Friday, May 3, 2024
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Friday, May 3, 2024

Milwaukee Press Club 'Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism' 2020 & 2021 Award Winners

Wisconsin DOC Failed to Revoke Supervision of 6,000 Offenders Who Committed New Crimes

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Did you know that thousands of people charged with new crimes while on state supervision don’t go back to prison?

More than 6,000 people on state supervision basically thumbed their noses at the system by committing new crimes recently, but the state of Wisconsin Department of Corrections chose not to send them back to prison.

A Republican state lawmaker, Julian Bradley, is trying to change that, along with some of his colleagues.

The numbers come from a fiscal estimate in a bill currently before the state Senate, and they’re only for one recent year, so the cumulative total over the years is much higher. The new bill would require the Wisconsin DOC to revoke a person’s extended supervision, parole or probation if they are charged with a new crime. Some people might be surprised to learn that doesn’t always happen now, but it doesn’t – a lot.

That’s an issue that Bradley has taken charge of highlighting at a time of rising violent crime. Many in the media seem to focus far more on the police end of the criminal justice system, failing to scrutinize the Wisconsin DOC’s failure to revoke people who seriously violate supervision and the Milwaukee County DA’s refusal to criminally charge almost 6 in 10 of every felony charge requested by police last year. All of it – along with soft sentences by judges – results in more criminals being on the streets to re-offend. Again, and again.

Believe it or not, this is controversial. Remember, these are people who already were convicted of a crime, received a sentence, and then went out and committed another crime while on state supervision for the first offense.

Last month, the bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 4-3 vote (Alberta Darling, Lena Taylor and Kelda Roys were all nos), and it is now up for full consideration of the Senate.

The bill was introduced in March by Senators Bradley, Jacque, Stroebel and Feyen; it was co-sponsored by Representatives Sanfelippo, Brandtjen, Horlacher, James, Knodl, Kuglitsch, Magnafici, Murphy, Ramthun, Rozar and Wichgers.


The Wisconsin DOC Numbers

In 2018, Wisconsin DOC recommended revocation for 9,961 cases of individuals on extended supervision, parole or probation, and 87% of those were upheld through an administrative review process. The DOC didn’t seek revocation in almost 40% of offenders who committed new crimes while on supervision, the fiscal note says.

The Department of Corrections used Wisconsin Court System Circuit Court Access data for 2019 and estimated that 6,280 offenders on community supervision were charged with a new crime and remained on community supervision. “Under this bill, DOC would be required to recommend revoking the community supervision of all 6,280 individuals,” the fiscal note says.

“According to new data from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, we know that statewide in 2020, there were 302 homicides – up 30% from 2016. There were 2,024 cases of rape – up 43% from 2016. And there were 41,733 cases of aggravated and simple assault – up 17% from 2016. This trend is so disheartening, and we must do what we can to reverse it,” State Sen. Julian Bradley (R-Franklin), said in testimony supporting the bill, which he authored.

“The Department of Corrections, in its fiscal estimate for this bill, has admitted that recommending revocation for criminals committing new crimes on probation increased by 6,280 in the first year of this bill. This is based on information from the Wisconsin Court System Circuit Court Access (CCAP). This means that under their own supervision, previously convicted criminals are today being charged with 6,280 crimes annually, and they’re left on our streets. That’s in addition to the 9,961 times crimes are charged where probation is already recommended for revocation. Adding these numbers up means that offenders on supervision are being charged with more than 16,000 crimes annually – or 1,300 crimes a month – and yet they are out and about in our communities.”

Bradley added: “We must do what we can to ensure previously convicted offenders who have proven they haven’t changed or shown regret for their crimes cannot terrorize our communities. Now is especially the time for us to take a look at how we manage probation. In 2020, the Department of Corrections released at least 1,600 prisoners early due to the coronavirus outbreak. We need to ensure the Department has strict guidelines monitoring those who have broken our laws and were supposed to be in prison serving out their sentences. They shouldn’t be given extra chances to commit new crimes because of the pandemic’s extraordinary circumstances.”

What happens now? That’s up to the Wisconsin DOC.

