Smart justice? Michigan bills would end mandatory prison sentences for crimes involving a gun

Smart justice? Michigan bills would end mandatory prison sentences for crimes involving a gun | MLive.com:

LANSING, MI — Michigan judges could have more discretion when sentencing people who carried a gun while committing a crime under legislation debated Tuesday in Lansing.

House bills 4419 and 4420 would end mandatory two-year sentences for first-time felony firearm charges, which typically force or extend prison stays for those convicted of other crimes.

Instead, a person who possessed a firearm during the commission of another felony could be sentenced to up to -- or less than -- three years in prison. That time could be served concurrently with any sentence for the underlying crime, and a felony firearm conviction would not disqualify an inmate from parole consideration.

State Rep. Kurt Heise, a Plymouth Township Republican who chairs the House Criminal Justice Committee and sponsored one of the bills, said lawmakers should support the legislation if they are "really serious about what our governor calls 'smart justice.'"

The proposal would potentially cut state incarceration costs, but it's already facing pushback from one of the state's top elected officials.