Feb
21
Difficulties Arising Out of No-Merit Reports
Posted by: David Behm | February 21, 2012 | 4 Comments
Under Wisconsin Statute 809.32(1), an attorney representing a criminally convicted client on appeal must file a no-merit report if he or she: concludes that a direct appeal on behalf of the [client] would be frivolous and without any arguable merit within the meaning of Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and the [client] requests that [...]
Jan
28
Prosecutorial Discretion in the John Doe Investigation
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | January 28, 2012 | 2 Comments
Over at the Shark and Shepherd Blog, Rick Esenberg has put up a post questioning whether the recently filed criminal complaint in the ongoing John Doe investigation of the County Executive’s Office during Scott Walker’s tenure justifies the time and expense spent thus far on the investigation. I posted several comments in response to Rick’s [...]
Jan
11
A Tale of Three States, Part 6: Happy Days
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | January 11, 2012 | Leave a Comment
In the previous post in this series, I took the imprisonment data from Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin back to 1991. I’ve been interested, though, in pinpointing when exactly the Minnesota-Wisconsin imprisonment disparity arose, which requires going back further — much further, to the 1950′s. Here are the numbers: WI Imprisonment Rate (per 1000,000) Percent Change MN [...]
Dec
20
A Tale of Three States, Part 5: The Effect of Truth in Sentencing in Wisconsin
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | December 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Previous posts in this series have examined the latest available incarceration data from Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This post considers historical data. I’m particularly interested in the impact of a major change in sentencing law that was adopted in Wisconsin in 1998. Under the “truth in sentencing” law, parole was abolished for crimes committed on [...]
Dec
14
A Tale of Three States, Part 4: The Racial Threat Hypothesis
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment
In the previous post in this series, I highlighted a wide gap in the incarceration rates of Indiana and Minnesota, with Wisconsin in the middle. The ordering of the three states from highest incarceration rate to lowest corresponds with the ordering from highest rate of violent crime to lowest. However, for reasons I explained in the previous post, I [...]
Dec
12
A Tale of Three States, Part 3: Harsh Hoosiers
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | December 12, 2011 | 1 Comment
In the first post in this series, I explored the large gap between the incarceration rates of Minnesota and Wisconsin. In the second, I discussed racial disparities in the incarcerated populations of the two states. The disparities in both states are wide, although Wisconsin’s are somewhat larger. In this entry, I add a third state, [...]
Dec
10
A Tale of Three States, Part 2: Racial Disparities
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | December 10, 2011 | 2 Comments
In the first post in this series, I highlighted a sizable gap between the incarceration rates of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Although the two states have similar crime rates, Wisconsin has more than twice Minnesota’s incarceration rate (651 per 100,000 versus 310). In this post, I cover racial disparity data in the two states. As summarized in [...]
Dec
8
A Tale of Three States, Part One
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | December 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment
In this post from a few months ago, I offered a preliminary assessment of the wide disparity in incarceration rates between Wisconsin and Minnesota. I had just enough data then to raise some interesting questions. Now, with the capable help of a research assistant, Garrett Soberalski, I’ve assembled a much more extensive body of data, which I expect to [...]
May
20
SCOWIS Approves LWOP for 14-Year-Old Killers
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | May 20, 2011 | 3 Comments
Today, in State v. Ninham, 2011 WI 33, the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved the sentence of life without possibility of parole for fourteen-year-olds who are convicted of first-degree intentional homicide. The decision rests on a narrow reading of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark holding last year in Graham v. Florida, in which the Court outlawed LWOP for [...]
May
18
Wisconsin v. Minnesota
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | May 18, 2011 | 4 Comments
Given the many demographic and cultural similarities between these midwestern neighbors, I’ve long been intrigued by how dramatically different the incarceration rates are in Wisconsin and Minnesota. How is it that Wisconsin’s per capita incarceration is twice Minnesota’s? My diligent research assistant Joe Gorndt has gathered some data to try to shed light on this [...]
Feb
11
Chisholm: Revise Truth-in-Sentencing, Support “Smart” Use of Alternatives to Hold Down Costs and Fight Crime
Posted by: Alan J. Borsuk | February 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Crime can continue to go down in Milwaukee and spending on criminal justice can be controlled successfully, but only if steps are taken to give local judges, prosecutors, police and others involved in criminal justice tools, incentives and support in doing so, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said in a speech Friday at Marquette [...]
Nov
22
Indigent Defense and the Private Bar Rate Debate
Posted by: Michael Cicchini | November 22, 2010 | 8 Comments
The Wisconsin State Public Defender (SPD) currently pays $40 per hour to private bar attorneys who represent indigent citizens accused of crimes. This rate has been unchanged for decades, and lawyers are lobbying for an increase. However, aside from horrible timing—this latest plea for more money coincides with Wisconsin’s $2.5 billion budget deficit—some of the [...]
Blog Editors
- Alan Borsuk
- Bruce E. Boyden
- Edward A. Fallone
- Melissa L. Greipp
- Scott C. Idleman
- Lisa Mazzie
- Michael M. O'Hear
- Ryan Scoville
