Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Gov. Tony Evers in a press conference on Sept. 29, 2020.
Last week, Michael Bloomberg made headlines by donating $16 million to a fund that pays fines of felons in Florida, this donation might add 16,000 people to the state’s roster of eligible voters. Here in Wisconsin, Tony Evers could make something similar happen, while also saving taxpayers money and keeping his campaign promises.
In Wisconsin, people with felony records are able to vote, but the more than 62,000 currently serving felony probation, parole, or extended supervision (commonly referred to as being “on paper”) are still disenfranchised. Democratic legislators and advocacy organizations have pushed bills to “unlock the vote” for this population, but Republican leadership in our gerrymandered legislature blocked them.
On the campaign trail, Governor Evers promised to reduce the prison system by 50%. In pursuit of that and other racial justice goals, Evers has proposed numerous bills which were also easily and predictably blocked by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. It’s time for the governor to take action himself.
Power of Pardon
As Governor, Evers has the exclusive and constitutionally protected power to pardon people or commute their sentences. Doing so for people on paper would restore not only their right to vote, but also free them from Wisconsin’s extraordinarily racist and restrictive community supervision practices. It would also save money.
According to the Badger Institute, Wisconsin taxpayers spend $3,153 per person per year for community supervision. What’s more, re-incarceration for minor violations of supervision rules (known as crimeless revocations) is a major driver of mass incarceration in this state. If the DOC’s revocation policies don’t change, Wisconsin will be forced to choose between the morally bankrupt choice of escalating human rights abuses in overcrowded facilities or the fiscally irresponsible choice to build new prisons.
To date, Evers has exercised the pardon power extremely cautiously. He personally chose to limit the pardon advisory board to considering only people who completed their sentences and “got off paper” more than five years ago. He could expand that criteria to include some people currently trapped in the community supervision system, and rapidly issue a mass commutation. He wouldn’t need to commute all 62,000. Focusing on those with less than a year remaining, or very low-level convictions would still mean thousands freed from an unjust system with voting rights restored.
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Respond to Power Plays
Extending the vote to thousands of Wisconsinites less than a month before the election would be a hardball move, but also a fitting response to the countless unprincipled power-plays of the Trump administration, McConnell’s senate, and the Wisconsin legislative leadership. More importantly, it would be consistent with Governor Evers’ stated principles, the demands of prison reformers and racial justice protests and the recommendations of fiscal conservatives.
Decisive action to relieve the burdens of racially targeted mass incarceration is not only the right choice for the people of Wisconsin, it might also be a politically savvy way to chart a path through the partisan gridlock that has plagued Evers’ administration. Fiscal conservatives have been calling for cost-saving prison reform for years. Religious conservatives who value family unity, human and constitutional rights protection, and the power of redemption are joining these calls increasingly often. A mass commutation that pursues these fiscal and faith-based goals may drive a wedge between more these reasonable members of the GOP and the intractable race-baiting party leadership.
In 2016, Trump won Wisconsin by less than 23,000 votes, giving him the presidency. We cannot allow that to happen again. Many Wisconsinites are doing all we can to increase voter turnout and prevent another four years of Trump. Our democracy depends on it. Governor Evers should join us by using his clemency power to reinfranchise as many people as possible, right now.
