Jail Derailed? Not quite.

September 4, 2020 8:34 am

Not sure what to think of this. Paused is good, completely derailed is better. I think they should vote on resolution 145 and set a clear direction. A delay is not a halt. The jail plan needs to be halted while they figure out how to build a mental health restoration center, and mental health ambulances and other reforms, to see if they really need to build the jail. I suspect they do not.

LETTER FROM CHAIR EICHER

Here’s the memo – Eicher Memo 9.3.20

September 3, 2020

TO: Members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors
FROM: Supervisor Analiese Eicher, Chair
SUBJECT: Opportunity for Criminal Justice Reform

As we continue to weather the social and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to hear the voices of those protesting police-involved violence and structural racism throughout society, I want to take this opportunity to discuss some of the major decisions that we, as local elected leaders, will address in the coming weeks and months.

The challenges of unemployment, housing and food insecurity, and the extreme weather events resulting from climate change also claim our attention and action, but it is the pending issue related to criminal justice reform that I want to discuss. As I see it, there are three threads to this topic which are woven together: the changes in policy and practice throughout the criminal justice system, because of the pandemic, which have resulted in a marked decrease in the number of individuals in the jail; the jail consolidation project; and the embrace and need for action on reform initiatives developed over the past half-dozen years by community-involved committees and workgroups.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a case of crisis causing change; it has shown us where we can collaborate and partner in new ways, from law enforcement to the courts to corrections. As you may know, UW Madison Sociology Professor Eason recently completed an analysis for the Criminal Justice Council regarding the ramifications of COVID exposure and illness if the number of individuals in the jail had not been reduced markedly.
https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8709837&GUID=35537DC6-BC6C-4395-AFB6-48E37A311F5C

Work is underway to analyze the impacts of action throughout the criminal justice system that made the decrease in the number of individuals in jail possible, and to determine what policies and procedures can continue post-pandemic. The Criminal Justice Council website includes a policy response matrix which summarizes some of the actions across the system:
https://cjc.countyofdane.com/documents/COVIDPolicyResponse.pdf . Additionally, the JFA Institute is completing analysis for the Criminal Justice Council regarding approaches to reduce both the jail population and the racial disparities in that population.

Clearly, it is responsible and ethical public policy to determine how to best keep the jail population low while meeting the needs of public safety. That said, we need to understand that the court system has not been in session over the past 5-plus months and has a backlog of cases; that has played a role in the lower average daily jail population. We need to anticipate, therefore, that the numbers of individuals in the jail will likely climb once court resumes.

With the reduction in jail population because of forced innovation and collaboration due to COVID, there are questions whether our current plan to consolidate the three jail facilities (Public Safety Building, City-County Building, and Huber) is still the right path. While much has changed this year, one thing that remains the same is that the City-County Building jail is inhumane and dangerous to individuals in our care, dangerous to workers, and does not reflect the values and environment that we strive for as a county. Doing nothing is not an option.

I know there is interest in pausing the project and making sure the building appropriately serves Dane County’s needs. Let me share that those working on the jail project had thought they would need more funding to make the project meet the requirements set forth by the Board. This project needs to come in at or under budget. The design team and architects are now working to not only keep the project in budget, but also to adapt the project to be built in a way that space can be converted from beds to program space when we are able to achieve enough long lasting systems change to permanently decrease the jail population.

Reworking the design to meet cost constraints will take time and the contracts for the jail consolidation project will be delayed several months, to the Spring of next year. Some have indicated an interest in voting on the jail. As has always been the process, the County Board will be voting on the jail consolidation project contracts. Meanwhile, I am asking that the Public Protection & Judiciary Committee, the Public Works & Transportation Committee, and the Personnel & Finance Committee be given regular updates over the next six to eight months.

But, to be clear, the coming months are not a time of waiting for the next jail vote, but rather a time to embrace and push forward reforms including behavioral health initiatives like CAHOOTS/STAR and a triage and restoration center, and further restorative justice measures like a community justice center.

We have heard repeatedly from other jurisdictions across the country that have been able to break down silos and work together to build a stronger, fairer, more just community. I know that Dane County – including government, health systems, businesses, and community — can do the same.

