Blogging Blue

So according to an article in the MJS, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker wants to eliminate Milwaukee’s work release jail facility, known as the Community Correctional Center. The closing has been recommended due to the cost savings that would come from closing CCC and eliminating its staff, as well as through the elimination of maintenance costs for the facility, which hasn’t exactly aged well. I had an opportunity to work at CCC back in 1999 and 2000, and it was in dreadful shape then, and from what I’ve been told little’s been done to improve conditions for inmates and staff since then.

What’s interesting to me about the proposal to close CCC is the position that closing the facility is going to save the County millions of dollars, when in reality the cost savings probably won’t be that significant. Putting 350+ offenders on GPS bracelets year-round - which is what’s being proposed for individuals who are either at CCC now or would be sentenced there in the future - isn’t really going to be as big a cost-saving move as the article in the MJS would have folks believe. The cost of GPS monitoring averages roughly $15 per day per offender (a conservative average), and with 350+ offenders at CCC, that’s a cost of just over 1.9 million dollars per year. The article in the MJS says the county’s going to lease the GPS equipment for 148,000 dollars per year, but what I’m left to wonder is how well the new system will be run. I’ve seen firsthand how employees at CCC run the electronic surveillance program that currently exists, and I know from talking to offenders they consider the program to be a joke. It does little to hold offenders accountable, because offenders know that if they violate their conditions of ES, very little will probably happen to them.

I worry that this GPS system Scott Walker’s so gung-ho on is only going to give people a false sense of security, because GPS bracelets won’t stop offenders from engaging in criminal behavior, nor can they tell the individuals doing the monitoring when a crime is being committed by someone wearing a bracelet.

This is a bad idea on a lot of levels, and I think it’s a shame that Scott Walker is so hell-bent on gutting the county budget that he’d start making cuts to security.

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Now I know Badger Blogger isn’t a blog known for having a gaggle of intelligent, articulate conservative readers, but I simply can’t believe the views of some of its readers, a group that really exemplifies the best (or worst, depending on your viewpoint) with Wisconsin wingosphere has to offer. In a recent post talking about Sheriff David Clarke’s flip-flop on concealed carry, “Peter” (who not surprisingly chooses to remain semi-anonymous), advocates the lynching of black folks in Milwaukee’s inner city.

A rope and a tree might bring some law and order to the Central City.

Peter follows up that proposed “solution” by taking it a little further, stating:

A little vigilante justice may make the thugs take notice. Clearly the criminal justice system doesn’t want to control things. Kinda like the Toby Keith/Willie Nelson song, Whiskey For My Men (Beer For My Horses). I wouldn’t object at all to seeing the gangbangers and thugs at the end of a rope.

What I can’t help but wonder is if Peter’s ready to take his rope and starting walking the streets looking for folks to lynch, because I’ve noticed it seems to be a common trend among some conservatives to talk tough but do precious little to back up that talk. I call it the “keyboard commando” syndrome; it’s easy to type tough about the war in Iraq and how to fight crime in Milwaukee, but it’s quite another to actually have the courage to do something about it.

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Who can forget the case of Scott Jensen, former Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly who was convicted of three felonies? I haven’t forgotten, and I haven’t forgotten the fact that despite being convicted in May of 2006 to serve 15 months in Wisconsin State Prison for his three felony convictions, Scott Jensen has not served one single day in prison.

To this day, Scott Jensen is still free while he appeals his conviction, and I’m willing to bet many a criminal in Wisconsin would love the same treatment Jensen is receiving. I’m also willing to venture a guess that if there were another thrice-convicted felon who hadn’t served a day of his imposed prison sentence more than a year after he was convicted, conservatives like Young Jessica McBride would be gnashing their teeth at “liberal activist judges” or some such nonsense. As Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Scott Jensen wielded a tremendous amount of power, and he chose to use that power to engage in illegal and highly unethical behavior. Scott Jensen undermined the credibility of one of our state’s most important political institutions, and he should be held accountable for his actions, and that means serving the sentence that was imposed by his sentencing judge. The fact that he remains free on appeal is an absolute sham.

The fact that Scott Jensen is getting special treatment - treatment that wasn’t given to wrongfully-convicted Georgia Thompson - simply blows my mind. The fact that Scott Jensen still walks the streets a free man after being convicted to serve prison time for three felonies makes an absolute mockery of our legal system.

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So according to my pal Kevin, who’s currently in China on business, BloggingBlue.com is banned by Chinese censorship.

I don’t know what I did to deserve censorship, but whatever it is, I’m going to keep doing it.

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All I can say is I hope so.

Michael Horne of Milwaukee World has already reported State Senator Lena Taylor announced her candidacy to unseat Scott Walker at Fighting Bob Fest, while Greg Borowski of All Politics Watch is reporting no official announcement has been made. While she may not have declared herself a candidate for County Executive yet, I think it’s just a matter of time before Sen. Taylor jumps into this race. Other possible candidates have already begun to make it clear they have no intention of running, which leads me to believe they might be “taking one for the team” so Taylor can run the kind of campaign that’s going to be necessary to beat Scott Walker.

To be honest, I’m salivating at the possibility of Lena Taylor running for County Executive against Scott Walker. I think Lena Taylor’s just the kind of person that Milwaukee County needs as our next County Executive. Scott Walker’s going to have a heck of a time beating Lena Taylor, especially as his support continues to dwindle. Between his veto of the sales tax referendum and his broken promise not to run for more than two terms in office, Scott Walker deserves to be shown the door.

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