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The reactions to Gov. Tony Evers' new commutation plan continue to pour in
Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, who is a former police officer, on Thursday outlined who would be eligible under the governor’s plan for a shortened sentence.
"Four felons are all murderers, including a cop killer, a man who killed two people, paralyzed another, and left another victim without a foot and a hand, and a man who beat his victim with a baseball bat, and stabbed him 20 times with a butcher knife until it bent," Wanggaard wrote in a statement.
“I believe in second chances as much as the next guy. I was actually working on a bill that would allow for judicial review of juvenile life sentences,” Wanggaard added. “I stopped after seeing these heinous murders. The idea that Evers created a whole new process to potentially let them out of jail early is crazy, and frankly, insulting to the victims and their families.”
Gov. Evers signed an executive order earlier this month to revive Wisconsin’s commutation process and end or lower sentences for potentially thousands of people in the state’s prisons.
“It’s time for Wisconsin to join red and blue states across our country and finally move our justice system into the 21st Century by reforming our criminal justice and corrections systems to improve public safety, reduce the likelihood that individuals will reoffend when they enter our communities, and save taxpayer dollars in the long run,” Evers said in a statement.
Wanggaard said criminal justice reform is one thing. He said freeing killers is another.
“The idea that they are victims of an unjust system and 'bad law' is just bleeding-heart liberal, feel-good nonsense. Evers created this commutation process to eliminate the life sentences for these murderers," Wanggaard said. “Just because Evers has the power to cut short their well-earned life sentences doesn’t mean he should.”
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