ART I
AKA members (from left to right) Delores Shepherd, Ameenah Omar, and.
Detroit City Councilwoman-elect, Brenda Scott, pose for a picture.
By SUSAN HEDFIELO .
5pecllli to tM Michigan
LANSI G (Capital News Service)
- "You will be committed to the
State Department of Correc­
tions for a period of your natural
life."
Those were the words voiced
seven years ago to then-18 year
old Gary Wayne Fannon, now
Prisoner No. 189196, convicted
for delivery of more than 650
grams of cocaine (the equivalent
of 1.4 pounds) and tagged with
the attendant mandatory sen­
tence of life without possibility
of parole. .
No matter that it was his first
offense. No matter that an un­
dercover detective - later dis­
missed after a drug test showed
cocaine in his system - intro­
duced Gary to cocaine and lured
him into the trade, into the fate­
ful "deal". No matter that Gary
was in another tate when the
delivery actually transpired.
The "650 Lifer Law", its oppo­
nents ay, does not discriminate
between the drug kingpins it
aims to snag and first-time ac­
cessories.
In the words of the judge who
sen need Gary tha day, "this
court has no discretion whatso­
ever to give you any leniency.
The legislators hav detennin
the ntence in this case."
Under Michigan's "650 Lifer
Law" judges must \J pend th ir
own judgment in deference to a
little chart outlining mandatory
prison senten for a hierarchy
of offens . Michigan has the
old and oughest mandatory­
minimum drug penalti in the
nation.
o RE­
t he Ryan Correc­
in Detroit, but
he may not
m to upon in
The Michigan D mocr tic
P y i promo ing th Clinton
plan in i enti ty. While oth r
«Iudiciary Committee.
The firsts bill gives those al­
ready imprisoned under the
"650 Lifer Law" eligibility for pa­
role after rving 10 years of the
sentence, codifying a 1992 state
Supreme Court decision. Within
one year of reaching eligibility, a
prisoner's fate must be deter­
mined at a public hearing given
by the parole board, according to
Dennis Louney, legislative as­
sistant to Sen. Faust.
"The current law is a death
sentence by life imprisonment,"
he said. "We're trying to provide
hope that if they want to be .re­
habilitated, they will be eligible
to ge out in 10 y rs."
"This bill says, essentially,
these people made a mi take,
drugs are a very rious crime;
but do we want to lock them up
for the r t of their lives at a cost
of 30,000 a year to the state?"
AT 1.12 BILLIO ,the re­
cently passed corrections budget
is Michigan's largest ever. Only
the ial servi and higher
education budgets are larger,
said Corrections Department
spok man Warren Williams.
In addressing fu u offend-
rs, the second bill would alter
th Public Health Code to allow
cou to d part from the man­
datory minimum t rm of'impris­
onment for po se sion or
delivery, if the off; nder has no
concurrent or previous convic­
tions for any felony or assaultive
misdemeanor, Louney said.
"The judge can look at
whether th people a violent
and whether he wants to waive
a mandatory sentence, " he said.
"W 'retryingtoput90mecontrol
back into the judge' hands."
y another bill requir th
D p rtm n of orr ions 0
mov c rtain pr! on r con­
vi ed of ion or deli ry,
into n el ronic h r pro­
gr m An inmate could rry out
he r maind r of hi /her n­
enc home if he/sh h s
rved a least half of his/her
minimum n nee and has no
concurren or prior f lony or
aul iv mi em nor nvic-
nons. Th am ndm n· pplies
,. , .... '"
,
only to prisoners serving mini­
mum entence of more than two
years, and will be retroactive if
enacted.
"TIll PROVID HOPE
for the possibility of getting out,
and an incentive to k p your
nose clean," Louney id. Thes
changes add issu of first­
time, nonviolent offenders.
(Those convicted) should rve
time - it's a serious offense, but
the current law should be tem­
pered with the possibility of pro­
portionate sentences."
"We have found that the ma­
jority of second-degree murder­
ers and rapists get an average of
five to seven years in prison and
then are paroled, "Louney said,
"yet 70 percent of the 650 Lifers
are non-violent offenders with
no prior felony or assaultive mis­
demearror convictions." .
Attorney General Frank
Kelley has described Michigan
as having "the longest prison
terms rid the harshest sen­
ten in the f world. That's
why we've n able to triple the
population in our prisons in th
last 35 ye rs," he aid.
Kelley aid Michigan has fol­
lowed the axiom that "if you
make the punishment sev r ,it
will top or preven or deter
crime."
"Rightly or wrongly, we went
along with that premise and
built more prison than any
other tate in the union. And we
now have more prisoners per
capita than any other tate," he
said'.
See LAW, A8
"IDr,Harbut') ate i
ri n in family and ooeupa­
tional medicine ma e him
e mely qualified for this mis-
ion, " id t te D moor tic
Party Chairman Gary Corbin.
Harbut also brings national
political experience, having
aop .. � as chairman of the Medi-
cal Aid to Poland Committee and
as chief U.S. medical adviser to
the Polish movem nt, Solidar­
ity.
"What it com down to, is
whether Ameri ns want the
last unfulfilled civil right in this
country, Harbut . d. "My wor
is voluntary and my mission' to
educate the Michigan people. "
Michigan is a highly influen­
tial tate in th political debat­
ing arena for national health
care.
U.S. Reps. William Ford, D­
Taylor, and John Dingell, D­
Dearborn, have two-thirds of'th
Clinton plan legislation in their
Housecommi
busin
emplo ,
• A small but significant group
of busin in the state would
carry a h vy burd n of paying
t e payroll ," Woodbury
id.
A RESPO E to the
"fla "in Clinton' plan, SBAM
has helped form the Michigan
Coalition for Positive Health
Care Reform .:._ a co lition that
stands for universal a , but
advocates individual ponsi-
bility and an openly-competitive
market instead of the Clinton
approach.
According to Woodbury,
members include the inde­
pendent insurance agents of
Michigan, and support has come
from veral state officials, in­
cluding th go mor.
Facets of the Clinton plan
that remain in qu tion a th
ability of the proposed cigare te
tax hike to raise th kind of reve­
nue Clinton foresees; and
AND OR G ,the
issues of existing health care for
unemployed or laid-off fa ory
workers is of great concern be­
ca e of the instability of h
auto industry.
Dingell,who chairs th house
En rgy and Commerce Commit­
tee, received praise from the Big
Three automakers because of his
r.. · .-.
7 t: tall
Ages 3- up � .. ,.
OTIVE
cigarette tax is really
, e j much n
e; Godd ld,
'cally, long-term
revenu might be reduoed, but
Hillary Clinton' goal to reduce
the amount of mo er for
health would be accom­
plisbed."
for t problem ith medi­
cal malpractice la ui , Har­
but defend the pre ident'
concept for a national ystem of
arbitration, but admits that
more n to be done on the
tate level to deter th law-
suits.
"The fact that all it to
su a doctor' a 35 court f is
ridiculous," Harbut . d. "There
has to be more ubstantial proof
given that a malpractice uit is
in order."
Both coalitions have meet­
ings with members of t Legis­
lature in th coming months.
T h alth ca reform de-
bates are expected to continue in
Washington - and Lansing­
well into 1994.
all)
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