Safety, justice take more effort, involvement than electronic shackles
MICHIGAN – Justice advocates across Michigan were disappointed by last year’s Michigan Supreme Court ruling in the Kardasz and Martin cases, citing real world evidence that the ruling that allows lifelong surveillance is bad for public safety and justice. Although the justices found that Michigan’s Registry is punishment, they decided, at least in this case, a lifetime on the Registry did not rise to the level of cruel or unusual. Research and personal experience both show that electronic tethers and public registries ostracize people and make it difficult for them to rebuild their lives after incarceration. People change with time and support and that’s the best way to truly enhance public safety.
“Lifetime registries and monitoring harm public safety by wasting time, money, and staff resources that could be better deployed to prevent and solve crime, while making the targets’ lives less secure and more unstable,” said Chuck Warpehoski, Project Director of the Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration. “Resources could be better used by investing in victim services, assault prevention, and proven programs that keep people safe.
Professor Karl Hanson’s research shows that lifetime on a registry or a lifetime of electronic monitoring of a person who committed a sex crime is a waste of resources. Even those with the highest risk to re-offend, if they have not re-offended after 20 years living in the community, are no more likely to do so than any one else.
“I have rented to formerly incarcerated people for years, some of whom served for sex offenses and they are among the best, most orderly tenants I have,” said Char Goolsby of L&R Hospitality. “Those on the Supreme Court need to have my real world experience that shows this group of folks are focused on reworking their lives, rejoining their families and communities. Lifetime tethers and being put on public display are big barriers to people doing what they need and what their families need, to put the pieces back together.”
“We know what works. We have solid evidence that shows if people have the tools to seek employment and interact with peers for support and accountability, they are likely to succeed once they leave incarceration,” said Kathie Gourlay, a member of Michigan Citizens for Justice. “Surveillance and exclusion, tethers and registries, do exactly the opposite in terms of getting someone back into society. They give the illusion of effectiveness, when real public safety is much more about interaction and giving people tools to rebuild their lives and heal their families and communities.”
Michigan has one of the largest sex offense registries in the country, over 40,000 individuals. This is likely because the majority are on it for their lifetimes and judges are stripped of authority and are forced to make a one-size-fits-all ruling. Using a risk assessment tool instead, could reduce this number dramatically, saving money, time and hardship.