Conservatively Speaking

Wisconsin is late on releasing prisoners early, and that’s ok

Posted by Mary Lazich on Dec. 8, 2009

Corrections, State budget

It has been about five months since Governor Doyle signed the 2009-11 state budget that allows the early release of certain felons. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, “Not a single inmate has been released - and no money has been saved. Because of a lengthy inmate review process that must be conducted by Wisconsin Department of Corrections staff, the first inmate won't be released until next year, the agency says.”

Please take your time, everyone.

During this year’s state budget deliberations, I blogged, “Suggestions to save the state over $2 billion and ease prison overcrowding involve locking up fewer criminals and releasing many from custody early. The Council of State Governments Justice Center has made a series of recommendations to the state Legislature. They include alternatives that result in reduced incarceration. That is a recipe for even greater costs and harm to society. Wisconsin cannot afford this open door policy for criminals.”

I added the following:

“Why is the prison population growing? The Capital Times also examined the Council of State Governments Justice Center report, writing that, ‘A majority of inmates are incarcerated because they re-offend or violate the terms of their release. In 2007, 55 percent of prison inmates had violated terms of their parole, probation or extended supervision or were re-offenders who had committed a new crime.’

And we want to release more of them earlier? Certainly, inmates inside prison cost the state. Do not forget all the costs of criminals to society.”

While Wisconsin delays action on early release, the state of Oregon has had some experience with this issue, and we certainly do not want to have the same results.

The Oregonian reports:

“A law intended to save taxpayers $6 million by lopping time off the sentences of Oregon's nonviolent prisoners has unwittingly opened freedom's door early to hundreds of violent inmates. They include Troy Lee Hischar, who fired a bullet so close to his ex-girlfriend's skull that it clipped off a tuft of hair; Raul Peña-Jimenez, who gave a 16-year-old girl drugs and alcohol before sexually assaulting her; and Joseph Duane Betts, a convicted child molester who exposed himself to two boys.

Nearly 800 of the 2,397 inmates approved for reduced sentences were sent to prison for crimes as serious as robbery, arson and attempted murder or had previous convictions for crimes against people, The Oregonian found in an examination of state corrections data.”


There is a call to repeal the Oregon law because violent offenders were set free. Can we really be assured the same nightmare won’t occur here?

We cannot afford to ease up on corrections.