ENGLER ELIMINATES MANDATORY MINIMUMS

LANSING (AP) -- Gov. John Engler has signed bills eliminating
mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes in Michigan, his spokesman
said Friday. The legislation requires judges to follow state
sentencing guidelines when sending drug criminals to prison but gives
them more discretion by eliminating minimum sentences.

Under the old law, for example, someone possessing 50 to 224 grams of
narcotics or cocaine in Michigan had to be sentenced to at least 10
years and up to 20 years in prison. The new law eliminates the 10-year
minimum, allowing the judge to sentence an offender for any time up to
20 years. The law will go into effect March 1. The state Department of
Corrections doesn't know how many of Michigan's 49,296 inmates would
be eligible for parole, but supporters of the legislation said it will
help alleviate the state's skyrocketing prison population.

Engler signed the bill on Christmas Day, spokesman Matt Resch
said.

Michigan has had among the harshest mandatory minimum sentencing
guidelines in the nation, said Laura Sager, executive director of
Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North
Carolina and New Jersey also are considering eliminating their
mandatory minimums, Sager said.

The bill was one of 59 bills Engler signed this week. Another closely
watched bill allows three Detroit hospitals to shift up to 35 percent
of their beds to facilities they own outside of Detroit.

Engler leaves office Jan. 1.