Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.
“"We also know that people suffering a mental health issue are likely to be in jail longer than the average arrestee," Fuller said, "which puts them in a system that is not specifically designed for their mental health issues. It's designed for criminal justice."“
CBS 3 West Michigan
August 19, 2019
Read More“Inmates in Michigan state prisons who want to learn how to design a website, code a computer program or wire a house may find themselves a little light on reading material. At least 60 books related to computers, electronics and other technology are banned from state prisons for security reasons.“
Bridge Magazine
July 18, 2019
Read More“In 1995, Michigan prison officials implemented a controversial new policy: Any inmate found guilty of two substance-abuse violations would lose all rights to visits, except from their lawyer or minister. The state prison population had grown significantly in the early 1990s, as had the use of drugs inside. Guards worried contraband was being smuggled into facilities and wanted to limit the number of outsiders coming in.“
The Marshall Project
April 9, 2019
Read More"What happens when an institutional kitchen transitions from being run by municipal employees to operating as part of a for-profit company? At the Michigan Department of Corrections’ (MDOC) prison kitchens, a five-year experiment in privatization led to a whole host of problems, including a dramatic decline in food quality and safety, destabilized prisons and a drop in fair-wage jobs. It also may have caused a riot, put people’s lives in danger, created an odd alliance between inmates and guards against the MDOC administration, and failed to save the state money."
Civil Eats
August 20, 2018
Read More"The double shifts — a long-standing problem — have cost the Michigan Department of Corrections $12.4 in overtime in the last two years, plus an ongoing lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department, alleging gender discrimination."
Detroit Free Press
August 10, 2018
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