The June 20, 2023 document from Warner Norcross+Judd notes that because the bill in question, HB 4452, does not change any of the wording in the 1978 initiated law that banned the use of “good time credits,” a trimmed prison term due to good behavior, there is no need for the three-quarters constitutionally required support to amend an initiative approved by the people.
Rep. Graham Filler (R-St. Johns) is not sure, and with these bills scheduled to be in front of the House Criminal Justice Committee Tuesday, he wants Attorney General Dana Nessel's opinion on the votes required to pass the legislation.
The Sept. 11 letter to the AG comes after the House announced the four-bill package would be taken up during Tuesday’s House Criminal Justice joint meeting with the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.
Last week, Filler, also minority vice chair of the House committee, said he would seek the AG’s legal opinion if Democrats moved forward with the package, which he opposes because of the potential negative impact it could have on victims’ mental health.
He is asking for the opinion on the grounds that the package is similar enough to the “good time” or good behavior credits eliminated in the 1998 Truth In Sentencing Law, and should require a three-fourths vote of both the Michigan House of Representatives and Michigan Senate to overturn.
House and Senate fiscal analyses came to the same conclusion as Filler, but House Democrats and advocates, like the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Michigan Family Forum and various religious groups, believe the legislation is different enough because credits are given only to inmates who advance their education or training, rather than those exhibiting good behavior.
The package starts with Rep. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit)’s HB 4450, which establishes the credit system for the completion of educational and vocational programs approved by the state Department of Corrections (MDOC), but Filler focused his attention on Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-Detroit)’s HB 4452, which updates the Corrections Code to allow prisoners subject to disciplinary time to be paroled before they have served their minimum sentence under the credit program.
Filler requested Nessel give her opinion on whether HB 4452 requires a three-fourths vote of both chambers to become law, under language in Article II, Sec. 19 of the Michigan Constitution.
He also requested that Nessel opine on whether any legislation amending Section 33 of the Corrections Code, as was done with Truth in Sentencing, requires a three-fourths vote, “regardless of its content.”
“Michigan voters made clear that they support victims of serious crimes,” Filler wrote. “I believe that intent remains clear to this day. The one thing victims are promised in Michigan is that the perpetrators of crimes will remain in prison until, at least, their minimum sentence is served.”
