Rep. Ryan Clancy & Rep. Darrin Madison Call for End to Cash Bail in Wisconsin
Bill Would Allow Amending Wisconsin’s Constitution to Prohibit Cash Bail for Criminal Defendants
MADISON, Wis. – Today, Representative Ryan Clancy (D-19) and Representative Darrin Madison (D-10) proposed an amendment to Wisconsin’s constitution that would prohibit requiring “cash bail” posting for defendants to avoid jail time prior to trial. The U.S. Constitution’s 8th Amendment prohibits “excessive” bail, but most states still frequently require posting unaffordable, unfair bails – leading to a system where the wealthy and powerful can easily avoid jail time, even for violent crimes, while most others cannot.
Wisconsin is also an outlier in its use of criminal penalties for “bail jumping,” or violating bail conditions, with the practice used over 250,000 times between 2020 and 2025, according to the Capital Times.
Research by the Bail Project shows that cash bail and unfair pretrial incarceration often lead to defendants, definitionally unconvicted of the crimes they’re accused of, “losing their jobs, their homes, and custody of their children.” Several states have already prohibited or restricted the practice, according to World Population Review: Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, Kentucky, Maryland, Arizona, and Colorado. The District of Columbia has also banned the use of cash bail.
Rep. Darrin Madison (D-10) released the following statement:
“If freedom has a price tag, then justice is for sale – and that’s unacceptable. Justice should never depend on the size of your bank account. Yet, that’s exactly what cash bail does. It creates two systems: one where the wealthy can buy their freedom, and another where everyone else is forced to sit behind bars, not because they’re a threat, but because they’re poor. That’s not justice – that’s inequality, codified into law. This legislation prioritizes safety in communities over profit and that should be the standard.”
Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-19) released the following statement:
“Right now, people in Wisconsin can be trapped in jail for weeks, or months, because they’re unable to post bail for crimes as small as shoplifting, while those with wealth or access to wealth can easily pay for their continued freedom. This does not keep us safer: it breaks communities, ruins lives, and continues generational cycles of trauma and violence.
Cash bail is a building block of mass incarceration and carceral racism in Wisconsin. It’s part of the shameful legacy of our criminal legal system – and the consequences fall hardest on people of color, and Black and indigenous people in particular.
The people of Wisconsin deserve a chance to right past wrongs and end the practice of cash bail by amending our constitution to reflect true fairness and justice. I’m proud to help make that possible.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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