by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Advocacy, Information, JSRI Justice System Reform Initiatives, MOSES activities
Justice System Reform Initiative (JSRI) Activities and Concerns
By Tom and Jan Gilbert, Mary Anglim, and Kathy Luker
Dane County has not been actively pursuing reform initiatives that are of interest to us in the past year. This is part of the ebb and flow of county government, but here are some of the reasons for the inactivity:
• County Executive Parisi’s announcement in October 2023 that he would retire had an impact on everything in county government. His retirement took effect on May 3.
- The April election gave us a board with 10 new members, several of whom had been appointed. Patrick Miles was re-elected board chair. Miles has appointed Jamie Kuhn as interim county executive.
- Miles is also responsible for appointing committee members. Two key director positions (Justice Reform and Equity and Human Services) have gone unfilled for over a year. Colleen Clark-Bernhardt was recently appointed director of Justice Reform and Equity; the board will need to approve the hire. We don’t know whether a Human Services director search has started.
- Due to the lack of a Justice Reform and Equity director or other staff, the Community Justice Council (CJC) and its subcommittees, whose primary focus is reform, have not met in over six months.
Jail Consolidation Project
On January 18, the county board approved a final addition of $21.7 million to enable the jail project to go forward. Although the jail will be larger than we wanted, it is smaller than originally proposed and comes with renewed commitment to reforms that will keep more people out of jail and out of the criminal-legal system. We have consistently pushed for a smaller jail and for more reform. We are relieved that the long debate about the jail is over; we have always recognized that the current jail in the City County Building is inhumane and must be replaced.
The challenge now is to make sure that the new jail lives up to the promised improvements. To that end, we are reinvigorating our Jail Advocacy Group, thanks to interest and energy provided by Rachel Kincade, Jessica Jacobs, and Talib Akbar, who all joined this group. We want to advocate for improvements that can be made both before and after the Jail Consolidation Project is complete. We have had several meetings, and the group recently got a tour of the current jail.
The county board should closely examine the staffing of the new jail, which is smaller and designed to enable more efficient staffing. The Huber intake process of returning to the jail every evening has been eliminated, since no one reports to the jail overnight and needs to be checked in. Both the smaller size and the change in the Huber program (see below) should reduce staffing requirements. These staff are expensive. The 2024 adopted budget includes $38.5 million for staffing the jail for one year, not including $13 million for contracted staff. While the estimated construction cost for the new jail is over $200 million, we spend more than that on staffing every five and a half years, from a more limited budget. We hope that staff reductions will allow more funding for diversions.
Looking Ahead
Because of the many changes, we recently talked with Jeff Kostelic, Joe Parisi’s executive assistant. He gave us some key insights into what to expect:
• Interim County Executive Jamie Kuhn will be responsible for putting together the 2025 county budget. Her last official duty before the elected executive takes over will likely be to sign the budget.
- We had been concerned about the delay in implementing the Crisis/Triage Center due to issues with the state. County Legislative Liaison Carrie Springer had previously informed us about a new state statute that addresses the issues. Now that it has been signed into law, the state must write an administrative rule to implement it. The state Department of Health Services Bureau director said that an emergency rule-making process would be used, and that the administrative rule could be completed in nine months. Jeff said that operational funding issues for the Center have not been resolved. There would need to be a change in Medicaid reimbursement or more money from the county, the two reasons there were no bids for the original Request for Proposal (RFP). There is still strong support for a Crisis/Triage Center, but it is unclear how and when it will be able to move forward.
- Kostelic thinks expansion of the CARES program will have to be incremental, as the City of Madison can’t expand to the whole county or even to all the adjacent communities. There are county matching grants available, and some county jurisdictions are interested in matching them. Further expansion of crisis workers at the 911 Center will have to wait until the 2025 budget.
- Since Resolution 320 passed, Sheriff Barrett has taken steps to change the Huber program. Significantly greater numbers of sentenced individuals are now out of jail on electronic monitoring. Supervisor Andrae (Public Protection and Judiciary Committee chair) has sent out a letter expressing interest in re-examining the whole issue. The county board may revisit the question of a formal migration of responsibility from the Sheriff’s Office to the Department of Human Services (DHS). DHS initiated discussions to re-examine what the intentions are. Kostelic sent us a copy of the letter.
We need to follow this very important area closely. Our Crisis Restoration/Huber Change Advocacy Group has been following the discussions about Huber, and we will continue to become more informed. We may be developing a white paper (about desired future conditions) that clearly states where we think this should go. This may be very complicated, because a change could involve many parts of the criminal-legal system, including the Sheriff’s Office, the DA’s Office, the judges, Human Services, and the Public Defender’s Office. The basic question is: What would it mean to move the Huber program from the Sheriff’s Office to Human Services? Could there be unintended consequences, such as a larger number of people sitting in jail because judges are reluctant to risk ordering them into a Human Services program? What would happen to individuals who don’t want to be in a Human Services program and would prefer to just be put on electronic monitoring and left alone?
- Kostelic informed us that the cost of the contract for Dane County employee health insurance is going up substantially. This will have a big impact on money available for other initiatives.
