Dozens of activists representing organizations from across the state met on Tuesday at the Michigan House of Representatives Office Building.
They gathered to call for reforms in the ways the state incarcerates its citizens and to bring attention to problems that affect nearly 33,000 citizens .
Here is a sample of some of the issues that were talked about.
A Ban on Life Without Parole for Minors :
These include changes to the way the state sentences its youngest offenders. One bill would ban sentencing minors to life without the possibility of parole. It would do this by requiring a hearing after 10 years served that would take things into account like the maturity of the offender, and their family life at the time of the crime.
People who entered the prison system as teenagers say reforms like this would have saved them years of their lives and saved taxpayers the $2.5 million that it takes to house an inmate for that long.
“I have a friend of mine sentenced to 40 years at a minimum sentence for armed robbery,” said Gregory Wines, who was incarcerated at 17. “40 years, that man is going to be at least 63 before he gets out of prison… He is going to dip off into your Social Security. He’s going to dip off of everything you work on, and the legislator’s pocket.”