Opinion ID: 836201
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the consecutive sentencing statutes

Text: Persons who are convicted of offenses committed while they are on parole are automatically subject to consecutive sentences under MCL 768.7a(2), which provides: If a person is convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for a felony committed while the person was on parole from a sentence for a previous offense, the term of imprisonment imposed for the later offense shall begin to run at the expiration of the remaining portion of the term of imprisonment imposed for the previous offense. MCL 791.234 specifies how consecutive sentences must be calculated. [2] MCL 791.234(3) states: If a prisoner other than a prisoner subject to disciplinary time is sentenced for consecutive terms, whether received at the same time or at any time during the life of the original sentence, the parole board has jurisdiction over the prisoner for purposes of parole when the prisoner has served the total time of the added minimum terms, less the good time and disciplinary credits allowed by statute. The maximum terms of the sentences shall be added to compute the new maximum term under this subsection, and discharge shall be issued only after the total of the maximum sentences has been served less good time and disciplinary credits, unless the prisoner is paroled and discharged upon satisfactory completion of the parole. Finally, MCL 791.238(6) states that a parolee is considered to be serving his or her sentence while on parole: A parole shall be construed as a permit to the prisoner to leave the prison, and not as a release. While at large, the paroled prisoner shall be considered to be serving out the sentence imposed by the court and, if he or she is eligible for good time, shall be entitled to good time the same as if confined in a state correctional facility. Discerning how to correctly give force to each of these statutes is a difficult task. Unlike the majority, I do not agree that existing practices give proper effect to the statutory language. I believe than the key to the correct interpretation is the timing of the Parole Board's calculation of a consecutive sentence under MCL 791.234(3).