Michigan prison sentences are growing. Revived commission to consider reforms

The Michigan Sentencing Commission meets after nearly three decades
Lawmakers reinstated the panel in 2024 to review sentencing
Average minimum prison sentences have increased 30% since 2014

The Michigan Sentencing Commission convened this month for the first time in nearly 30 years to begin reconsidering guidelines that have led to increasingly long sentences pushing state prisons closer to capacity.

Lawmakers in 2024 voted to reinstate the commission, which is made up of 15 members, including current and former state legislators, attorneys, judges and experts. They’re tasked with using data to review and recommend potential changes to Michigan sentencing laws.

“It’s in everybody’s best interest if the judge has a good, working understanding of what a reasonable sentence is in a case, for every offense, for every offender,” said Judge Christopher Yates, who is the chair of the commission.

“It’s very important for prosecutors … and it’s especially important for people coming through the criminal justice system that their attorneys can give them accurate advice on what their exposure is if they go to trial and what their exposure is if they get a plea offer,” Yates said.

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The Michigan Legislature first created a sentencing commission in 1994, and that 21-member commission met from May 1995 through November 1997. After the commission created guidelines for felony offenses, which were enacted in 1998, it was dismantled.

“Nobody has taken a really close look at sentencing in Michigan for nearly 30 years,” Yates said. “The purpose of the revitalized sentencing commission is to do the research that’s been lacking for the last three decades about how sentencing is working in Michigan.”

Judge Yates — Judge Christopher Yates chairs the Michigan Sentencing Commission, which returned this month amid growing concerns over longer prison terms and inconsistent sentencing. (Michigan House TV Screenshot)

The reestablishment of the commission comes at a time when sentencing in Michigan has become inconsistent.

According to a report from the Crime and Justice Institute, a Boston-based nonprofit, the average minimum sentence in Michigan grew 30% over the last decade, from about nine years in 2014 to 12 years in 2023. The most significant increase occurred from 2019 to 2020, from roughly 11 years to 12 years.

The share of incarcerated people serving minimum sentences of 10 years or more increased from 55% in 2014 to 65% in 2023. Meanwhile, the share of those serving minimum sentences of two years or less declined from 21% to 14% over the same period.

The Michigan Sentencing Commission has an opportunity to be the data-driven messenger in terms of prison reform, Maura McNamara, deputy director of the Crime and Justice Institute, told Bridge Michigan.

“We’ve seen it be really effective in other states where … having an objective group who are really involved in different disciplines, being able to drive change from this place of using data, research and objectivity rather than it being a really polarizing political conversation,” McNamara said.

Michigan is one of 21 states with a sentencing commission, according to the National Association of Sentencing Commissions. There is also a federal version.

“One of the more frequent criticisms of the justice system is that its sentencing structure often appears confusing and nonsensical,” said Kate McCracken, executive director of Safe & Just Michigan, a criminal justice reform advocacy group.

“Two different people convicted of the same offense under similar circumstances can receive wildly different sentences depending on which county they are sentenced.”

The study also found that drug and assaultive crimes were the most common offenses for which incarcerated people were serving time. The minimum term for inmates with drug offenses increased by 33% from 2014 to 2023, and the average minimum term for inmates with assaultive offenses increased by about 3% over that same time period.

“With a robust research agenda, the Sentencing Commission is positioned to generate important discussions that can lead to critical reforms to our criminal legal system,” McCracken said.

“Modifications to Michigan’s sentencing guidelines have an opportunity to reduce disparities and promote proportionality in sentencing.”