Michigan almost doubled the average time behind bars for its prisoners between 1990 and 2009, says a new study by the Pew Center on the States released Wednesday. While the trend mirrored a national one, Michigan’s practices on longer incarceration for all types of crimes was particularly notable, and expensive, the report’s authors stated. “The […]
Pew Center on the States
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it” — Thomas Fuller, 17th century British author. * There’s probably a great deal of math behind this which, as a liberal-arts grad, I will take on a certain amount of faith. The cool map, though, shows Michigan as one of just eight “green” states […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Teacher retirement fund has $45 billion hole
When something once vital and secure dies, it must be mourned. And so David Campbell, superintendent of the Livingston Educational Service Agency in Howell, likes using the language of a funeral director when discussing Michigan’s retirement program for school employees. “We’re in the middle of a grieving process,” he said recently, going through stacks of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Guest column: Voting reform boosts access, security
By Ruth Johnson/Michigan secretary of state Critics and pundits (“Right to vote is under attack,” Dec. 15) would have you think that any move to review and make common sense adjustments to our current elections system is a veiled attempt at destroying our democratic process. The fact is that ensuring integrity in our elections system […]