The state Department of Corrections’ fiscal estimate states that under current law, the DOC “utilizes Department Policy, evidence-based practices, Department Administrative Code, and statutory requirements to determine whether or not to revoke a person’s extended supervision, parole or probation if the person is charged with a crime while on extended supervision, parole or probation.”

A 2013 act gave the Wisconsin DOC the authority “to develop a system of short-term sanctions for violations of conditions of parole, probation, extended supervision, and deferred prosecution agreements.” They include placing offenders in a regional detention facility or a county jail for up to 90 days. The short-term sanctions would no longer be an option under the bill.

The DOC estimates the new bill would cost many millions of dollars in Division of Hearings and Appeals review charges, new facilities, increased operations costs, and the like.

In 2018, 87% of the cases recommended for revocation by DOC were revoked by DOA DHA (Department of Administration’s Division of Hearings and Appeals.) That resulted in the offender being sent to prison. In 2016, on average, people on community supervision with a new conviction were revoked to prison for approximately 39 months.

DOC made its fiscal estimate by estimating that 47% of the revocations would be affirmed by the Administrative Law Judge, which would be a dramatic decrease. Thus the department is assuming an additional 1,599 people would be in the state prison system. And eventually a permanent increase of 4,673.

The number of people in DOC’s care has been declining because of the pandemic but exceeds capacity.

The department estimates it would need to construct two new Oshkosh Correctional Institution-sized facilities. The cost of one is $450-550 million. There would be an estimated cost of $170 million in increased operations costs.

The bill adds that a person has not completed his or her sentence for purposes of expungement if the criminal charges are pending against the person or, if the person was on probation, the person violated any rule or condition of the probation or at least one year has not elapsed since being placed on probation.

The Director of State Prosecutors Office wrote that it did not “anticipate a significant fiscal effect on their offices resulting from this proposed bill.”

In addition, under current law, a sentencing court may order a person’s criminal record “expunged of a crime if the court determines that the person will benefit and society will not be harmed and if certain conditions are met. This bill adds to those conditions that the court may not order the record expunged of a crime if the person had previously been convicted of a crime, including a crime for which the record had been expunged.”

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Congressman Tom Tiffany Gets Wolf Plan Through House, Calls It First Step

(The Center Square) – A Northwoods’ congressman says he has the science on his side in the debate over what to do about the gray wolf.

Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany got his plan to take the gray wolf off the endangered species list through the House. It was a close vote, just 209 to 205, and the plan faces a dim future in the U.S. Senate.

Still, Tiffany said there’s more than enough evidence that the gray wolf population is large enough to remove it from the protected list.

“The science is clear; the gray wolf has met and exceeded recovery goals,” Tiffany said in a statement. “[This vote] represents an important first step towards restoring local control over the skyrocketing gray wolf population in Wisconsin.”

Tiffany said there have been plenty of attacks on dogs, deer and cattle in Wisconsin that prove his point.

Keith Mark, founder and CEO of Hunter Nation, said the proposal to de-list the gray wolf should get a vote in the Senate.

“Wildlife should not be a partisan issue. Unmanaged wolf populations are causing significant problems in states that have both Republican and Democrat Senators,” Mark told The Center Square.

Hunter Nation has been one of the loudest voices in the debate over how to handle wolves in Wisconsin.

Mark said Tiffany’s plan is not only based in science, it is based in the government’s own data and suggestions.

“What message does it send when we place an animal on the list, set population goals and establish strict management criteria for de-listing, and when the animal achieves the pre-set population goals, it is not taken off of the endangered list? By every metric set from the onset, wolves have far exceeded every population goal established. Gray wolves are no longer endangered. They need to be managed at the state level like all other wildlife,” Mark added.

But even if that did happen, the future of wolves in Wisconsin is likely sealed.

The Wisconsin DNR is moving ahead with its own wolf management plan that essentially forbids wolf hunting and trapping.

Hunter Nation is opposed to that, as is Tiffany and many of Wisconsin’s other Republican congressmen.

