Two bills and a proposed amendment to the state constitution are both work to alter Michigan’s mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes.
The two bills currently in the House, sponsored by Rep. Bill McConico, D-Detroit, would give judges the same freedom in sentencing drug offenders as they are allowed in sentencing violent criminals.
The amendment gives minimum sentences for drug trafficking, but allows judges to review individual circumstances.
“This would give judges the ability to look at individual cases and all circumstances involved in each case,” Gina Palencar, spokeswoman for the Michigan Campaign for New Drug Policies, said.
Another aspect of the proposed amendment gives more state-funding for drug treatment and treatment for lesser drug offenders instead of jail time.
Rep. Mike Kowall, R-White Lake, vice chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee, is a co-sponsor of the bills but doesn’t agree with all of the legislation.
“Treatment as opposed to incarceration is something I’m not comfortable with,” he said. “I would be happy to give a lot of authority back to judges, but to say, ‘No, you can’t put somebody in jail’ - you just can’t do that.”
The amendment’s supporters submitted more than 450,000 signatures to state officials.
A similar proposal passed in the 2000 California election.
Sen. William Van Regenmorter, R-Georgetown Township, chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee, said the group is made up of “wealthy people outside of Michigan who are attempting to buy their way into the Michigan Constitution.”
“From what I understand, during their signature gathering, their summaries of the proposal to petition-signers were very vague and ambiguous,” he said. “That’s downright wrong.”
Under the proposed amendment, mandatory minimum sentences would be done away with except for those convicted of making a net profit of $500,000 selling drugs. The $500,000 is subject to change based on inflation.
Novi district Judge Brian McKenzie said these stipulations are ridiculous.
“How do you prove that someone made a net profit of $500,000 or more?” he asked. “Why do drug dealers get their crimes indexed for inflation? No other financial crime in Michigan is indexed for inflation.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
