Opinion | Revisiting Truth in Sentencing laws would harm Michigan families

In Michigan, our justice system was built on the principles of accountability, fairness, and public safety. 

For decades, Truth in Sentencing laws have ensured that violent criminals serve their full, court-ordered minimum sentences. This system provides victims and their families with the assurance that justice will be served and their safety prioritized. 

But three legislative packages currently advancing in Lansing threaten to dismantle these hard-won protections, allowing violent offenders to walk free far earlier than they should.

The consequences of these proposals are not hypothetical. Similar scenarios are already playing out in real time. 

Take the case of Laverne Kindell, who was convicted of brutally murdering two elderly women in May 1976. Kindell, who turned 18 one day before his crime, beat his victims so savagely that their bodies were unrecognizable. These murders devastated their families and shocked the Leslie community. At the time, Kindell was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole — a punishment that fit the heinous nature of his crimes.

However, due to a resentencing hearing made possible by a Supreme Court ruling, Kindell was released from prison on Nov. 20 without the need for parole after a judge determined he had served enough time and was fit for release.

Now, the Legislature is considering bills that could make similar cases the norm.

Juvenile Life Without Parole (House Bills 4160-64) and Second Look (House Bills 4556-60) bills would allow convicted murderers and other violent criminals to be eligible for parole or resentencing after just 20 years. The justification? Some offenders were juveniles when they committed their crimes, or they’ve served “enough” time based on arbitrary calculations of rehabilitation.

These proposals ignore the lifelong trauma experienced by victims and their families. They also overlook the seriousness of violent crimes. The fact that someone was a juvenile when they committed murder doesn’t erase the pain and devastation they caused. My own teenage sons understand that murder is unequivocally wrong, and society must not send the message that such crimes come with automatic second chances.

The productivity credits package (Senate Bills 861-864) resurrects a system similar to the deeply flawed Good Time credits policy that Michigan voters rejected when Truth in Sentencing was enacted in 1998. This system would allow offenders to reduce their sentences by up to 20% simply by participating in prison programs.

While rehabilitation is important, it must not come at the expense of accountability. Allowing offenders to shave years off their sentences undermines judicial authority, minimizes the seriousness of their crimes, and retraumatizes victims.

For example, under these proposals, individuals convicted of felony child abuse, arson, domestic violence, or attempted murder could qualify for early release. This is not justice. Victims and their families deserve certainty that offenders will serve their full, court-ordered sentences.

If these bills become law, we will see more more rushed releases, more blindsided families, and more victims left to pick up the pieces without the justice they deserve.

Michigan’s Truth in Sentencing laws were enacted to prevent exactly this type of injustice. We should not go backward.