The 2001-2002 term of the Prison & Corrections Section is the fifth year for the section. Keeping with the guiding spirit that our primary mission is dissemination of information, we have completed several ambitious projects this year.

After several years of hard work, we have finally released our report entitled "What Should Parolable Life Mean? Judges Respond to the Controversy." In this report, the section surveyed approximately 350 current and retired circuit court judges to determine their understanding of Michigan's lifer law prior to 1992. The section received a significant number of responses and has published its report on this subject. The report is currently available on the section website.

The section also released its Corrections Law on Disc, a CD-ROM compilation of all the laws, statutes, and administrative rules, as well as virtually all the agency documents pertaining to the administration of the Michigan Department of Corrections. The disc is currently being sold to members of the Bar and other individuals with an active interest in this area of the law. The CD-ROM is being updated via the section's website.

The section's newsletter, Prisons and Corrections Forum, continues to receive a significantly positive response from our membership. Our publication schedule continues for the second year to be on schedule and the issues have been significant in terms of content. Our thanks and the majority of the credit go out to Marjorie M. Ban Ochten and Barbara R. Levine, who took over the editing duties this year. We have also scanned in old editions of the newsletter and have placed them on our website for public consumption.

The section also filed an amicus brief in People v. Louis Moore, Court of Appeals No. 1455643P. In that brief, the section addressed the question of whether an inmate should be granted resentencing where the Parole Board has interpreted his life sentence in a manner different from that of the sentencing judge. Oral arguments have been held and the case is awaiting a decision. Our brief is available here.

Stuart G. Friedman, Chair