Governor Scott Walker: Get People Ready for Work

As appeared with the Brennan Center for Justice, April 27, 2015:

Protecting the lives, liberty, and property of its citizens must in all cases remain the very highest priority of government. Therefore, when thinking of criminal justice system reform, I first think about the impact on victims.

Often times, the voices of those most seriously harmed are not always the ones most prevalently heard in our courtrooms. During a listening session years ago at the Brown County Courthouse in Green Bay, a woman once related to me how she testified against her perpetrator — an intensely personal experience — because she was told that he would be punished for his crime, that he would serve his time, and that she and other potential victims would be safer. She was not aware that he would soon be released and back on the streets due to a shortened sentence.

Years ago, I authored legislation that required certainty in sentencing so victims like the woman I met in Green Bay can know how long the man who attacked her will be behind bars — whether it is two or 20 years. As a victim, she deserves to be a part of that process and she deserves to have the peace of mind of knowing how long he will be in prison.

With this in mind, we are pushing reforms at the front end of the process to create opportunities that impede paths to incarceration. We want a safe and sound system.

Every Friday afternoon, when most courts across America are winding down and putting the finishing touches on all of the items on their busy weekly calendars, some courtrooms bustle with activity. In a family drug treatment court in Milwaukee where substance abuse problems lead to the break-up of families, the judge pointedly addresses each addict’s weekly progress. In Green Bay, Appleton, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Janesville, and Racine, special veterans’ courts fashion an informed response to the unique trauma presented by those who have served our country in combat.

Joining many states across the nation, Wisconsin has continued the approach of “problem-solving courts” in an effort to address tough issues presented by alcohol and drug addiction, domestic abuse, and mental illness. No longer do offenders see their judge for only one sentencing hearing. Now, they must return. Back in front of their sentencing judge, offenders face the type of scrutiny that only “eye to eye” accountability affords. Successful outcomes for participants mean lower incarceration rates and potential cost savings for taxpayers.

Created in 2012, the Wisconsin Statewide Criminal Justice Coordinating Council has assisted in directing, coordinating, and collaborating with statewide and local governmental and non- governmental partners to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and public safety. Innovative problem-solving courts are one of the many topics on our docket.6 Building a strong, efficient criminal justice system improves public safety, saves taxpayer dollars, and ensures justice for all victims.

Proactively identifying and targeting barriers that prevent people from moving from government dependence to true independence and personal success have set the contours of our approach. We want every citizen empowered to take charge of his or her life. With true independence, people become educated, obtain gainful employment, provide for their families, find stability and success — and yes, avoid prison.

Heroin use creates a different kind of prison. Heroin does not discriminate. Regardless of gender, age, race, income, or zip code, heroin entangles its victims and their families in a dangerous web of devastation. In 2012, an escalating trend of heroin abuse in Wisconsin led to a drastic rise in overdose deaths by nearly 50 percent. Swift action was needed to protect our friends, family members, and neighbors from this insidious drug because our communities lacked the armor to combat this deadly addiction…

To read the rest of this op-ed, click here.