Over the Halloween week-end, masked H.P. Pre-schoolers prowl HPCC campu ,
looking for 'goodies'.
By BART ORBAN
Sp!C'" to Michigan Cltlz n
$1.1 billion this year, up 14 per­
cent from last year. It costs an
average of $22,000 a year to
house a prisoner.
The number of prisoners has
increased 63 percent from 1987
LANSING (Capital New S rvice)
- Some relief for Michigan's
costly and crowded prisons may
These campaign workers made their final pitch on
behalf of the mayoral candidates to voters at the
Messiah Missionary Baptist Church on Seven Mile.
to 1992, ranking Michigan fifth
of all stat in number of prison­
ers, due in large part to n­
ten s that Attorney General
Frank K Bey call "the tr ng-
t and h h in th world."
now
thes
1991, according to the U.S. De­
partment of Justice. As a result
of the increases, the corrections
director sayathe state will run
out of prison beds next year.
"You can pass all the manda­
tory minimums you want, but
that translates into prison beds
and if you don't give corr ctions
systems pri on beds then you're
going to hav problems," said
Corrections Director Kenneth
McGinnis.
The willingnes to addr s
mandatory minimums is a good
sign to many politicians, bu­
reaucrats and corrections ex­
perts who see it as an essential
step in controlling mu hroom­
ing costs and prisoners.
The majority of inmates - 67
percent according to the depart­
ment of corrections - are in for
non-assaultive crim .
This group has becom the
target for those who want to r -
Heve pressure on the syst m and
save prison beds for violent of­
fenders. One way to do that is to
repeal mandat that ti a
judge' hands.
"You've got to leav some
room for I way b u offend­
ers don't fit into slo like the
legislators want," aid Cooley
Law Prof or Lynn . Brr n­
ham; a former chair of h
Americ n Bar A ociation's
committ on corr tiona nd
entencing.
T P"""""'Io;II.LL'
limitatio
t in movin to introci
legisl tion, D . d. It
i un . tic to expect someone
to give up career to perform
public erviceand th nb outof
ajob after ixy , Dunaski
id.
"Five years from no ,87 peo­
ple in the Legi lature will be
gon ," Dun . said. "W
ally have to redefine the sy tem
toma ethe ystemm e e e.
We need to have people with th
youth and al 0 th life experi­
ence to run the body. "
Currently 36 other states
have part-time legislatu , but
most of them are evolving into
full-time legislatur , id Bill
Sederbur, the vice pr ident of
Public Sector Consultants and
former state senator.
"We would be swimming
against the stream of what's go­
ing on elsewhere," Sederburg
said. .
Other political analyst
agree. Bill Ballenger, editor of
inside Michigan Politics, and
also a former senator, said that
m�y considerations for a part­
time legislature stem from a
desire to improve ethics, meet
deadlin , and become more ef­
ficient.
".THIS IS TRYING to ap­
peal to the anger and frustra­
tion of the public," Ballenger
aid. "The impressions that
many h v is th t (lawmakers)
o OPO ofa
part-time legi lature believ
that We' ert's vie are the
very root of the problem. Di
Headl , Oakland County tax
crusad r and chairman of Ta -
p yer United for Michigan,
id th real problem li in the
fact that a full-time job has
THE DEMOCRATIC legis- been made out of a part-time
lature did not want the emcu- policy job.
tive branch to dictate their ac- Fear ofla wm akers bowing to
tions, so they began operating pecial interests and lobbyists
full-time, taking periodic re- has tainted the view of the pub­
eesaes, eliminating this guber- lie, said Headlee, ho also
natorial power, Ballenger said. the move going hand in hand
But Dunaskiss and said he is with term limitations.
not worried that similar prob- "We n people in these po­
lems would crop up if this reso- sit ions who know how to work
lution is passed, which he said for a living and not just serve
party leaders from both hou their time and retire on th pub­
have promised will be taken by lie role," Headlee aid.
Jan. 1,1994. Headlee has said he would
"They understand the impor- contemplate a petition drive if
tanCfiLm t�: Dun kiss id, the olution does no p jhe
"I'hi is ju om tping that. Le�1at
GOOD
and
CARE
. for
olllen (Pregnant or Brea tfeeding)
...._-
nfants
Incom
F mily
Siz
W
kly
Monthly
y
rly
C
hildren (Up to age 5)
1
$24
1.075
12.
2
335
1.454
17.44
423
1.
21.997
4
511
2.212
26.54
5
5
2.592
31.
6
2.971
35.650
Each
addition 1
person:
4.551
For Information
Call1-800-26-BffiT
or
Call your Local Health Department
Women, Infants & Children Program (WIC)
See PROPOSAL, AS l__