Sen. Taylor Reject’s Gov. Walker’s Attack on Parole
"Governor Walker’s attack on parole is just another example that he is refusing to do his job."
(MADISON) – The Joint Finance Committee voted Wednesday to defund the Parole Commission to four positions. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, it would take 15 years to address almost 4,000 parole applicants under the new staffing level.
Following the committee session, Senator Taylor offered the following remarks:
“Governor Walker is refusing to respect people’s right to parole. These are people who want to be heard and considered on whether they have paid their debt to society. It is unacceptable that people who are incarcerated and eligible for parole wait years before they can get a hearing. It is also irresponsible to taxpayers, who pay $30,000 per year to incarcerate a person. While the Parole Commission certainly has its issues, we need to work to make it better, not work to destroy it.”
“Governor Walker’s attack on parole is just another example that he is refusing to do his job. Just like he refuses to hear pardons, he now wants to reject the voice of parole applicants. I would like to remind the Governor that he represents everyone in this State, including those who are incarcerated. If Governor Walker refuses to fulfill the duties of his office, we need someone else who will”.
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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I support Senator Taylor’s position on the staffing of the Parole Board. The State has an obligation to speedy completion of requests for parole, just as the State has an obligation to a speedy completion of a trial on the merits of any criminal charge. Failure to adequately staff the Parole Board subverts the role of our elected judiciary, which has exercised its judgment and due process, to give each person found guilty an appropriate sentence under the law. Governor Walker is, in a sense, in contempt of our duly elected court system, when he fails to adequately fund the parole board. In this process, he harms Wisconsin families, AND those communities that would receive these new parolees. That’s because extended incarceration only does a better job of training prisoners survive in prison, instead of promoting the economic and social skills they will need for survival in their communities.