Michigan’s Second Look Sentencing Act: Ending Life Sentences and Over-Incarceration Starts Now

A mother in Detroit holds a photograph of her son, now a middle-aged man, who has spent more of his life behind bars than in his community. Sentenced when he was just 17, he has grown up in Michigan’s prison system, caught in a cycle of punishment that has no end in sight. Tuesday November 12 at 11am, families like hers gather at the Michigan State Capitol, calling for a system rooted in fairness and compassion. They are seeking reforms and they are demanding a transformation in the way Michigan approaches sentencing. Michigan’s prison system is one of the harshest in the nation. The state ranks fifth in the country for life sentences, and the impact on Black Michiganders is staggering. More than 40% of people incarcerated in Michigan prisons are over 60, and many of them will likely spend their final days behind bars. With the fifth-highest rate of life sentences nationwide, Michigan’s prison population tells a stark story about the state’s reliance on long-term incarceration. The numbers reveal the depth of Michigan’s sentencing problem: over half of Michigan’s prison population is Black, yet Black people account for just 14% of the state’s total population. For those who were...