LANSING, Mich. (Sept. 27, 2021) — Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) has introduced Senate Bills 649-652, restoring Michigan’s “Good Time” credit system. This set of four bills will improve safety inside prisons and save millions of dollars by allowing incarcerated individuals to earn credit toward their release through good behavior.
The legislation amends Michigan’s Prison and Corrections Codes restoring Michigan’s good time credits. It requires that incarcerated individuals earn good time credit on a monthly basis for demonstrating positive behavior and a likelihood of success upon release. If an individual committed misconduct that month, their good time credit can be revoked.
“The push for ‘Tough on Crime’ policies did nothing to reduce crime. It ruined entire communities, packed our jails and created a runaway prison industrial complex,” Sen. Irwin said. “Restoring these policies would go a long way to making prisons safer while reducing state spending, incarceration times, and our prison population.”
Until 1978, Michigan had a good time credit system that allowed a person to receive up to 15 days of credit per month for good behavior and completing programs that make the person more likely to be successful upon release. In 1982, in response to an increasing prison population and state corrections spending, the legislature implemented an earned time system. This system was then eliminated by the 1998 Truth in Sentencing Act that requires inmates to serve every day of their minimum sentence.
Michigan is one of just six states without a statewide Good Time or Earned Time policy for incarcerated individuals. Nearly one in four Michigan prisoners have served more than 10 years, as sentence lengths have increased by 60% since 2005. Additionally, out of 50 states, Michigan has the tenth largest prison population, the 22nd highest incarceration rate, and spends the sixth most on corrections.
Several studies about the public safety and cost benefits resulting from credit systems have shown that they not only save states millions of dollars by reducing prison populations, but they also reduce recidivism rates — one such study showed that New York saved $369 million over a nine-year period by allowing 24,000 people to reduce their sentences by six months.
“Allowing a person to earn a reduced sentence by bettering themselves so they can re-enter society successfully is good for everyone. It reduces recidivism, reduces crime, and allows people to rebuild their lives,” Sen. Irwin said. “Good time makes good sense.”
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