Prisons

A Michigan Department of Corrections report says the rate of repeat offenders being returned to prisons is at an all-time low. We have more from Rick Pluta.

A state House committee voted along party lines Wednesday for a bill to blunt the effects of a Michigan Supreme Court decision. The ruling says 19- and 20-year-olds cannot be automatically sentenced to life-without-parole. Rick Pluta has more.

Corrections departments across the country are seeing an increase in the use of contraband cell phones and, subsequently, a direct correlation to an increase in organized crimes in prisons. WEMU’s Caroline MacGregor chats with MDOC Director Heidi Washington about calls for state legislation to pass signal jamming technology to detect and disrupt contraband cell phone use in correctional facilities.

The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on whether the state’s felony murder standard is constitutional. We have more from Rick Pluta.

New state reports out Thursday are listing concerns with three of Michigan’s prisons. Colin Jackson has more.

The Eastern Michigan University Undergraduate Research Symposium will feature incarcerated students enrolled in the school's "College in Prison" program in a first-of-its-kind occasion in Michigan. WEMU’s Ana Longoria has more.

Inmates in Michigan’s only prison for women are suing the state Department of Corrections. Colin Jackson has more.

Some long-term Michigan prisoners have been hoping that the Legislature would pass a package of bills that could give them another chance at freedom. But as Colin Jackson reports, the time to pass Second Look legislation has all but run out.

A plan to allow Michigan corrections officers access to the State Police Retirement System passed the Michigan Senate Wednesday. Colin Jackson has more.

After serving thirty-five years of a life sentence, the only thing Leroy Harris wanted to do was teach children how to avoid making the same kinds of mistakes. But he didn't have the confidence to set his goals in motion. He later turned to occupational therapy through the Ypsilanti-based organization “Life After Incarceration: Transition & Reentry,” or LAITR (sounds like “later”). Today, Leroy is not only starting his own business to help troubled youth but also sits on LAITR's board of directors. Leroy shared his story with Concentrate Media's Rylee Barnsdale.