No, we put people into prison for several valid reasons, the best of which is that we hope that we can protect people who are on the outside.   We also hold out some (faint) hope that the prisoner will reform their ways, but for most of the population we just warehouse them hoping they'll grow up and too old to try those things again.

The GOP in Michigan promised in the Engler years to build as many prisons as it took to make places like Detroit safe again.  The GOP passed stiff sentencing laws -- some of which I disagree with -- which then filled these prisons.  In a few short years, Detroit ceased to be the murder and drug capitol of the nation.

I was trying to say that I believe there are two kinds of criminals in our jails.  The first category consists of criminals that we are scared of.  These would be the murders, sex offenders, kidnappers, armed robbers, drug dealers, etc.

We need to keep these people in jail regardless of the cost.

But there is also a second category of criminals.  I referred to them as people we are mad at in my video, but perhaps that is not the best descriptor.  This category contains some of the criminals that are first time offenders convicted of non-violent crimes.

These people certainly need to be punished for their criminal acts, but I believe that because of the nature of their offense we can be more creative in their sentencing rather than automatically send each of these offenders to prison.

I believe that this is a much better and safer idea than the Governor's plan to close 8 prison facilities and let many prisoners out early.  I'd much rather impose an alternative sentence on a first-time non-violent offender than let a sex offender out of jail just because he's already served half of his term.