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People in prison who may legally qualify as “medically frail” are one step closer to being released on parole, after the state Senate on Tuesday passed legislation.
SB 599 passed 22-16.
Lawmakers passed a suite of rules in 2019 that similarly tried to release medically frail people in prison. The Department of Corrections had estimated in 2019 that the rules would make around 20 to 30 people eligible for parole, with many more people also qualifying in the future.
But SB 599 sponsor state Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) said only one person has received parole since those previous laws went into effect.
The goal of the new bill is to allow incarcerated individuals near the end of their lives to receive treatment outside of the Department of Corrections, which allows the state to put money towards other resources.
State Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) is sworn into office on the first day of session, Jan. 11, 2023 | Laina G. Stebbins
“I will say it was actually a delight to work with the Department of Corrections on this bill to make it so that some of the most vulnerable incarcerated people are able to not just be sent to a facility for their parole, but also to be surrounded by their loved ones and end their remaining days with dignity,” Geiss said.
Geiss spoke during a Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee meeting on March 24. She said certain provisions from the 2019 bill, like a medical facility having to consent to accepting an incarcerated person, made it difficult for people to go on medically frail parole.
The new bill that passed through the Senate strikes that provision and allows people on parole to live outside of a medical facility, as long as it is approved by the state.
The new rule also expanded the definition of a medically frail person who is eligible for parole. Kyle Kaminski of the Department of Corrections, said the previous definition of medically frail wasn’t “functional” during the March 24 committee meeting.
For example, he said some people would meet the intention of “medically frail” without meeting the actual criteria in statute. The new rules expand the criteria to allow people who are expected to pass in 18 months or less to have parole.
Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) sponsored an amendment to remove mental illness conditions from the bill.
“This language is more consistent with the intent of assisting individuals with terminal illness while removing language that is vague and could potentially open the door to legal actions for conditions that would not typically be considered terminal illness, such as substance abuse or depression,” Johnson said on her amendment, which failed.
Next, the bill will head to the Michigan House of Representatives for more discussion.
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