I am just curious to how the people from Michigan look at the prison closing in Jackson, and the proposed release of 5500 so called "non-violent" offenders by October 1st. The one thing that I always tell people is that there are a lot of prisoners that are non violent because they took a plea for a reduced sentence, and a non violent prisoner is only a prisoner that was never charged for his violent crimes.

This will have a great effect on me and my life, especially hunting. I know there are a lot of individuals in MI that are having a difficult time in finding jobs, and they are now going to have to compete with 5500 just released prisoners.

Maybe this isn't important to you, but it is to me.

We need more prisons, not less. I am all for giving people a chance for rehabilitation. But, it reaches a point where a good number of people simply need to be locked up for as long as possible. I don't care if we have to spend billions to do it, if that's what it needs to be done to keep society safe.

I think it's going to get worse before it gets any better , our first lady of state is really screwing things up trying to save money.
When that prison close's in Octorber , were going to be in worse shape for the simple reason that all those inmates will be back on the street doing more crimes.

WOW, thats hard to believe that there closing that prison???? Not good!

Yeah and whats bad is the prisoners will probably be given preference in hiring because the deserve a better chance than the rest of us

Ok, so what's being said is that a correctional facility is being closed and they are releasing 5500 inmates or ex inmates out onto the street. There is no way in hell that all of those inmates housed in that prison have the same CR ( conditional release date) or being pardoned for their crimes. Just because the jail is closing dosen't mean that all those incarerated in it are going to be released. It may be a fact that a percentage of them will but not all. The rest will be transfered to general confinment facilities to serve out the rest of their sentence. I don't know for sure without looking at the article, maybe the state is going to release 5500 inmates who meet the specific requirements that the state imposes. As for the jail closing, that sucks, local revenue is lost along with local residents having to spend more money to either relocate or drive to work. Nobody likes to have jails closed especially if it's your employment. In some peoples mind ( such as elected officals or upper manangement within the states beurocracy) they believe thay have a cloke of invincibility thats around them to make such a decision which effects the lives of others, hell they live in the capital where there are armed guards at the door for their protection. They have no idea what it is like to live or be around some of the criminals they release. I feel sorry for the employee's who worked there and the town who will loose money.

Its a prison closing, not a jail. There is a difference.A short difference is that people thatget sentenced for not more than a yeargo to ajail. felons that get sentenced to a year or more go to a prison.The 5500 prisoners that are being release are from all over the state, not just this one prison. With the prison closing in July that houses around 1500 prisoners.

My problem is, I can understand wanting to reduce the prison number, but at what expense? Why release all of these people when there are no jobs in the state for them to find?

People can still live the American dream, I just don't believe that it is in Michigan anymore. I'm here for the ride though.

Here are some links.
http://www.mco-seiu.org/ourlocal/press.cfm?pressReleaseID=2029
http://www.wwmt.com/onset?id=34528&template=article.html
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070301/POLITICS/703010365
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1172075769114970.xml&coll=3
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=6124437
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=71143
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070228/UPDATE/702280474/1136/SPORTS07

If we are going to get specific, what kind of prison is it, supermax, max a,max b,medium a, medium b, minimum a,minimum b, drug treatment facility, or boot camp. I'm assuming that since it holds 1500 prisoners that it might be an old max prison that is very inefficent and the state says it costs more money to run than to close.

I'm not familiar on how your system works, do you get hired by the state and then transfer your way back to the facility of your choice or are you hired by the specific facility. Sounds to me like you might be a hack.

The prison that is closing used to be the worlds largest walled prison. The state hires their corrections officers in this way. First you submit an application and hope to hear something back. When you hear something back you go take a civil service exam. If you pass the exam you go for an interview and that same day take a PT test. If you pass both of those there is no gurantee you are going to get a job. If you get picked for a job the state calls you up tell you where you can work and if you accept the position you start the academy. The academy is about 2 months long which consists of tests, PT, and policy and procedure. At the academy you have to pass 3 tests and pass a more difficult PT test. After you graduate from the adademy you go to your facility for a year and then have to pass the PT test one more time. If you pass the test, have your college credits, and have no disciplinaries you get off of probation and become full status.

Do I still sound like a hack, or does it sound like I have done it and may actually know what I am talking about?

Back to the prison. The prison that is closing is a multi level facility. Part that is being closes is a reception center where the new felons come through and get placed (max security), the other parts of the prison have a administrative seg, a dialisist unit for the extreme lame prisoners, and then the rest of it is just a bunch of Level 1 and Level 2 prisoners.

If they close this prison and shut it down, if anything they should build and reopen a new more efficient one. The sad thing is that in 97 the state just put over 100 million dollars into renovations into the prison they are now closing.