This booklet will take you on a journey that explains who the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) currently incarcerates. We have collected a set of stories from average people who, today, are serving long sentences in Michigan prisons. What makes these people unique are the sentence they were given: they have been deemed a threat by a judge in a courtroom, often years or even decades ago. Were these people to get a different sentence, the system would commend them for their transformation. This is why Second Look Sentencing legislation is badly needed.
Our justice system is one of the few unaccountable systems in the country. It doesn’t make decisions based on best practices…or in the best interest of the young people and families involved. As a result, there is a 70 percent recidivism rate. The decision makers can administer this misery and not take any responsibility for the outcome.
James Bell
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