Kwame Kilpatrick spoke in Dearborn on Wednesday to advocate for Michigan inmates, sharing his personal prison experiences and arguing that the state should offer opportunities for early release.

Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) is pushing to reinstate “good time” credits for inmates in the Michigan prison system.

LANSING, Mich. – Visitors will be allowed at Michigan prisons for the first time in a year, the Corrections Department said Friday. Physical contact between prisoners and visitors will be prohibited. “Connections with family and the community lead to greater offender success," department Director Heidi Washington said. More than 25,000 prisoners have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic; 139 have died. There were 788 active cases Wednesday, the Corrections Department said, including 615 at Bellamy Creek in Ionia and Egeler in Jackson.