In the spring of 2023, Gov. Evers told members of WISDOM that he was ready and eager to resume the tradition of commuting the sentences of particularly deserving candidates. We quickly identified four ideal candidates for such clemency, vetted them thoroughly, and developed suggestions for continuing and regularizing the process. It is now almost two years later, and we are still waiting. In fact, despite all his promises, Gov. Evers has done remarkably little during the past six years to reduce the number of men and women in our overcrowded prisons, despite the evidence that hundreds remain there only because they received disproportionately long sentences and Wisconsin has forgotten how to rectify such injustices.
Some of Gov. Evers’ predecessors used their power of commutation repeatedly, both to rectify disproportionately long sentences and to recognize unusual examples of rehabilitation. Gov. Warren Knowles (1969-72) commuted sentences for all kinds of crimes (not just minor, non-violent ones). So did Patrick Lucey (1972-75), Lee Dreyfus (1981-82), and Tony Earl (1983-87). Only in the 1990s, when the whole country went overboard with “tough-on-crime” measures, did Wisconsin discontinue this humane and useful tradition.
Background: Executive clemency on the national level has been a big news item this winter, since presidents of both parties have granted commutations and pardons to hundreds of individuals, some of whom had not even been tried and sentenced yet. The current problem with executive clemency in Wisconsin is just the opposite: the governor is refusing to use his constitutional power to commute (shorten) the sentences of incarcerated men and women who clearly deserve such relief because they have served enough time by any reasonable standard and demonstrated their rehabilitation with decades of good behavior.
This Thursday, February 13, WISDOM’s Commutation Team leader, Beverly Walker, will meet with the governor’s legal staff to urge action. We need your help to make sure they listen.
Call the Governor’s Office at (608) 266-1212 on Thursday, Feb. 13.
Tell him to keep his promise on commutations. Let him know Wisconsin voters DO care about ending over-incarceration. Demand justice for those who have served more than enough time.
The governor and his staff assume the public isn’t paying attention. Let’s prove them wrong. Your call could be the push that makes a difference.
In Solidarity,
David Liners
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