It shouldn’t take 10 years, but FINALLY the fixes are coming.
If your loved one is behind bars in Michigan, you’ve likely made the calls. You’ve checked in. You’ve worried. You’ve asked: Are they safe? Are they getting monitored? Are safety standards being applied? Because we all know this truth: when people are imprisoned, the state becomes responsible for their basic welfare; cannot abdicate that. And for far too long, Michigan and our legislature has let that responsibility languish.
A new report reveals what families already knew: in two Jackson-area prisons (Parnall Correctional Facility and Egeler Reception & Guidance Center) five people have died by suicide or fall from faulty railings since 2020. This isn’t some sudden new surprise; they’ve known for years, if not decades, that they needed to fix it. And now, at long last, Michigan lawmakers have approved $10 million to improve railing safety at those facilities.
Yes, you’re reading that right: families have been waiting years for action on something that should’ve been obvious from day one. It’s not revolutionary to say “rails should hold people in safely.” It’s not radical to say “structures should be checked, repaired, remediated.” It’s basic human decency; an often missing element at the Michigan DOC and at the legislative level.
Egeler is already a deeply inhumane place; it doesn’t need to be made worse.
Why This Matters
Our state has a nasty habit of not caring what happens to people after they’re born. If we don’t fund the right things (education, food benefits, etc.), people get desperate and get trapped in the criminal legal system. When that happens, and people insist on placing people behind bars, then state agencies and actors need to be held to a higher, more humane standard.
- A railing failure isn’t just infrastructure malfunction; it’s a life lost, a family devastated, a system that failed.
- People behind bars cannot escape unsafe conditions. They rely entirely on state systems to protect them. When the state delays fixes, it is tacitly accepting risk.
- No one should have to wait a decade for legislators to act while people die. The formula is simple: oversight + accountability = safer conditions.
The Fixes Are Finally On Their Way—but They’re Not Enough Yet
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not upset about the money finally being spent; approving $10 million is good. It is necessary. It is long overdue. However, it is in no way sufficient grounds for trust. Because:
- We don’t know exactly when all the repairs will be completed.
- We don’t know if monitoring and follow-up inspections will be robust.
- We don’t know if future facility budgets will keep safety as a priority, or if funding will get cut, delays will happen again, and oversight will fade.
Families of incarcerated people cannot simply exhale. Because as the old saying goes: “What you will allow is what will continue.”
What Families Must Do Now
By no means is it time to let up or relax. We must:
- Stay engaged. Ask questions of your loved one: Have you seen repairs? Are you aware of safety checks? What are conditions like now?
- CONTINUE to Contact your legislators. Thank the ones who backed this funding but continue to press them for timelines, transparency, and sustained oversight. It’s not over ’til it’s finished.
- Demand a public schedule of repairs and periodic check-ins. Insist that the Department of Corrections publish their progress reports, inspections, and follow-through.
- Demand that your lawmakers walk the prisons. Demand random drop-ins, in particular. If they wouldn’t want their buddy Lee Chatfield in that environment, then things need to change right away. That should be the benchmark from here on out.
- Mobilize your network. Families speaking together are harder to ignore. Lawmakers shouldn’t just hear one voice—they should hear the chorus.
Of course always be respectful, but do not be afraid to ask the tough questions. Don’t tolerate lawmakers running and dipping into other offices to avoid you. Schedule a time to sit down and make sure they “get it.”
Pulling It All Together
The state of Michigan has begun the process of doing what it should have done years ago: protect the people in its custody. But trust isn’t built overnight. Families cannot hand over that trust and just walk away. We must stay at the table. We must insist on visibility. We must demand accountability.
Because when incarceration means dependency, and it’s the State of Michigan holding all the keys, there is no substitute for vigilance. Safety, like justice, must be fought for.
And we’re still in the fight.
