Photo Credit: Meesh (Flickr CC)
Wisconsin is facing an incarceration crisis of unprecedented proportions. We currently have 23,000 prisoners in a system designed for 17,000, and we are rapidly filling the beds of our county jails with the overflow. Last year, Wisconsin legislators drafted a bill that would even more dramatically increase the state’s levels of incarceration by changing how Wisconsin revokes probation. If passed into law, this would create a fiscal and safety crisis.
There is no place to put these new prisoners. When the legislators realized the problem they’d created, they grafted on a provision that would borrow $350 million to build a new prison. They also added an amendment that would call for the hiring of 54 new prosecutors for rural districts.
But across the country, states are pulling back from a practice of mass incarceration and costly prison building. Texas, Michigan, Mississippi and other traditionally conservative “red states” have begun closing prisons and reinvesting in less costly treatment alternatives and more effective ways to work with people in the criminal justice system.
These states are investing more in local solutions, including alcohol and substance abuse counseling, conflict resolution skills, education, restorative justice and counseling for cognitive and behavioral issues. This is driving their prison populations down, spending money locally and keeping offenders in their communities where they can develop stronger, restorative relationships with their neighborhoods, support systems and families.
In contrast, Wisconsin is spending billions of dollars on a failing system of imprisonment that does not address the root causes of crime. Worse still, about a third of the people who leave this system are convicted and sentenced to a new prison term within three years. Many people are trapped in systems of incarceration because they have committed minor crimes that are often the result of substance abuse problems or mental illness.
Creating a Flood of New Prisoners
Instead of beginning to fix the expensive morass we’ve created, legislators have cobbled together a new bill removing discretionary powers that community corrections officers have. This would mean automatic revocation for anyone on supervision charged with a new crime; not convicted, just charged. This will result in many more people returning to prison. To fix this flood, they want to build a costly new prison for the increased numbers of prisoners. If Wisconsin takes out a 20-year loan at 5% interest on $350 million, we will be on the hook to pay back more than $554 million for the construction of this bad idea.
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The Wisconsin Department of Corrections estimates an additional 2,135 revocation recommendations over the 2016 numbers. If those numbers keep up, the DOC projects that we’ll need to construct at least three more prisons to house the additional population. There are currently thousands of prisoners who do not need to be incarcerated but can be safely reunited with their communities and complete their sentences outside of prison. Instead, the Wisconsin State Senate is voting on legislation on Tuesday, March 20, that will increase the number of prisoners and deepen the debt of our state by borrowing money to construct a new prison.
This bill will also increase debt at the county level because it seeks to add 54 new prosecutors for rural counties, but does not add funding to cover the necessary public defenders or court staff that would be required. This will invariably increase local property taxes or force counties to cut other important services as they scramble to pay for this new burden. Because the counties will be required to hold, without compensation, those recommended for revocation for around 60 days each, the Badger State Sheriffs’ Association commented, “Essentially, this bill is an unfunded mandate to Wisconsin county jails.”
This bill will not make our communities safer or stronger. We need to reduce our prison population and remove the social and economic weight of a broken criminal justice system from the backs of our children and communities. We need to immediately adopt smarter reforms. Please contact your senator and encourage them to vote against Senate Bill 54 (SB54), or join us on our Lobby Day, Tuesday, March 13, at 10 a.m.
Emilio De Torre is Director of Community Engagement and Molly Collins is Deputy Director for ACLU of Wisconsin.
