Michigan’s conservative Republican governor, Rick Snyder, said barely a peep about prison and criminal justice reform in the early days of his administration, even though Michigan spent more on prisons — $2 billion a year — than it did on higher education. Last month in Detroit, however, he roared. Mr. Snyder rolled out a comprehensive plan to send fewer people to prison and assure that those who leave prison find jobs, instead of returning to crime and correctional facilities, where they each cost Michigan taxpayers $35,000 a year.
It’s the kind of big-picture leadership that Gov. John Kasich, who took office at the same time as Governor Snyder, needs to show. Ohio’s prison population — now at about 50,000 — is rising while devouring $1.5 billion a year of the state budget.
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In Michigan, Mr. Snyder called for, among other things: sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison, releasing more elderly prisoners who don’t pose a threat, increasing the racial diversity of Michigan’s police forces, improving treatment for juvenile offenders, and addressing root causes of crime such as untreated mental illness, substance abuse, child neglect, and truancy. Sensible reforms like those proposed by Michigan’s governor continue to gain bipartisan support across the country.
To be fair, Mr. Kasich’s record on prison and criminal justice issues is surprisingly good. To head the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, he appointed Gary Mohr, probably the nation’s finest and most forward-thinking prison chief.
Mr. Mohr has, sensibly and courageously, ruled out building more prisons. He notes that Ohio’s 27 prisons hold thousands of nonviolent mentally ill and drug-addicted offenders whom the state could treat more effectively — and far more inexpensively — in the community.
By bolstering re-entry programs and maintaining a strong network of local re-entry coalitions, Mr. Mohr has cut Ohio’s prisoner recidivism rate to a record low 27.1 percent, compared to more than 40 percent nationally.
Mr. Mohr also has requested more mental health workers, and encouraged local judges to use a range of community-based options for probation violators. He has funded local efforts that supervise offenders, expand drug and other treatment programs, and reimburse communities for diverting offenders from prison.
By the end of 2016, all eligible inmates who leave prison in Ohio will be enrolled in Medicaid with a selected managed-care plan. Mr. Mohr also has spoken passionately about the problems faced by the children of incarcerated parents.
Still, Governor Kasich must do more than quietly support these initiatives. He must use the power and influence of his office to ensure that they and other equally urgent reforms become public policy.
Moreover, many of the broader changes that are needed to create a more fair and effective criminal justice system, as well as a more just society, are beyond Mr. Mohr’s purview. These include changing sentencing policies, improving early childhood education, and creating an adequate community-based treatment network for those who struggle with mental illness and addiction.
By using the bully pulpit of his office, Michigan’s conservative governor has, rightly, put criminal justice reforms and the state’s costly and ineffective prison system at the top of his administration’s agenda. So should Governor Kasich.
First Published June 7, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
