LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Members of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, including the Kalamazoo and Calhoun County prosecutors are speaking out ahead of a week that could see the Michigan House vote on legislation that they say would end truth in sentencing for many violent crimes in Michigan and deprive crime victims of the certainty they have relied on for generations.
The first package, House Bills 4160-4164, would eliminate the possibility of life in prison without the possibility of parole for juveniles who commit first degree murder, instead allowing them to be paroled after serving just twenty years in prison.
PAAM Vice President and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald says under the proposed changes, the Oxford high school shooter “could be out of prison and back in our community before he turns 40. The Judge who sentenced him heard days of testimony and made the right decision to give him life without parole. These bills would have a tremendous impact on all of the victims, their families, and the entire community. Such a monumental change in the law should not be passed hastily, without the opportunity for public discussion and debate.”
The second bill package, Senate Bills 861-864, would eliminate truth in sentencing for many violent crimes by allowing prisoners to earn productivity credits. Past PAAM President and Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting says the pending “productivity credit” legislation disrespects victims who have relied on Michigan’s truth in sentencing law for decades.
“Providing certainty to the victims of violent crime is imperative to their trust in the criminal justice system and their sense of security,” Getting said. “Any legislation that would take away the certainty of a minimum sentence imposed by a judge is an attack on truth in sentencing.” The bill package would allow prisoners to earn up to twenty percent credit off from their sentences for crimes such as second-degree murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and carjacking.
PAAM Secretary Treasurer and Calhoun County Prosecutor David Gilbert says the debate this week should be about crime victims. “Who speaks for victims this week and every week? Your prosecutors,” Gilbert said. “Legislation that seeks to “reform” sentencing or change the certainty victims have relied on in Michigan for decades deserves to be discussed in an open and transparent way. Survivors of crimes like child abuse or elder abuse, crimes like armed robbery, deserve to be heard, and not silenced at the Capitol in the middle of the night when the backers of these bills hope no one is watching.”
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