Diversion Working Group
The Diversion Advocacy Group is continuing its positive relationship with the Deferred Prosecution Program (DPP). This is important, as DPP is one of the largest diversion programs in the county, but one which has significant issues. Rebekah Jones from the DPP made a presentation at the MOSES general meeting on June 9.
We plan to reach out to the new county supervisors. This is an opportunity to learn about them and to give them an introduction to MOSES and the issues we care about. We did this several years ago with the previous county board; our effort was well received and ultimately connected us with the Black Caucus, which was instrumental in developing the compromise that allowed the Jail Consolidation Project to move forward, while also committing to reforms that will reduce the number of people in the jail.
JSRI is looking for more folks to get involved in our important work. If you would like to learn more, get in touch with Jeanie Verschay at jeanieverschay@gmail.com or Paul Saeman at melodygab@aol.com.
by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Information, RJAC Racial Justice for All Children, Schools
MMSD Takes Important Steps for Student Literacy
By Barbie Jackson and Shel Gross, Racial Justice for All Children Task Force (RJAC) Education Advocacy Group
The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD)’s proposed budget for 2024-’25 contains a very significant statement:
In MMSD, we believe reading is a moral imperative for all students. Rooted in our commitment to ensuring all students graduate ready for college, careers, and the community, all students in MMSD will receive high-quality, grade-level accelerated instruction. Therefore, we are being very intentional about our commitment to early literacy and providing experiences that engage, challenge, and support all learners. This is THE priority work of our district moving forward.
The budget backs up this commitment with an investment of almost $2 million to provide 20 teachers at the K-1 level to reduce class sizes. With smaller class sizes, students will be able to engage at higher rates with grade-level rigorous standards-based learning and will receive direct and targeted skill instruction in small groups more often.
Because MMSD has already made a commitment to implementing the Science of Reading, which has an emphasis on phonics, the above statement aligns MMSD with RJAC’s issue proposal on addressing dyslexia. Indeed, in a recent conversation with Gabriela Bell Jiménez, Ph.Dl, the MMSD director of K-5 literacy, we learned that the district is moving ahead with a number of the requirements laid out in last year’s Act 20, and in some cases it is going beyond them.
- While the state Department of Public Instruction has not yet identified a universal screener for literacy, MMSD continues to use FastBridge to screen its students.
- The required diagnostic assessment (as opposed to the universal screening) is embedded in the curriculum that the district has purchased to implement the Science of Reading, so it is already in place.
- While implementation of personalized reading plans is required by January under Act 20, MMSD will be prepared to start in the fall. Also, Act 20 requires this only for English-only students, but MMSD will do it for bilingual students as well.
- MMSD is working on materials for informing parents and the community.
- A lawsuit between the governor and the legislature that is holding up the funding associated with Act 20 will not directly impact MMSD, because it will not need curriculum money until next year and doesn’t need literacy coaches. Each MMSD elementary school already has a full-time coach.
Dr. Bell Jiménez assured us that the new superintendent, Joe Gothard, is on board with all this.
RJAC’s Education Advocacy Group will be reaching out to partners to discuss strategies for advocating on behalf of the district’s literacy efforts.
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Action Opportunities, Information, MOSES activities, Newsletter, Organizer
Greetings, MOSES!
From Community Organizer James Morgan
Many of my recent experiences in the larger community have caused me to reflect on organizational capacity, recruitment, and leadership. Our goals and mission to establish a platform for collective power-building dictates that, as your organizer, I must reflect on MOSES and its capacity to build externally, as well as internally. Most recently, when I was talking with someone from another organization, our conversation focused on power and control versus leadership.
We recognized that, far too often, some very well-intentioned individuals can create tension within their organizations by operating from a mindset of power and control. We also noted that there are some fine lines that distinguish how leadership first and foremost must consider the well-being of the organization and the diversity of talents that make up the totality of the organization. The leadership must also recognize the contributions of all persons.
If these things are done, the organization thrives and is better positioned to impact and be of service to the community as a whole, to garner community support for its issues and actions, and to be seen and experienced as a leader in the quest for fairness, equity, and justice. Leadership also considers organizational tone in every communication. Tone and effective communication skills are the tools necessary for building collective power, consensus, and respect.
During my 25-plus years of incarceration, I was elected president of the African Culture Group and was the in-prison coordinator for the United Way Self-Help Program. I held many more positions, all of which allowed me to garner the insight and ability to understand organizational and group dynamics. Trust in our leadership, especially within a prison environment, is not easily acquired from administrators or other residents, or from external communities, to whom we are, for the most part, invisible.
Those experiences, coupled with my weeklong WISDOM Organizer Trainings, which are ongoing, have been pivotal in my ability to engage each of you as valued members of MOSES.This is what has taught me what leadership looks like. My fellow leaders, it is my hope that some of you will give deep consideration to participating in the weeklong Gamaliel training in Eau Claire, Wis., July 21-27, 2024. For further information, please feel free to contact me @ jm9461557@gmail.com
Let’s Do MOSES!
