Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget for the state prison system rolls back a key program that many believed would both save money and reduce the prison population.
While officially known as Act 28, its supporters call it the "earned release" program, while critics deem it the "early release" program. Now references to it have been crossed out repeatedly and replaced with other language in Gov. Walker's budget.
Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokesman Tony Streveler down plays the significance of the repeal of Act 28. But he says it will reduce the number of prisoners eligible for sentence reductions.
"Act 28 expanded that criteria to say you don't necessarily have to have an AODA treatment need, you can have a rehabilitation need. It expanded the criteria," says Streveler. "The governor's budget bill brings it back to its original format, goes back to a person who has a drug and alcohol treatment program."
The governor's rationale for eliminating the program is that releasing too many inmates before their time is a threat to public safety. But Democratic state Rep. Joe Parisi says the earned release program was based on solid national research indicating it was working in other states.
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"You look at the research, you look at the evidence of what works in criminal justice, and then look at the direction we're going in Wisconsin...and we're pretty much doing the opposite of what everyone else knows works in order to reduce crime, reduce recidivism and save tax dollars."
Parisi says eliminating the program almost guarantees the state will have to spend another billion dollars on building new prisons. He says supporters of repealing earned release are in the majority, so it's unlikely efforts to save the program will succeed.
To date, only 480 prisoners have benefited from it and it's too soon to tell whether or not they'll commit new crimes.
