EARLY DRUG PAROLE HOLDS TRAGIC IRONY

Our compliments to state Sen. Hansen Clarke, because it
would have been a lot easier for him to stay out of Oakland County
last weekend.

Instead, he was in Pontiac offering condolences to the family of
Machekia Robinson, who was stabbed to death June 22, along with two of
her young daughters.

Charged with the slayings is Robinson's ex-husband, Daniel Franklin,
who was paroled from prison on drug charges just five days before the
killings.

There's the tragic irony: Clarke, a friend of the family before the
slayings, was a co-sponsor of the state legislation that eliminated
mandatory minimum sentencing for some drug defendants. As a result of
that legislation, Franklin was paroled before serving his full sentence.

To his credit, Clarke, a Detroit Democrat, stood by his convictions
when meeting with Robinson's family. He still believes mandatory
minimums are a bad idea and that some convicted drug dealers deserve a
chance to be released early.

Instead, he's pushing for psychological evaluations of all prisoners
before they are paroled, the monitoring of all outgoing mail sent by
inmates and a better job by the state in combating domestic violence.

Of course, that's a major wish list since some 10,000 prisoners are
paroled every year in Michigan, and about 50,000 mail letters. Since
the state can barely pay its basic bills, getting money for anything
more is unlikely.

Mandatory minimum sentences or a second chance for those inmates who
show promise? There's no easy answer to that question, but it
certainly is one that sometimes has life and death implications.