Criminal justice activists rally at the House of Representatives

Dozens of activists representing organizations from across the state met on Tuesday at the Michigan House of Representatives Office Building.

They gathered to call for reforms in the ways the state incarcerates its citizens and to bring attention to problems that affect nearly 33,000 citizens .

Here is a sample of some of the issues that were talked about.

A Ban on Life Without Parole for Minors :

These include changes to the way the state sentences its youngest offenders. One bill would ban sentencing minors to life without the possibility of parole. It would do this by requiring a hearing after 10 years served that would take things into account like the maturity of the offender, and their family life at the time of the crime.

People who entered the prison system as teenagers say reforms like this would have saved them years of their lives and saved taxpayers the $2.5 million that it takes to house an inmate for that long.

“I have a friend of mine sentenced to 40 years at a minimum sentence for armed robbery,” said Gregory Wines, who was incarcerated at 17. “40 years, that man is going to be at least 63 before he gets out of prison… He is going to dip off into your Social Security. He’s going to dip off of everything you work on, and the legislator’s pocket.”

Wines went on to say that he changed during his time in prison, and after 10 years, he had changed for the better.

“It’s a very harsh and violent world in there. I spent eight and a half years in a level four facility and once I went down to level threes and twos, I was able to begin to take advantage of programing. That programming began to change my life.”

Wines now works with the State Appellate Defender Office as a paralegal and says he knows others who are waiting for their chance to contribute as well.

“I’m not the only one.,” Wines said. “There are many, many men and women in the prison system who go through the exact same phase that I went through. They mature, they grow up, they change. We got this thing called aging out of crime, It’s real. It’s not made up. People do age out of crime.”

Currently, Michigan sentences more juveniles to life without parole than any other state in the country.

A Ban on Solitary Confinement:

Another legislative goal targeted by activists is a bill that would lead to a complete ban on the use of solitary confinement in Michigan prison systems. Which activists say is a form of torture, where people are forced to live in a space the size of a parking space for 22 hours a day with little outside contact.

“Solitary causes severe physical and psychological harm, such as anxiety, depression, and psychosis to the thousands,” said Charmie Gholson, speaking on behalf of citizens for prison reform. “Did you know that solitary confinement has been defined as torture in the U.S.?”

Gholson went on to say that the Michigan Department of Corrections has become good at changing the name to get around this.

“Michigan’s very good at it, I’ve got a spreadsheet full of people who died in solitary confinement from dehydration and from weight loss,” Gholson said. “They starve, and cut off water to folks, and torture them on the regular.”

Further legislation sponsored by the same group would give people in prison a guaranteed right to family visits, calling it a human right that can’t be taken away by prison guards.

Support for Post Traumatic Prison Disorder:

Activists also called for more support for people dealing with the long-term trauma of being in the prison system.

“This is demanding that we come home better than we left,” said Shawanna Vaughn, an organizer for Silent Cry.

Vaughn included a list of demands that make up a current bill in moving through Washington that she’s had a hand in writing. It would address a wide list of mental health needs for everyone currently living or working in prison communities.

“I’m asking for trauma-informed biopic therapist, I’m asking for alternatives to medication, I’m asking that guards be mandated to therapy,” Vaughn said.

Actions like this are critical to the wider community as well, that’s because most of the people who are in prison now will have to return to their communities one day, Vaughn said.

“How do we want our neighbors to live?” Vaughn said. “Nobody comes out of prison with a “P” tattooed on their forehead, and after COVID, this is affecting everybody… so imagine the people who are incarcerated.”

Political frustrations, and election-year politics:

Even though close to a dozen lawmakers were invited to the event, none showed up. Some activists blamed this on Congress being in session for the early part of the rally.

But others said that no one showing up from Capitol Hill up represents a lack of attention on this issue.

Frustrations boiled over in the Mackinaw room, as multiple speakers took the time to call for more action on the issue, especially among democrats who have making empty promises for years, according to activists.

“At some point, we have to fall out of love with the democratic party,” said James Thomas, speaking on behalf of Nation Outside. “It may be a hard pill to swallow, but the Democratic Party has not been a friend… Democrats won from the House, the Senate, the governor, the attorney general, and the state police, they run everything in our state. But they have not cashed one check for criminal justice reform, not one thing.”

Others echoed those frustrations, saying that in an election year like this, choosing between Republicans or Democrats feels like a vote for keeping the status quo alive.

“They tricked us into believing we are free by allowing us to choose our own master,” said Marcus Kelly, who spent nine years behind bars on a wrongful conviction. “So, they took the chains off your ankles and legs and put it on your brains… I didn’t ask for that system, it was forced on us. But now, we must use that system to get free.”

The rally concluded with a tour of the capitol building, and visits to lawmakers’ offices, to try and bring the conversation directly to the people who will be voting on these issues.

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