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Palestinian Refugees in the U.S.? Biden’s Potential Plan Takes Fire

President Joe Biden is reportedly considering bringing Palestinian refugees into the U.S., but news of that potential decision sparked a wave of criticism for Biden.

A group of Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate sent a letter to the president condemning the alleged plan, which was reported by CBS News earlier this week.

“U.S. and allied officials have very little access to Gazans living in the area, making it nearly impossible to conduct thorough vetting before admitting them into our country,” the letter said. “We must ensure Gazans with terrorist ties or sympathies are denied admission into the United States – no easy feat, given the fact that the Gazans were the ones who voted Hamas into power in 2006. Without thorough vetting, your administration may inadvertently accept terrorists posing as refugees into the interior.

"This is especially the case as Hamas terrorists have a long track record of co-mingling with civilian populations in Gaza," the letter added.

Biden has been trying to navigate the difficult issue of the Israel-Hamas war, which reignited last fall when the terrorist group Hamas killed more than 1,000 Israelis, many of them civilians, and carried out rapes and other atrocities.

“With more than a third of Gazans supporting the Hamas militants, we are not confident that your administration can adequately vet this high-risk population for terrorist ties and sympathies before admitting them into the United States,” the letter said. “We are further worried that accepting Gazan refugees might cause a crisis at the Egypt-Gaza border, leading to chaos that would only empower Iran-backed Hamas.

Israel has responded with a sustained bombing campaign targeting Hamas members and leaders.

The humanitarian fallout of the war, though, has led many far-left advocates in the U.S. to occupy college campuses and more to push for an end to the bombing.

Hundreds of migrants with known or suspected terrorist ties have been caught trying to enter the U.S. in recent years through both the northern and southern border. With millions of migrants who have entered the U.S. undetected in recent years, it is unknown just how many are terrorists or have terrorist ties.

“Border officials have arrested 169 people on the FBI terror watch lists in Fiscal Year 2023, a record-setting number that exceeds the total of the last six fiscal years combined,” the letter said. “Apprehended terrorists include a Hezbollah fighter who intended ‘to make a bomb’ and was headed for New York.”

The lawmakers also questioned Biden’s efforts to rescue American hostages from the hands of Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department.

“We are also frustrated that your administration is pushing ahead with a plan to evacuate Gazans from the Strip when there are still American citizens held hostage by Hamas,” the letter said. “We demand that your administration cease planning for accepting Gazan refugees until you adequately answer our concerns and focus your attention instead on securing the release of U.S. hostages held by Hamas.”

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Pro-Palestinian Protesters Occupy Columbia University Building

Pro-Palestinian protesters broke windows, barricaded doors and occupied a building at New York's Columbia University overnight after school officials said they would not cede to demands from demonstrators to divest assets from the Israeli government.

The breach of Columbia's Hamilton Hall began around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday by students and others who have refused to leave the so-called Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the campus grounds, according to published news reports. Hundreds of students created a human chain in front of the building to block campus police. Columbia faculty members were also involved in blocking security.

Video footage showed the demonstrators, many of whom covered their faces with masks, smashing windows and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window as they chanted "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "Palestine will live forever." The protesters hung a hand-written sign reading "Hind's Hall" after a six-year-old Palestinian child who was allegedly killed by the Israeli military.

The escalation in the protests came after university officials suspended students who had refused to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment set up about two weeks ago. Columbia President Minouche Shafik has also declined to divest the university's financial holdings from Israel, a key demand of the protesters.

The NYPD, which must get permission from the university to enter the campus, hadn't intervened in the fracas but news reports showed a heavy police presence outside the university's gates.

University officials distributed flyers to students on Monday notifying them that they would not face suspension if they exited the encampment by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, according to published reports. It's not clear what will happen after that deadline. The university has closed school grounds to students who do not live on campus.

The demonstrations are part of a wave of anti-Israel protests that have swept U.S. college campuses over the past week in response to Israel's war in Gaza, which was prompted by the Oct. 7 attack by the terrorist group Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis and injured many others. Hamas also took hostages, many of whom are still in captivity.

Dozens of arrests have been made at Harvard, Yale and other elite schools as campus police and law enforcement have been called in to take down the make-shift encampments, which violate school policies. Hundreds of people have been arrested.

