Dept. of Corrections director says prison population can be safely reduced

The missing information in Ms Caruso's information is that in Michigan, felons are given an “indeterminate sentence.”

This specific term in criminal law means “in law, term of imprisonment with no definite duration within a prescribed maximum. Eligibility for parole is determined by the parole authority. In this respect, an indeterminate sentence differs from a definite one in that statutes prescribTing the latter usually provide for parole eligibility after a specified fraction of the full term-in most countries, from one-half to two-thirds of the original sentence.” [dictionary.com]

An indeterminate sentence differs from a definite one in that statutes prescribing the latter usually provide for parole eligibility after a specified fraction of the full term-in most countries, from one-half to two-thirds of the original sentence, M Caruso!

a fraction of a fraction

So, MDOC calculates, re-calculates, mis-calculates felons' sentence.

And elected officials are faced with a long-anticipated “budget crisis,” so administrators, like Ms. Caruso trumpet an unfounded assertion that prison populations can be reduced.

Missing from the Caruso memo is the threat to public safety which will predictably result in the implementation of this short-sighted policy.

The Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative includes in its posted bibliography the following chilling prediction from the National Conference of Governors:

“This churning of large numbers of individuals between prisons and communities has a tremendously destabilizing impact on already disadvantaged communities. In fact, research suggests that such high concentrations of returning prisoners and the movement of individuals in and out of prison actually drives crime rates up in these disadvantaged communities.”

“Some important facts about the prison population:

• 80 percent have a history of substance abuse.

• 16 percent are diagnosed with a mental illness. Prisoners are two to four times more likely to be schizophrenic, depressed, bipolar, or suffering from post traumatic stress disorder than the general population.

Of teens in juvenile detention centers, nearly 66 percent of boys and 75 percent of girls have at least one psychiatric disorder.

Seventy-three percent of mentally ill inmates also suffer from a co-occurring substance abuse disorder.

• Many already are or will become homeless. For example, a study of the New York prison system found that 11 percent of released prisoners entered a homeless shelter within two years of release.

• 25 percent of the US population currently living with HIV or AIDS was released from prison within the last year. Overall, 2 to 3 percent of the prison population has HIV or AIDS. The rate of state prisoners testing positive for HIV is five to seven times greater than in the general population.

• 18 percent have hepatitis C. The rate of prisoners infected with hepatitis C is nine to ten times higher than the general public.

• 7 percent have tuberculosis.

• 70 percent are high school dropouts and roughly half are functionally illiterate.

• Most are unemployed upon release. (Nearly 75 percent were employed prior to incarceration. Of these, about half were employed full-time.)

• Earning potential for ex-inmates drops 10-20 percent compared to what they were earning prior to incarceration.

• 55 percent of males and 65 percent of females in prison have minor children.

• Female offenders confront serious physical and mental health issues (over 60 percent have a history of physical or sexual abuse) and long-term substance abuse issues.”

National Governors Conference For Best Practices
The Challenges and Impacts of Prisoner Reentry – 11/4/4

Based on this published research, I assert that Ms. Caruso, Director, Michigan Department of Corrections, is either uninformed or only editing the facts to “justify” actions which have proven to jeopardize public safety.

This is crazy. We have suffered at the hands of a nut-job that the MDOC released before his time was up, and paid dearly. The people in prison are there for a reason, and we aren't reducing anything. What we are is becoming less and less tolerant of idiot management and administration that thinks that they can fool us into believing this garbage. And they will be job-hunting soon.

On 10/4/2010 my wife was cought with an inmate Robert Thomas who was poaroled to grand, rapidis , mich and was in the unit that my wife worked in on 9/7/2010. My sisters wote Warden Burgets a letter and, an I spoked to her the following friday. No investigation has token place. The inmate is still on parole.
I take this to heart because my oldest brother was killed by inmate, an who to know what may happen. My wife work at westshore line correctional facilityand her name is jacqueline crews. and my name is melvin crews and I know the rule because I use to work their my self. The Warden should have conducted an investigation at once after she talked to me.