The attitude of County Cockroach Cultivator Scott Walker and County Board Chairman Lee Holloway toward a bill that would return 17-year-old offenders to the tender mercies of juvenile court is highly disturbing.
But then, so is the screw job the state, through that same bill, might visit upon counties.
State Rep. Fred Kessler introduced the bill this week, and Walker and Holloway were all over it on fiscal grounds.
County Executive Scott Walker and County Board Chairman Lee Holloway are
reiterating their opposition to a bill proposed in the State Legislature to return 17 year-old offenders to the jurisdiction of juvenile court. If enacted, this change could cost Milwaukee County at least $24 million.
“Counties cannot afford any more unfunded mandates from the state,” said Walker. “This mandate could cost local taxpayers more than $24 million each year. The new revenue streams they propose will not cover the cost, and our 2010 Milwaukee County budget does not have a provision to handle the additional costs associated with this legislation.”
“It’s time for the state to get serious about juvenile justice and fund any reforms to our current system. The State of Wisconsin should be financially responsible for any changes to current correctional policy, because our property tax payers already bear too much of a burden for under-funded state mandates. They simply can’t afford a $24-30 million increase in costs,” Chairman Holloway said.
There is something simply grotesque about arguing that children should be kept in adult prisons because counties can’t afford a better alternative. It’s an argument that should not have been made.
Walker and Holloway are totally right, though, in their contention that the potential $24 million cost shift to the county is unacceptable and the state, if it is going to move 17-year-olds from adult court to juvenile court, needs to pick up some of that cost.
It doesn’t compute that Kessler is seeking to return 17-year-olds to juvenile court, (which would reverse the 1996 law that sent them to adult court) to save the state some money.He’s just not that kind of guy. It does compute, though, that some of his legislative colleagues would do the math and come to the happy realization that they could make the state’s horrid budget situation just a bit better by making the county’s really, really horrid budget situation even worse.
The existing law needs to be changed. Counties need to be treated fairly when it is.
Early prison release, reality and partisanship
Thursday, February 25th, 2010You would think that the JS, given its tough, tough economic circumstances, would understand about other institutions facing tough, tough economic circumstances.
That is not the case, however, when it comes to the state’s early prisoner release program. There’s a non-story there, and the JS was all over it. The state is letting some non-violent offenders out of prison a month or two early.
Some of them — surprise! — re-offend.
Police Chief Edward Flynn complained to the paper that the state is increasing the city’s costs. The JS, journalistic watchdog that it is, does nothing to verify or investigate Flynn’s assertion — does the chief seriously believe that if these folks are held an extra month they won’t re-offend? That the city won’t be spending time and money re-arresting them?
The early release program is pretty much of a non-issue (at least until just one of the released inmates commits some heinous crime two weeks before his original release date — then political hay will be made until the cows come home to Wisconsin Avenue) blown out of proportion to create a faux scandal. If I were in Democratic Gov. Doyle’s administration, I would suspect the paper of having a partisan agenda.
Fortunately, in its totally even-handed manner, the paper carried, on the very same day, a total non-story about two State Department of Justice press releases. Republican J. B. Van Hollen’s shop borrowed wording from other agencies’ press releases about cases they worked together.
Stop the presses! Nothing amiss here!
Gee, think the paper has ever taken a few paragraphs from press releases?
That’s it for now. I must go out and, like the paper, shovel it.
Posted in Commentary, Journal Sentinel, State Government, media | 2 Comments »