Should violent offenders in Michigan’s prisons for decades be set free?

LANSING, MI (WTVB) – A section in the State budget asks the Parole Board to consider whether violent offenders in Michigan who have been behind bars for decades should remain imprisoned. A group of former guards asked House Appropriations Committee Corrections Subcommittee Chairman Dave Pagel to insert the “boilerplate” language in the spending plan, saying that many of those long-term inmates aren’t given a legitimate shot at parole. The state Attorney General’s office is reviewing the wording of this insertion.