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Advocacy, MOSES activities, Newsletter, Racial Equity, Racial Equity Team
MOSES Reaches In to Visit Black Churches
By Saundra Brown, President of MOSES
MOSES’s mission statement calls us to build collective power. This guiding principle, which comes directly from our national and statewide organizations, Gamaliel and WISDOM, is based on an understanding that we cannot achieve success without a broad, collaborative base.
To achieve our goals, we must build collective power. This requires us to develop organized people and organized money. We cannot close the gaps of economic, educational, and political inequalities, religious intolerances, and racial disparities alone.
We have celebrated our successes and learned from our mistakes, but, more importantly, we never give up; we stay in the fight. Month after month, we come together to be informed and engaged and to seek various opportunities to improve and to grow.
However, I can’t help but ask myself, “Where are the Black folks?” I have been a member of MOSES since 2018, and I have always wondered why this great organization is fighting against the issues that impact my people the most. Why aren’t my people more visible? What must we (MOSES) do to engage them in our work? I have come to the conclusion that it’s time to get radical. We must take a different approach to recruiting African American members.
We continue to reach out to seek new members to join MOSES. That approach is good, but now it’s not good enough. The time has come for us to not only reach out but also to make an effort to reach in, by visiting our African American churches.
When I presented this idea to MOSES leadership, they fully endorsed my recommendation to call on the members of each MOSES task force, committee, focus group, and team to select representatives who will commit to choosing a Sunday to visit an African American church as a group. With the assistance of James Morgan, our community organizer, we are reaching out to the African American church pastors to schedule monthly dates to visit each church. As these dates are confirmed, we are providing a schedule for each MOSES group to sign up for one visit. It would be most impressive if we go as a group of five to ten MOSES members each month. James and I will accompany each group on their visits.
During our visits we will share with the congregations:
- ● who we are and what we do
- ● extend an invitation to join the organization
- ● gift them with informational folders and yearbooks
- ● inspire them to start a Justice Group
The Executive Committee took the lead on this new approach by meeting at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in April. We had nine MOSES members in attendance, and our presence was extremely well received.
We look forward to further connection with St. Paul’s members and with other churches, to be scheduled soon. Watch for future reports in upcoming newsletters.
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Advocacy, Newsletter, Prisons
What’s Happening to Parole in Wisconsin?
By Sherry Reames
The figures on the Parole Commission website show a huge recent drop in the number of paroles being granted. Between 2019 and 2022, an average of 167 individuals a year were released on parole. In 2023 the number plummeted to 37 (or 40, if we count those whose cases were heard in 2023 and added on the website in January and February 2024). The number so far in 2024 (as of April 20) is just one.
That is a shocking development, especially at a time when our prisons are dangerously overcrowded as well as understaffed. What in the world is going on?
Some basic points about parole and recidivism
- The only prisoners eligible for parole in Wisconsin are those whose crimes occurred before our 1999 truth-in-sentencing laws went into effect.
- Many of these prisoners were sentenced as juveniles or very young adults under the “tough on crime” policies of the Clinton administration. By now, 25 or 30 years later, they are mature adults. The possibility of parole has given them an incentive to continue their education, acquire job skills, and turn their lives around. If they have used their time in prison well, don’t they deserve a second chance?
- Statistically, mature individuals released on parole are very unlikely to commit another crime.
- According to The Sentencing Project, 20 years is a long enough sentence for most serious crimes. Incarcerating people longer than that may satisfy our desire for retribution, but it doesn’t add to their rehabilitation, and it doesn’t improve public safety.
- WISDOM believes that our state spends far too much money on prisons, money that could better be re-invested in education, child-care, public-health, and crime-prevention programs. As taxpayers, we should object in particular to the unnecessary incarceration of men and women who could be safely out in the community – earning a living, helping to support their families, and contributing to their communities and the workforce.
A year ago, the WISDOM workgroup on Old Law/Parole optimistically believed that the governor might be ready to re-establish the humane Wisconsin tradition of commuting the sentences of some prisoners who had received extreme sentences and served their time exceptionally well. Making such prisoners eligible for parole in the near future seemed like a good idea at that time, but with the parole system apparently frozen, it now sounds like a cruel joke.
WISDOM’s developing response to this setback.
So far, the Parole Commission has been resisting our inquiries, but we hope to have a meeting before long with the current chair, Jon Erpenbach. Our guess is that the Commission may still be reeling from the conservative backlash in 2022 against the attempt to release Douglas Balsewicz, which resulted in the firing of John Tate II and the legislature’s adoption of two new laws in 2023, Acts 31 and 230, which add further requirements to the parole process.
Besides trying to meet with Erpenbach, the Old Law/Parole workgroup is planning a community forum specifically focused on parole and commutation, probably to be held in Milwaukee in early June. Our goal is to create more public awareness of how the parole process is supposed to work, the advantages of enabling prisoners to earn a second chance by this means, and the unnecessary suffering we inflict on both incarcerated people and their families when we forget about their humanity and focus only on the victims of crime. Three MOSES members are already involved in this effort (Amanda Johnson, Kay Stevens, and I), and it would be wonderful to have many other participants from this part of the state. Please watch for future announcements about the forum. Plan to join us if you can, and bring some of your neighbors!
