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Recently, Gov. Tony Evers offered a powerful statement about how we should respond to the Black Lives Matter movement. He said, “We must offer our compassion, we must offer our support, most of all we must offer our action.” Now, we are asking you to contact Governor Evers to urge him to take his own advice. It is time for him to take action to reduce the prison population during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Communicate with Governor Evers to express your concern and to urge him to act!
Call his office, 608-266-1212
Email him at govinfo@wisconsin.gov
We appreciate your efforts to date.
- You added your names to a petition that was hand-delivered to Governor Evers' office on March 27 asking him to take seriously the health and safety of people in prison.
- You made calls and sent emails.
- Hundreds of you joined the "Drive to Decarcerate" on June 18.
You got Governor Evers’ attention: He and Lieutenant Governor Barnes promised, in a phone conversation with a few WISDOM leaders on July 20, to pull together a small group to recommend people whose sentences could be commuted. He even offered to invite a representative of WISDOM to be part of that group.
Now, a month has passed. COVID-19 is not going away. It threatens to get even worse in coming months.
The Governor has still not acted. He needs to be reminded.
That is why we are asking that you communicate with Governor Evers to express your concern and to urge him to act!
Remind the Governor of his promises. He promised to set up a group to advise him on commutations. He promised two years ago, when he wanted our votes, that he would cut the prison population in half.
Tell the Governor it is time to use his executive authority to reduce the sentences of people in prison who fit into these categories:
- People currently approved for Work Release
- People over 60 and/or with serious health issues that make them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19
- People who were convicted when they were under 25 years old and who have been in prison more than 15 years
- People who are due to be released in the next 6 months
- People serving time for a revocation who have not been convicted of a new crime.
The ACLU recently gave Wisconsin a grade of “F+” for its efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic in its prison system. Until now, we have been lucky, with lesser outbreaks than have happened in prisons in other states. But, time is of the essence. It is the time for Governor Evers to heed his own advice, to keep his own promises, and to act!
