(MPRN-Lansing) A Republican state lawmaker leading the effort to overhaul Michigan’s criminal justice system says it’s a big job, but it needs to get done.
A bipartisan consensus is emerging that decades-old “tough-on-crime” policies need to be replaced with “smart-on-crime” laws that focus more on rehabilitation.
State Senator John Proos says taxpayers save money and the public is safer when felons don’t re-offend – and when juveniles who run into trouble are set in the right path.
“Public safety is a constitutional requirement that we as legislators have in the public policy arena, too. How does public safety fit and punishment fit into rehabilitation and reform?”
Proos appeared on the Michigan Public Television show Off the Record.
He says a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s criminal justice system can still be accomplished before the end of the year.