At Columbia, Jewish students have said they feel unsafe with pro-Palestinian protesters chanting antisemitic slogans and holding signs, which has prompted New York lawmakers to call on the university to clear protesters that some have called "terrorist sympathizers."

“Columbia has surrendered to the radical pro-Hamas antisemitic mob instead of securing campus and protecting Columbia’s Jewish students," U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said in a statement. "There can be no more extensions or delays. There can be no negotiations with self-proclaimed Hamas terrorists and their sympathizers."

In response to the Columbia protests, Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. and Richie Torres, D-N.Y., have filed legislation requiring the U.S. Department of Education to establish a third-party "antisemitism monitor" on any U.S. college or university receiving federal funding.

The monitor would have the authority to recommend that universities be stripped of federal funding for not doing enough to crack down on anti-Semitic demonstrations.

"Rising antisemitism on our college campuses is a major concern and we must act to ensure the safety of students," Lawler said. "If colleges will not step up to protect their students, Congress must act."

Charlotte Standoff

4th Law Enforcement Officer Dies From Injuries in Charlotte Standoff

Four lawmen on the U.S. Marshals Task Force died Monday while serving an arrest warrant in North Carolina.

A marshal and two officers from the Department of Adult Correction were confirmed killed early Monday evening in Charlotte. A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer, one of five others injured in the standoff and shooting, died later in the evening at a hospital.

The graphic scene unfolded as officers attempted to serve the warrant for a felony firearm arrest. A helicopter pilot recording for television decided against filing certain elements of the video footage for broadcast.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said Joshua Eyer, the officer who died later at the hospital, “certainly gave his life and dedicated his life to protecting our citizens.” Eyer earlier in April was named officer of the month.

Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott, each with more than a decade of service, were identified as the members of the state Department of Adult Correction who were killed.

At time of publication, the name of the slain marshal had not been made public.

The last marshal killed in the line of duty was Chase White, in Tucson, Ariz., in November 2018.

In a statement posted to its Facebook page, the Police Department called the actions of those involved “heroic” and “a testament to the dangers law enforcement officers face daily.”

“Today, some of our fellow colleagues made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety and protection of our community,” the statement read. “We are grateful for the bravery shown by all officers and outpouring of responses from our neighboring agencies.”

U.S. Marshals have 56 local task forces. Funding is granted, the agency’s website says, often “through initiatives such as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces, and Project Safe Neighborhoods task forces.”

“Today we lost some heroes, that are out simply trying to keep our community safe,” Jennings said. “They knew what they were going into, and still held their own in attempting to apprehend this suspect.”

At least three people were in the home when lawmen arrived with the warrant. One is dead, two others – a woman and a 17-year-old boy – were being questioned.

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Wisconsin Pro-life Groups Tell Supreme Court There’s No Right to Abortion

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s pro-life groups are unified in telling the Wisconsin Supreme Court it is not the court’s job to create a right to abortion.

Wisconsin Right to Life, Wisconsin Family Action and Pro-Life Wisconsin all filed a joint brief with the court that argues there is no right to abortion and add that if there is to be one, that decision is up to lawmakers.

“The Supreme Court is not the proper venue to create health and safety law nor the proper mechanism to add a constitutional amendment. The legislature is the proper body to weigh the policy considerations and create law, not the court,” Wisconsin Family Action president Christine File said.

“Finding a right to abortion in our state constitution, where there clearly is none, would be the most extreme form of legislating from the bench,” Dan Miller, state director at Pro-Life Wisconsin, said. “The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled in Dobbs that there is no federal constitutional right to abortion. Nothing in Wisconsin’s constitution or the history of our state would remotely suggest such a right. We implore the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reject Planned Parenthood’s radical and self-serving plans.”

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in February asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide if there is a right to abortion in the state.

The Supreme Court has accepted the case, and the filing from Wisconsin’s pro-life groups is in response to that case.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty also filed a brief in the case.

