The Badger Herald: News: Prisoners could lower time with counseling

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Prisoners could lower time with counseling

Proposal at Capitol would let them drop term by 25 percent

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By Alex Suprise
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 11:53 p.m.

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Members of the Special Committee on Justice Reinvestment Oversight voted on its final policy recommendations to reduce overcrowding in the state’s prisons Wednesday.

Wisconsin annually spends more than $1.08 billion on correction facilities, and a study by the Pew Research Group found one in every 109 adults in the state is currently incarcerated.

The committee voted on three different proposals presented by committee chair Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee.

The first proposal would give criminals the opportunity to decrease their sentences by 25 percent by undergoing counseling, at the discretion of a judge. Another requires the state Department of Administration to decide how long people will be imprisoned for parole violations, and the third limits the time convicts can spend on extended supervision.

The committee voted to present the first proposal to the Legislature.

“The goal is for better programming, less expense and better protection for the community,” Taylor said. “We want to hold the line at 2,200 inmates, thus saving 7,000 prison beds.”

While a 25 percent sentence reduction is available under the current law, people have “not been requesting it,” according to Taylor.

She added the problem is that criminals have to make a request after serving 75 percent of their sentence and have no assurance the request will be granted. Taylor added because defendants provide their own reports, judges question the reports’ accuracy and usually do not grant a sentence reduction.

Under Taylor’s proposal, the prisoner would not know at the time of his or her original sentencing if the sentence would qualify for a reduction.

She added the new plan would provide motivation for prisoners to try for a sentence reduction. Also, those requesting such would not be in charge of providing their reports. The judge would have discretion over the reduction after analyzing the situation.

Committee members questioned whether this new plan would allow dangerous criminals to be wandering the streets, though Taylor said either way, the prisoner would be completing a sentence with only a small reduction.

“It’s much better than what we’re doing now,” said Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon. “Texas and Kansas have done it and seen good results with it.”

Although Olsen was in support of the plan overall, he said he is concerned about the $30 million it would cost the state.

“The language is good stuff, but the big thing is the amount of money this plan would cost,” Olsen said.

Gov. Jim Doyle also included a proposal in his budget to deal with prison overcrowding that differs from the committee’s proposal by eliminating probation for some offenders, Olsen said.

Ultimately, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance will choose which proposal will be included in the budget. However, neither proposal will have any affect on those currently in prison.

The budget will have to be passed by both the Assembly and Senate before it can become law. Once approved, it will be in effect from summer 2009 until summer 2011.

3 Comments | Leave a comment

Anonymous | May 7, 2009 2:56 PM | Reply
IP hash: 8a541c5e

I do agree that the current system is somewhat ineffective, seeing as the current percentage of all prisoners who are reoffenders or violating their paroles is 55%, that prisoners. However, I do believe that sex offenders and those who have committed violent crimes should not receive such a bargain or incentive. These are the people who need extensive counseling and extensive stays in prison and the counselors who give this treatment should be the ones who have the say over their reductions or extensions of their sentences. Overtime, I do believe that these proposals, if somewhat amended, would work to reduce the overcrowding of prisons and reduce the percentage of repeat offenders.