NOW is the time to Transform our Criminal Justice System

NOW is the time to ROC Wisconsin Restoring Our Communities

Beyond 11X15

“The time is always right

to do what is right” - MLK

ROC WisconsinThe Problem persists

ROC Wisconsin affirms our 11X15 Campaign goals

Wisconsin still ranks worst (dead last) in the nation in terms of incarceration for African American men & Native Americans!

Wisconsin still wastes taxpayer dollars on “corrections” that could be used to support schools, or health & human services!

In Wisconsin our leaders still lack the will to implement proven strategies to cut our prison population in half!

The Magnitude of Wisconsin’s Problem

$1.3 billion/year is spent on Department of Corrections.

The trend continues… As of October 2015: Wisconsin adult prison population was 22,589

Extreme Racial Disparity

The ROC Wisconsin Blueprint to End Mass Incarceration

Keep People Out of Prison in the First Place…Stop sending people who don’t need to be there

Provide Justice Inside Prison WallsTreat prisoners humanely, and release those who can be safely releasedReduce over use of solitary confinement

Keep People From Returning to PrisonStop sending people back needlessly, and help people get jobs, housing and other needed services

ROC WisconsinA Five Point Solution

Point OneInvest in the programs and strategies that will end the racial and economic disparities that fuel mass incarceration

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Many states have significantly reduced their state prison

populations without experiencing an increases in crime:

New YorkNew JerseyCalifornia

TexasDelawareMichigan

The ROC Solution

Point TwoReduce the Wisconsin prison population to 11,000 and reduce the number of people on extended supervision

The ROC SolutionPoint Three

Start to view people convicted

of a crime as human beings

and members of families

The ROC SolutionPoint Four

Remove barriers to full participation in community life for formerly-incarcerated people

Intact families

Good jobs

Housing

Transit

Voting rights

The ROC SolutionPoint FiveCreate opportunities for people with conviction histories & their families to organize.

The ROC SolutionEXPO

EXPO (Ex-Prisoners Organizing) is a group of men and women coming together to challenge the way we think about formerly incarcerated and the criminal justice system in Wisconsin, and to restore individuals and families to full participation in the life of their communities.

ROC WisconsinDo the math….

3,000 alternatives through TAD plus 2,800 potential parolees plus

4,000 fewer revocations TOTAL 9,800 less people in prison / year

It is both POSSIBLE and ACHIEVABLE to significantly reduce the state prison population NOW and begin to restore our communities to health, safety and wholeness… (This could save about $343 MILLION dollars!)

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Keeping people out of prisonTAD – Treatment Alternatives and

DiversionsWisconsin has been able to provide alternatives to prison to many who need it – namely low-level offenders with addiction or mental health problems.

TAD’s are less expensive and more effective than sending people to prison.

If all TAD-eligible people had access to an alternative program, 3,000 less people would go to prison each year, and 27,000 less to jail.

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Keeping people out of PrisonUpdate sentencing guidelines

Prison sentences are often far too long; excess time in prison does more harm than good

17-year-olds should be tried as minors, not as adults.

Wisconsin needs to require a Community Impact Statement whenever a policy or law is changed, especially to evaluate the effect on communities of color, low-income people and people with disabilities.

Reforming sentencing practices could keep many people from ever going to jail.

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Justice inside the wallsOld Law Prisoners and Parole

On January 1, 2000 the Truth in Sentencing law was put into effect, eliminating the possibility of parole to anyone coming into the prison system.

Yet, in 2014 there were more than 2,800 people in prison who were eligible to be released, but a broken system has slowed the parole rate to a crawl.

Releasing those eligible for parole could save as much as $95 million/year and restore many productive citizens to their families and communities.

Justice inside the wallsSolitary Confinement

Solitary Confinement is emblematic of a “Lock ‘em up and throw away the key” mindset and

The UN has declared that placing any prisoner in Solitary Confinement for more than 15 days is torture.Yet, as recently as 2012 in Wisconsin…•600 prisoners had been in solitary for 6-12 months•79 prisoners had been in solitary for 2-5 years•14 prisoners had been in solitary for 10+ years

The work of WISDOM has been instrumental in getting the DOC to reduce the number of people in

solitary confinement by 25%

Justice inside the wallsCompassionate Release

Wisconsin law allows for elderly or seriously ill inmates to petition to be released. Unfortunately, the DOC makes little use of this provision.

Elderly and seriously ill inmates no longer pose credible threats to public safety.

This population is extremely expensive because they are not eligible for Medicare or other federal health benefits.Many of these prisoners have family members who are willing to care for them or nursing home facilities willing to accept them.

Keep people from being sent backCrimeless revocations

The largest number of people entering Wisconsin prisons are re-entering!Each year 4,000 people on parole are revoked and sent back to prison because of “technical violations” rather than because they had been convicted of a new crime.

Examples of technical violations include: accepting a job offer, or unauthorized computer/cell phone use, or crossing county lines, or missed appointments, or failed drug test, or GPS malfunctions (out of the bracelet-wearer’s control), or even an unfounded 3rd party accusation.

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Revocations

Keep people from being sent backTransitional Jobs

Transitional jobs are subsidized jobs created specifically to help long-term unemployed people to re-enter the workforce.

In recent years, more than 4,000 people have participated in these projects, 39% of whom have had a felony conviction. About half of all participants (including those with a conviction history) secure full-time employment before the end of the six-month Transitional Job.

Transitional jobs work! We need many more of them.

Keep people from being sent backBan the Box & C-CAP

Ban the Box is about moving questions about felony histories to later in a job application process. The “Box” is an example of a structural barrier.People coming out of prisons need jobs to support themselves and their families, and deserve a fair chance at being considered for available jobs.

We have had success in Madison, in Milwaukee County and in Appleton, but Ban the Box needs to be statewide and for all employers.

“C-CAP” – the on-line data base needs to be reformed.