Wisconsin
spends nearly $150 million per year to imprison people for crimeless probation
and parole revocations. Public officials can send people to prison for minor
violations like eating lunch at a bar, accepting a job offer without prior agent approval, using a cell
phone or a computer without authorization, crossing county lines, failing drug tests,
and missing appointments. Incarcerating individuals for long periods because of
rule violations that do not involve new crimes is fiscally irresponsible,
contributes to overcrowding in jails, adds nothing to public safety in the
vast majority of cases, and destroys lives.
Gina
Barton, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative reporter, recently
shared a story that illustrates the need to reform Wisconsin’s revocation
policies. She notes that in 2012, a judge revoked the parole of Hector Cubero because
he gave a tattoo to a teenager. Although Cubero adjusted well to life on the
outside, he could now spend the rest of his life in prison because of this one rule
violation. Cases like this are not rare in Wisconsin. In recent years, the state
consistently imprisoned more than 4,000 people each year for rule violations.
My
own experience with the revocation process in Milwaukee reveals some of the
problems with the current system. I have suffered from paranoid schizophrenia
for the last 16 years. During this time period, I committed several offenses that were associated with this disabling mental condition.
One
day during the summer of 2007, Milwaukee police officers arrested me for
disorderly conduct. I went to court a few days after getting arrested. The
judge, the public defender, and the prosecutor all agreed that my behavior did
not fit with the definition of disorderly conduct.
The
judge dismissed the case, but I did not get to go home. My probation officer,
who had no specialized training in mental health issues, moved forward with the
revocation of my probation.
My
former probation officer, a mental health specialist in Madison, disagreed with
the decision of my probation officer in Milwaukee. He believed that an alternative
to revocation treatment program would have been a better option.
My
probation officer forced me to stay in the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF)
for nearly six months while I fought the revocation. Eventually, a Milwaukee administrative
law judge revoked my probation.
After
spending a few more weeks in a county jail, I went to court again. I faced a
maximum of 12 years in prison, but the sentencing judge decided to let me go
home.
Imprisonment
often exacerbates the problems of those who suffer from mental illness.
Mentally ill individuals who violate the rules of their supervision can normally
be treated more effectively in communities.
I
witnessed the deterioration of numerous people with mental illnesses during my time in
the special needs unit of MSDF. One individual attempted to commit suicide, a
few people severely mutilated themselves, and correctional officers put several
other men under suicide watch after they became suicidal.
My
case demonstrates the need for reform in a few important areas. All mentally
ill people under the supervision of the Department of Corrections (DOC) should
be assigned only to officers who have completed specialized training in how to
work with this population. In addition, probationers should not be incarcerated
for long periods of time while awaiting decisions about technical violations.
Reducing
the number of individuals incarcerated for crimeless revocations would
immediately help Wisconsin decrease its budget deficit. If public officials
sent just 1,000 fewer people to prison for technical violations in the next fiscal
year, the state would save $50 million dollars.
In April of 2014, Wisconsin legislators
enacted a “Swift and Certain” law that requires the DOC to develop a new system
of community-based sanctions. This law could help to limit levels of imprisonment
for crimeless revocations in the coming years, but public officials in Wisconsin
should take further action to ensure that formerly incarcerated individuals do not go back to prison for years because of rule violations unrelated to public safety.
The Governor and state
legislators should enact policies that would
- place a cap on the amount of time people can be imprisoned for the most common types of rule violations,
- limit agents’ authority to incarcerate individuals for technical violations,
- count time served on probation or parole as time served,
- create a system of incentives that rewards officers for the success of probationers and parolees under their supervision, and
- invest millions of dollars saved by reducing revocations in programs designed to help formerly incarcerated people successfully return to communities.
