Criminal Justice Reform into the Hands of the Inmates
Very often we gravitate towards the ridiculous idea that criminals are incapable of brainstorming or troubleshooting, but this is only when we forget that incarcerated people have the capacity and passion to do research and study in ways that many of us on the outside don’t have time to do. When I received a letter from DeShaun Foster, an inmate currently incarcerated in Michigan’s Department of Corrections, stating Shri Thanedar is the best candidate for governor I didn’t hesitate in supporting his endorsement. I’m writing this article now because I feel like many people have overlooked this candidate. It’s time that we put Criminal Justice Reform into the hands of the inmates whose lives depend on those reforms. At this point in our nation choices about inmates’ rights and their sentencing have been placed in the hands of those who are least affected by the results. Careless and money hungry legislators have created policies and made changes in the criminal justice system that have detrimentally effected our community and economy. The product of which has been predatory policing of communities of color, over-sentencing, harsh legislation like truth-in-sentencing laws, extreme overcrowding and the proliferation of the mass industrial prison complex.
We’ve quickly realized that current policymakers greatest interests aren’t for that of the people but are for that of corporations. We often see legislators support corporations saying that these are the entities by which we will ‘get more jobs’ and have a more robust economy. But instead of seeing more jobs we’re seeing the same big companies get bigger and bigger while the income of the average John Smith and Jane Doe continue to decrease. What’s good for the corporation is not synonymous to being good for the people and it’s time that we look toward the people who are most affected by policy changes for guidance in those policy changes. If prisoners endorse a candidate for governor and we support those prisoners it is our responsibility to support their endorsement.
Legislators Bought by Corporations Support the Mass-Industrial Prison Complex
Many legislators are supported by corporations that are intertwined within the mass-industrial prison complex through their use of prison labor. We must refuse to support any candidate whose campaign is tied to slave labor. In response to this problem, this year’s National prison strike seeks to shift political power from the elites into the hands incarcerated folks. Once legislators begin to recognize the power of incarcerated folks through the impact of their voices, then the changes that we need to see in the criminal justice system will begin to unfold. For too long policies under the label of ‘Criminal Justice Reform’ fall to the bottom of policymakers’ priority list. Its time for legislators to begin to put Criminal Justice Reform at the top of their list and they can only be persuaded to do so after realizing that people are following the instruction of their local caged communities. At this time it is our responsibility to listen to those marginalized voices. In this country incarcerated folks do not have the right to vote, a symptom of our the new Jim Crow, and as people on the outside we have the privilege of valuing or devaluing the voices of those on the inside. If we want to establish prisoners rights in the political process then we have to share our privilege with this underclass in order to lift them out of the oppression that the state has forced upon them.
The Illusion of Safety is Contributing to the Problem
Many candidates label Criminal Justice Reform policies as those needed in an attempt at making our communities ‘safer’ but I’ve come to realize that the phrase, ‘making our communities safer’ means further oppressing marginalized communities and communities of color with the hopes of detaining more individuals. The fact there more people in prison does not mean that the community is safer. The fact that it’s more likely for a person of color to get arrested, and even die, at the hands of police officers through the efforts of a traffic stop does not at all mean that our communities are safer. As a young woman of color for me that means that the real danger in my community has transferred to the state. The gangs enforcing violence have become those gangs employed the state, the over-policing of communities of color is state approved gang violence. To combat this Thanedar’s criminal justice reform plan is centered around prevention, protection and rehabilitation rather than retribution & punishment.
Thanedar’s Agenda Align with Good Time Supporters Goals
“I fully support bringing Good time back to the state’s prison system and repealing the Truth in Sentencing Law” Thanedar shared with me along with his goal is to reduce the size of Michigan’s overcrowded prison population by moving $2 billion of Michigan’s $2.8 billion dollar Public Safety Prison operations budget into establishing alternative programs for non-violent offenders. “There are approximately 40,000 men and women whose sentences deserve to be reassessed because of their good behavior during their incarceration” he shares. Along with this his belief is that non-violent offenders should not be incarcerated, their incarceration costing around $40,000/year is a complete waste of tax dollars, “In Michigan we spend 40,000 per prisoner, but only $9,000 per student; that math doesn’t work for me” and it doesn’t work for Michigan residents either many of whom have complained about the reduced quality of students education. We can pay less for people to sit in prison by establishing alternative programs where they can receive the support needed to rebuild their lives and become effective contributors to society.
While establishing alternative programs for non-violent offenders, he also plans on dropping marijuana related felony charges through the legalization of marijuana, this is a plan that many have advocated for but have yet to pin a politician to such an action, “When I am governor I will legalize marijuana, and pardon and expunge the records of the people who are in prison for low-level marijuana possession”. For those suffering from addiction, he plans to establish treatment plans rather than prosecute those individuals, “We must devote resources to treatment and rehabilitation…by increasing access to mental health health treatment we can reduce crime and get more citizens contributing to the economy”. In relation to prevention Thanedar’s campaign focuses on police training and community policing. He believes that officers should be held accountable with the plan to thoroughly investigate and penalize those officers whose encounters with citizens result in instances of brutality or abuse of power.
Amplify Prisoners’ Voices in the Prison Reform Conversation by Voting for Their Choice
Let’s do our part by allowing those who are incarcerated in Michigan’s overcrowded prisons to let their voices be heard. Now is the time to show Michigan policymakers that we are not only listening to incarcerated residents in Michigan, but that we are following the lead of our caged communities in the battle to transform the broken criminal justice system. Michigan is one of the most oppressive states when it comes to the criminal justice system. Michigan has one of the highest number of Prisons per capita and Michigan prisoners are shipped across the state like bags of goods, they work for little to nothing and are treated with little dignity or humanity. This August, this Black August, while prisoners are striking nationally let’s vote for the life of a prisoner instead of for the profit of corporations. Are caged communities are u citizens of this state who deserve to be heard and I’m calling Michigan voters to respond with support for candidate Shri Thanedar.
