Radical leftists don’t just want to defund the police. They want to empty the prisons.

I’m sorry to start this column in such a negative way; I realize this is read by a lot of members of our community who do not share my political views. But there’s something that’s happening at the Capitol that has me wondering if some Democrat lawmakers are out of their minds. This is going to make your head spin.

This past week, there was a committee hearing on a package of bills called the “Second Look Sentencing Act” which would automatically give any prisoner who has served at least 10 years the opportunity to have their sentence reviewed and possibly reduced so they can get out early.

The way the bills are currently written, the only people who would not get that second look are mass shooters. Anyone else is eligible: murders, rapists, people who commit violent attacks that leave the victim permanently injured.

Under this plan, a child sexual predator would get a chance at freedom after just 10 years in state prison for no other reason than that this legislation would give him an automatic second look.

Why on Earth would we put victims and their families through the trauma of having to go through all that again?

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. 

Just about the only people who are incarcerated for more than 10 years in Michigan are people who commit the worst kinds of violent offenses. That is who this Democrat-sponsored plan would help.

The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Michigan Sheriff’s Association oppose this legislation to automatically give prisoners a chance at a shorter sentence. So do I.

Aside from the danger this poses to our communities, it would also cause chaos in our court system. Approximately 10,000 prisoners would be instantly eligible to file for a hearing, which would have to happen within 90 days. That would be a tremendous burden on our courts.

The bills are also skewed in favor of the prisoners, giving favor to people with health issues.

I don’t care if a murder develops asthma in prison. That’s not a good enough reason to let him out.

If this comes to the floor for a vote, I’m a no.

I hope it does come to the floor, so that every lawmaker has to go on the record where they stand on this plan to possibly let prisoners out early.