“There is no right to an abortion in Wisconsin’s Constitution. No judge, justice, or lawyer should be creating policy for Wisconsinites out of thin air. Reversing Roe v. Wade through the Dobbs decision rightfully placed the abortion issue back where it should have been all along – in the halls of state legislatures,” WILL Deputy Counsel Luke Berg said. “That’s where the debate and conversation must remain.”

The court is expecting responses from everyone involved in the case by today. The court has not said when it expects to hear oral arguments.

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Prosecutors Begin Laying Out Case Against Trump to Jury

Federal prosecutors on Monday began laying out what they say is election fraud in 2016 by former President Donald Trump.

Trump, 77, is the first former U.S. president to be charged with a felony. Prosecutors and defense attorneys presented their opening statements to the jury of five women and seven men.

Prosecutors said Trump corrupted the 2016 election, The Hill reported on Monday.

"This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up," Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said. "The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election, then covered it up."

Trump will spend four days a week in court in New York for the next six to eight weeks on state charges that he disguised hush money payments to two women as legal expenses during the 2016 election. Judge Juan Merchan has not scheduled trial days on Wednesdays.

On Monday, his defense attorneys said he had done nothing wrong.

"President Trump is innocent," Trump attorney Todd Blanche told the jury. "He did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan district attorney's office should never have brought this case."

Trump pleaded not guilty in April 2023 to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Merchan's gag order remains in place, ordered last month before the trial began. Trump, the nation's 45th president, is prohibited from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses concerning their potential participation or about counsel in the case or about court staff, district attorney staff or family members of staff.

Prosecutors said Trump's $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels was falsely covered up as a business expense, that the money was to help keep her quiet. Prosecutors say they had a sexual encounter.

Prosecutors also said Trump paid Karen McDougal, a Playboy magazine "Playmate," and reimbursed then attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to cover it up.

"This was a planned, coordinated, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, to help Donald Trump get elected through illegal expenditures to silence people who had something bad to say about his behavior," Colangelo said. "It was election fraud, pure and simple."

Reuters reported that Blanche countered that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg should have never brought the case to trial.

"There's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election" Blanche said. "It's called democracy. They put something sinister on this idea, as if it's a crime."

Prosecutors say Trump falsified internal records kept by his company, hiding the true nature of payments that involve Daniels ($130,000), McDougal ($150,000), and Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen ($420,000). Prosecutors say the money was logged as legal expenses, not reimbursements. In a reversal of past close relationships now pivotal to the prosecution against him, both Cohen and Daniels are expected to testify.

Under New York state law, falsifying business records in the first degree is a Class E felony that carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

Even if convicted and sentenced to jail, Trump could continue his campaign to return to the White House. He's facing the Democratic incumbent who ousted him in 2020, 81-year-old President Joe Biden.

Trump faces 88 felony charges spread across four cases in Florida, Georgia, New York and Washington.Trump has said the criminal and civil trials he faces are designed to keep him from winning the 2024 rematch versus Biden.

Waukesha County DA Declines Charges in Brandtjen Campaign Finance Case

(The Center Square) – Another local prosecutor declined to bring charges against a Republican state lawmaker in a campaign funding raising case.

Waukesha County’s District Attorney Sue Opper said she would not file charges against state Rep. Janel Brandtjen. But Opper said she is not clearing Brandtjen in the case.

“I am simply concluding that I cannot prove charges against her. While the intercepted communications, such as audio recordings may be compelling in the court of public opinion, they are not in a court of law,” Opper said.

Wisconsin’s Ethics Commission suggested charges against Brandtjen and a handful of others in a case that investigators say saw them move money around to allegedly skirt Wisconsin’s limits on campaign donations.

Opper said the Ethics Commission investigation was based on “reasonable suspicion and then probable cause.” But she added that those “burdens are substantially lower than proof beyond a reasonable doubt which is necessary for a criminal conviction.”

Opper said the Ethic Commission could pursue a civil case against Brandtjen and the others. She also opened the door to other investigations.

“This decision does not clear Rep. Brandtjen of any wrongdoing, there is just not enough evidence to move forward to let a factfinder decide,” Opper said.

She’s the fourth local prosecutor in the state to decide against filing charges.

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