Will Michigan Republicans Care About Prison Reform If Lee Chatfield Goes to Prison?

For years, Michigan Republicans, like many political leaders across the spectrum, have had the opportunity to meaningfully engage with prison reform.

But despite overwhelming evidence of mass incarceration’s harm, they’ve largely chosen to focus on punitive policies, mandatory minimums, and so-called “tough on crime” rhetoric.

They run and hide from advocates, constituents, and reporters who ask questions. They ignore our emails. They pretend we don’t exist.

But now, with the case of Lee Chatfield, the former Michigan House Speaker under criminal investigation for alleged financial misconduct and abuse, presents a striking twist:

What happens when prison is no longer an abstraction but a real possibility for one of their own?

Will they finally care? And is it only because they fear they’re next?

The Hypocrisy of Selective Empathy

There’s a long history in American politics of sudden reversals in policy stance once a lawmaker or their family is directly impacted. Whether it’s opioid addiction, LGBTQ+ rights, or Medicare access, empathy seems to kick in only when the consequences come home.

So it’s more than fair to ask:

If Lee Chatfield were sentenced to prison, would his Republican colleagues finally recognize the inhumanity of the system they’ve upheld?

Would they finally begin to question:

• The lack of mental health treatment in prison?
• The lack of support for reentry programs?
• The warehousing of people in violent, overcrowded conditions?
• The weaponization of prosecutorial discretion?

Or would they do what I suspect they would do: insist that he’s different, an exception to a system they otherwise support?

One of Their Own

Chatfield, once seen as a rising GOP star, represented the very values many in his party champion; family, faith, fiscal conservatism.

You can’t outrun his name because he is all over their campaign finance disclosures in recent years, bankrolled by dark money PACs and big names in conservative business like Van Andel and Devos; the same names and entities who tip the scales for elections through money.

There are connections to politicians in other clutch investigations such as Gina Johnsen, too.

If he ends up on the other side of the bars, the cognitive dissonance will be hard to ignore for all of them.

Will Republicans rally for prison conditions to be improved, not just for Chatfield, but for the tens of thousands of poor, Black, and Brown Michiganders they’ve historically abandoned?

Or will they double down on a system that only shows mercy when it’s politically or personally convenient?

Or will they keep doing the same thing they always do with their games of Uno Reverse:

Try to strike back at political enemies rather than look at the heart of constitutional issues rather than be brave enough to call them wrong? Could they be bothered to educate their constituents on how infringing on one person’s rights opens the floodgates to infringing on everyone else’s?

Or do rights only matter to them when it involves guns or someone with deep pockets who can get them reelected?

I shouldn’t have to get cute and beg my Michigan Lawmakers to “Stop Cooking Mi Humans” but that is the exact plight I deal with everyday as an advocate.

This Isn’t About One Man

Let’s be clear: prison reform shouldn’t hinge on who goes to prison. It should be a matter of justice, equity, and human dignity, full stop.

I am not a Republican nor a Democrat, which is why neither side typically cares about what I have to say.

But I am most definitely an American sick of watching the political shitshow play out.

And if Lee Chatfield’s case becomes the catalyst for Republicans to re-examine their stance on incarceration, so be it.

I welcome late conversions.

What I won’t accept is reform that only benefits the privileged or politically connected. Because that is self-serving bullshit that we can all see right through.

Because if you only care about prison conditions once it’s someone you know inside, you were never interested in justice.

Only proximity.

Wait a minute; silly me. Rich politicians don’t go to prison in Michigan, do they?

What You Can Do

• Email your representatives and tell them enough is enough, that it’s time to support prison reform.
• If they don’t listen, start a recall campaign.
• Advocate for, support, or write legislation that forces politicians to address humane treatment in prison.

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