by mosesmadison | Dec 11, 2013 | Events
Join members of WISDOM and MOSES on the steps of Grace Episcopal Church on the square at 1pm on Tuesday, December 17. The group will head to the Governors office to raise this issue. Read on for the press release:
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of prisoners in Wisconsin’s state prison system are being held far beyond the time their sentencing judge envisioned. Nearly all people sentenced to prison before the advent of “Truth In Sentencing” on January 1, 2000 are eligible for parole. But, parole is now only rarely granted. Many who have been in prison for fifteen, twenty, or more years have done everything possible to comply with the conditions for their release, yet have encountered a system that makes their release impossible.
The WISDOM 11×15 Campaign
will hold a rally and press event
December 17, at 1:00 pm at
Grace Episcopal Church
116 W. Washington Ave, Madison.
Immediately following the rally, the group will proceed to the Governor’s office to call on him to direct the Department of Corrections and the Parole Commission to enforce the law as it was intended when these men and women were sentenced. They will further call upon him to launch an investigation and provide a public report about how many people eligible for parole are in the state prison system, and what the prospects are for their earned release.
The rally will include statements by family members of prisoners who have been caught in the bureaucratic nightmare. Others will address the issue from the perspective of the faith community, and community safety.
“We are still not even sure of how many inmates, sentenced under the “Old Law” are eligible for parole. Every one of them deserves at least a chance to comply with the plans drawn up by the parole board,” says WISDOM President Sandy Milligan. “As a faith community, we will not accept that human beings can just be forgotten and lost in the maze of a bureaucracy. As citizens, we expect our government institutions, including the prison system, to be accountable and to be transparent about their plans for these men and women”
“Many of these are people who have already spent more than half their lives in prison. When the judge sentenced them, she or he assumed that if they worked hard in prison to straighten their lives out, they would get a chance to earn their release. A lot of them have kept their end of the bargain, yet they are being held in prison because of politics and bureaucratic bungling, and it is costing taxpayers millions of dollars each year,” says Rev. Jerry Hancock of the Madison-based Prison Ministry Project.
Rev. Joe Ellwanger of Milwaukee sees it as a waste. “We’re wasting money and we’re wasting lives. It’s inhumane to keep some people year after year, long after any useful purpose is served by their incarceration, and when there is no legal reason to keep them. To add injury to insult, Wisconsin taxpayers are paying $30,000 to $40,000 for each of them every year. Imagine if we put that money to good use!”
For further information, or to arrange to interview WISDOM leaders and/or family members of “old law” prisoners, please contact David Liners at 414-736-2099, or atdavid.liners1@gmail.com.
WISDOM is a network of faith-based community organizations in the state of Wisconsin. It includes more than 150 congregations of 19 different faith traditions. WISDOM leads the “11×15 Campaign for Safer, Healthier Communities.” The 11×15 Campaign draws its name from its belief that Wisconsin could safely reduce its prison population by half – to 11,000 – by the end of 2015. For more information, please see www.prayforjusticeinwi.org.
Attached is the statement 11×15 leaders intend to deliver to Governor Walker on December 17.
by mosesmadison | Nov 27, 2013 | Advocacy, Meetings
Join us for our monthly meeting on Saturday, December 7 at the usual time and place:
from 10-12pm, First Congregational Church at 1609 University Avenue, Madison WI 53726
11X15 News updates
A 2008 Legislative Audit Bureau report shows higher rates of recidivism among younger offenders placed into the adult correctional system. Recidivism rates among 17-year-old defendants in Wisconsin are estimated to be as high as 48 percent, three times higher than for adult offenders or younger juveniles in the juvenile system. The Wisconsin Joint Legislative Council requested an analysis of the juvenile justice process in Wisconsin and examination of current practices in other states. This report evaluates the status quo policy and two categories of alternative policies: waiver laws and blended sentencing. For a 2008 study: Treatment of Juveniles in the WI Criminal Court System: An Analysis of Potential Alternatives prepared for the Wisconsin Joint Legislative Council by the La Follette School of Public Affairs…click here
“Active participation by a Sentencing Commission is an essential element of effective guidelines,” according to a recent research report Assessing Consistency and Fairness in Sentencing (National Center for State Courts, 2008). The report is based on a comparative inquiry into how sentencing guidelines shape who is sentenced to prison and for what length of time. A key finding of the study is that Commissions play a critical role in designing guidelines, assessing whether guidelines are working as intended, and identifying how needed adjustments might best be made A 2008 comparative study of sentencing guidelines by National Center for State Courts (NCSC) click here…
The fear, anxiety and memory loss are some of the symptoms commonly found among people kept in extreme isolation. They lie at the heart of a policy and scientific debate that was renewed this summer after prisoners statewide went on a hunger strike to protest conditions in high-security lockups. State legislators have begun to question whether a system primarily designed to isolate gang members is standing in the way of rehabilitation. For a sense of the enduring impact of prison isolation see this November 8, 2013 LA Times article: Prison isolation
In February, a group of American corrections officials, judges, prosecutors and public defenders spent a week visiting prisons in Germany and the Netherlands. Those countries incarcerate people at about one-tenth the rate of the United States, for far less time, and under conditions geared toward social reintegration rather than punishment alone. US incarcerates more…
A letter to the editor about the challenges facing ‘offenders’ seeking housing “Offender” stigma for would-be renters
by mosesmadison | Aug 27, 2013 | Meetings
We hope to see you Saturday, September 7, 2013 at 10am for our monthly meeting.
Because there is a UW football game that morning, parking near our usual meeting spot will be virtually non-existent! Instead the meeting will be held at:
Fountain of Life Church
633 W. Badger Rd.
Madison WI 53713
Fountain of Life is about 2 blocks east of Park Street. Badger is the last cross street on Park St. before the beltline.
The October monthly meeting will be the first Saturday in October (10/5) back at First Congregational at 10am.
by mosesmadison | Jul 12, 2013 | Meetings
We hope to see you THIS Saturday, July 13, 2013 at 10am for our monthly meeting.
Due to a scheduling conflict, we will meet at
Fountain of Life church
633 W. Badger Rd.
Madison WI 53713
Fountain of Life is about 2 blocks west of Park Street. Badger is the last cross street on Park St. before the beltline.
Monthly meetings are generally held the first Saturday of each month at First Congregational Church. The date was changed due to the 4th of July holiday and the location was changed due to a scheduling conflict.
The August monthly meeting with be the first Saturday in August, the 3rd, back at First Congregational at 10am.
