Michigan could save millions of dollars in its nearly $2 billion Corrections budget by shaving the prison terms of inmates. New research by the Pew Center on the States suggests that the somewhat shorter terms would not pose a major threat to public safety.

Overall, the report by the research foundation notes, prison sentences in this entire country lengthened by an average of nine additional months between 1990 and 2009, an increase of 36 percent. The estimated additional cost of this increase to all of the states is $10 billion.

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