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Senator says corrections reform a priority this year

Prison fence barbed wire
Kevin Rosseel
/
morguefile
Michigan ranks fourth in the nation for prisoner rehabilitation

A Republican state legislator leading the effort to overhaul criminal justice in Michigan says rehabilitation is as important as punishment.

State Senator John Proos says the public is safer and taxpayers save money when released felons don’t re-offend – and when juveniles don’t become permanent clients of the criminal justice system.

“Success for those that are committing crimes in our communities means that they are no longer committing crimes. We have fewer victims. We have less cost. And we’re fixing people in the process along the way. And that’s the whole idea behind modernizing toward rehabilitation.”

Proos says reform efforts have already saved taxpayers enough money to justify closing one state prison before the end of this year.

Proos appeared on the Michigan Public Television show Off the Record.

http://video.wkar.org/video/2365779169/

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987.
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