On Jan. 17, 2025, JustDane and the Madison Justice Team hosted “A Just Conversation on Discretion, Charging Disparities, and Racial Dynamics in Criminal Justice.” This event featured a panel of experts on different aspects of the criminal-legal system, especially as it operates in Dane County.
- Detective Sgt. Kenneth Mosley, a member of the Madison Police Department since 2007, emphasized the MPD’s efforts to reduce racial disparities in the ways police treat civilians.
- UW-Madison Sociology Professor Emeritus Doug Maynard shared the results of a national study of racial patterns in traffic stops and his own study of how police officers can inadvertently trigger resistance by the way they address drivers.
- UW Criminal Law Professor Larry Glinberg, who has experience both as a prosecutor and as a defender, addressed the problems created by D.A.s who “stack charges,” piling up charges and increasing the severity of penalties in a way that may not improve public safety but definitely feeds mass incarceration.
- Attorney Jack Idlas, a criminal-law specialist currently working as a public defender, described the nearly impossible job of providing adequate representation for most indigent clients, given the size of a typical caseload and the inefficiencies and other barriers built into the system.
- Federal District Judge James Peterson suggested that the best way of reducing disparities in sentencing would be to give judges more discretion. Imposing mandatory guidelines and minimum sentences, he argued, has been a major contributor to mass incarceration.