Fall 2019 the movement to repeal TIS laws was reinvigorated by congressional failure to get another criminal justice reform across the finish line. In 2018, I received a prison phone call out of Gus Harrison that a bipartisian HB 5666 was introduced in the House of Representatives in order to revive an earned time system to replace Michigan’s formerly restricted ‘disciplinary credits’. “Where did you hear about this?” I asked, “There was a tiny piece of paper with the bill number on top of the phones in the yard, someone made this in here and wants people to tell their families”. While representatives, democratic LeGrand and republican Howrylak, had a proposal sitting in congress, unfortunately no action was taken to engage the wider citizenry until people in prison made fortune cookie sized fliers to organize an inside-out effort, a small flame that took on that phone call and many others I’m sure, is still flickering.
As the 2018 bill’s possibility for passing fizzled out, both representatives were less than enthusiastic with LeGrand sharing,
To offer my opinion on what is going to happen with the Good Time bills – I don’t expect that they are going to go anywhere at all this session. I think Chair Kesto is focused on the Nassar case and on some other more moderate prison reforms in Law & Justice this go around. That said, if we don’t see movement this time, I am hopeful that the bills would be re-introduced in the next session, and perhaps a new set of legislators would be more friendly to restoring Good Time.
MI Rep David LeGrand, District 30
Former, Law & Justice committee chairman Klint Kesto was a repeated thorn in the side of organizers hoping to see the good time bill pass. As the committee chair his responsibility to bring the bill to a vote was never prioritized and citizens failed to ever see where their reps even stood on the issue. Representative Howrylak advised that with his bill dying in congress that the best time for reintroducing the issue would be in two or three years. However citizens knew what they wanted and refused to wait for congress to prioritize their distress. That following year, and each year since, residents have collected signatures petitioning for a repeal for truth in sentencing laws all together.
A restored earned credit system is required in Michigan’s state prisons: (1)in order to balance provisions available in other correctional systems like in county and federal facilities (2) quell environments that otherwise incite violence each day for people inside of prisons (3) reduce the overall long-term costs MDOC further elevates with maintained overcrowding…among many other reasons. Any official or decision makers’ impeding access to earned credits for people in Michigan state prisons illustrate their lack of value for those who are democratically disenfranchised and as a result underserved, exposing their inability to effectively lead marginalized communities.
After the 2019’s initial petition push failed to gather the the 300k+ signature threshold by the Summer 2020 deadline, another bill SB649 was introduced in state congress by Sen. Jeff Irwin and stalled, again without even having the opportunity to see where our representatives stand with a committee or floor vote. In response, Michiganders didn’t miss the most recent opportunity to get “Good Time” on the ballot with another petition run for the November 2022 general election. That one unfortunately with its core base of support disenfranchised, also fell short of the state’s signature threshold.
However, a new set of state legislators have responded to this critical and continual call by impacted citizens. December 2022 Reps O’Neal (Saginaw) and Rogers (Kalamazoo) introduced yet another bill in response to the “Good time” movement, HB 6568. In contrast, to previous efforts like restoring the old disciplinary credit system or establishing those rehabilitation credits proposed within citizen’s initiative petitions, ONeal’s bill provides people in prison with -a month for month- (rather than the usual day for day) good behavior policy in exchange for earned time off one’s sentence.
While this -month for month- system wouldn’t reduce overcrowding at the rate that dilapidated prison conditions require, this policy does open a reliable and accessible pathway for people incarcerated in Michigan state prisons to more effectively focus on and see progress towards restoring their health, reshaping their lives and returning to society as soon as possible. I’m looking forward to discussing more on this and other ways to disrupt barriers to success for returning citizens with Representative O’Neal during his community conversation livestream next month.
