Michigan Democrats are trying to advance legislation that would open the door for violent criminals to be released early from prison.

Michigan’s controversial “Second Look” act, which could give 7,000 violent offenders a chance at a new hearing, has passed committee during Michigan’s lame-duck session.

The Second Look legislation (House Bills 4556-4560) would allow an automatic resentencing hearing 10 years into an inmate’s prison sentence. The House Criminal Justice Committee made a last-minute addition to its agenda Tuesday. The bills passed 8-4 on a strictly partisan vote with all GOP lawmakers opposing.

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“Democrats on the House Criminal Justice Committee betrayed the trust of Michigan families today by ramming through two dangerous bill packages without transparency or accountability,” said state Rep. Graham Filler, in a news release. “These bills open the door for violent criminals, including rapists and murderers, to walk free after serving only a fraction of their sentences.”

The committee also voted to approve the Juvenile Life Without Parole legislation (House Bills 4160-64). The juvenile bill package would make murderers who were juveniles at the time of their crimes eligible for early parole.

Lame-duck session is known for surprise moves and desperate measures to push legislation forward, but Filler decried Democrats’ lack of transparency.

“This isn’t criminal justice reform — it’s insanity. And how did the Democrats push this through? By hiding it,” Filler continued. “These bills weren’t on the agenda, and sweeping changes were made at the eleventh hour, in the dark, without public input. This secretive process robbed the public of their right to weigh in on legislation that directly affects their safety.”

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According to previous reports, the legislation would allow 9,200 of Michigan’s 32,000 inmates to become eligible for a resentencing hearing overnight. That figure includes 5,140 individuals serving a sentence for first- and second-degree murder and 1,760 criminal sexual conduct cases.

Social media platforms like X blew up with outrage. Anna Hoffman posted an article from June 14, 2023, published in The Detroit News, with the alert: “Michigan Democrats just voted to release up to 9,200 prisoners including 5,100 first and second-degree mu*der*rs.”

In The Detroit News article, victims such as Nicole Beverly of Ypsilanti Township expressed grave concern over the possibility of an early release. Beverly’s abusive husband tried to kill her and, while still in prison, attempted to hire inmates to kill her.

The proposed legislation is one of several measures Democratic lawmakers have pushed on criminal justice reform. They want to loosen what they claim are overly punitive sentencing laws in favor of rehabilitation and “second chances.”

House Democrats tout it as “smart public safety reform,” according to a Michigan House Democrats press release on the legislation. Michigan is known for some of the longest sentences in the country. They claim the bills address the burdens that long sentences and large prison populations have on Michiganders.

GOP lawmakers have pushed back. “Radical leftists don’t just want to defund the police. They want to empty the prisons,” wrote state Rep. Bob Bezotte, R-Marion Twp., in a release from March which was reposted on X by Michigan House Republicans. Bezotte, incidentally, is a former Livingston County Sheriff.

The bills would automatically give any prisoner who has served 10 years the opportunity to have their sentence reviewed and possibly reduced so they can get out early. This includes murders, rapists, violent offenders, and sexual predators.

“Why on Earth would we put victims and their families through the trauma of having to go through all that again?” Bezotte wrote. “To be clear: this plan is not about reviewing cases to see if someone was wrongly convicted. It is solely about giving offenders who were rightfully convicted a chance to get a lighter sentence.”

Bezotte also said it would burden the courts with almost 10,000 prisoners instantly eligible for a review hearing within 90 days. The bills also favor prisoners with health issues, including, as reported in the Detroit News, Beverly’s ex who has asthma.