The following article by Charles Kronzek was published in the Lansing State Journal on July 5, 2014.
Charles Kronzek: Shorten sentences for prisoners' work
During the last two decades, I have been extensively involved in the criminal justice system. My law firm has represented thousands of people that have been accused of crimes all over Michigan and elsewhere in the United States. I have seen the inside of many county jails, Michigan prisons and federal prisons.
Reading “Unlocking Criminal Justice Reform” (Greater Lansing Outlook, June 6) left me bewildered. As was necessary and appropriate, the article presented viewpoints from legislators, judges and prosecutors. Conspicuous by its absence was input from the criminal defense bar, one of the key components of the justice system.
It is noteworthy that Michigan prison sentencing does not allow for good time credit for inmates. While your article points out that there has been a 79 percent increase in Michigan’s average prison stay and that warehousing each inmate costs us taxpayers $37,000 annually, the articles failed to correlate the more lengthy stays as one byproduct of the elimination of good time credit by Gov. John Engler.
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