It is with urgency and a call to action to all sectors of our community that the Board must look to implementing these key behavioral and restorative initiatives. I also recognize that major structural change will not happen overnight; it requires a heavy and sustained lift.

Let’s use our time intentionally. Let’s implement reforms and restructure systems where we can, as included in 2020 RES-180 Endorsing Criminal Justice Reform and Developing both a Triage and Restoration Center and a Community Justice Center . Let’s use our collective power as a Board to influence our partners both in these systems and outside of these systems to build our vision of a truly just Dane County.

RESOLUTION 145

ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC RACISM IN THE DANE COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND INVESTING IN ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATOIN OUTSIDE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

Dane County has the opportunity to challenge the systemic racism and racial disparities in our criminal justice system and in our community. Currently, the County has plans to spend $148 million on new jail facilities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic Dane County has shown that it can substantially lower the jail population.

Many previous recommendations for reforming the criminal justice system remain to be implemented.

Violence against people of color by law enforcement both locally and nationally has brought a change in priorities for the community and Dane County Government.

The United States incarcerates more people, most of whom are people of color, than any other nation. Both the United States and Dane County have expanded the scope and role of law enforcement over the years. Dane County has followed the national trend to allow the militarization of law enforcement changing the relationship between police and the community.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Dane County will immediately halt all planning, design, architecture, and construction of a new jail facility; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that preliminary plans be developed to use the office space in the Public Safety Building for additional jail beds and assessment of remote hospital sites and community based recovery sites to handle mental health needs of residents take place to address inhumane conditions in the current facility, and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that Dane County will review and implement recommendations to lower the jailpopulation and minimize the role of law enforcement, including but not limited to:

1. Add representatives of communities of color to the Criminal Justice Council;

2. Implement virtual weekend court to lower jail population and prevent unnecessary incarceration of lower income residents;

3. Eliminate the Huber program and transfer treatment and monitoring functions to the Dane County Human Services Department, as is done in LaCrosse County;

4. Develop sentences that limit incarceration and instead focus on restorative justice that help victims and the community;

5. Dramatically reduce the use of the Dane County jail for the housing of probation and parole holds and urge the state to speed up their own adjudication and eliminate jail time for minor probation and parole offenses;

6. Review charging and sentencing decisions against leading practices nationally in order to reduce the amount of jail time recommended;

7. Lower the Average Length of Stay (ALS) and enforce time standards on in custody cases;

8. Prioritize the writing of tickets instead of jail for minor offenses by local law enforcement;

9. Create inventory of local law enforcement use of force policies throughout the County;

10. Change the incentive system in the criminal justice system from punitive to restorative by providing transparency in the criminal justice system. Publish racial disparity and incarceration statistics on the Dane County website for all actors in the criminal justice system. Begin by publishing incarceration statistics including racial disparity statistics for all Dane County judges.

11. Continue to increase the use of electronic monitoring beyond the current number;

12. Increase the use of restorative courts and implement a mental health court to divert mental health cases.

SUPERVISOR DOYLE’S FAQs

What does Resolution 145 do?

Resolution 145 halts all activity related to the design and construction of a new $148 million dollar jail facility. It also points the County toward a number of reforms that have been recommended in the past that could lower the number of people in the criminal justice system and the jail. The intention is to divert funding from law enforcement and the jail and instead fund human service programming to help people with problems including drug addiction, alcoholism, and mental health problems.

Is this resolution appropriate for the County Board? Aren’t these recommendations outside of their purview?

Halting the current jail project allows an opportunity to build on the successful policy shifts away from incarceration and support stakeholders like the Sheriff, municipal law enforcement, District Attorney, and County Circuit Court Judges to further the recommendations. The power to tax and spend resides solely with the County Board. All of these programs and projects require funding. Budgeting is a reflection of the values of a community. Let’s stop funding a racially biased criminal justice system and invest in treatment and restorative justice.

Why did the County move forward with a large jail project previously?

There are legitimate concerns about the safety and welfare of incarcerated people in one part of the jail – the antiquated 6th and 7th floor of the City County Building where maximum security incarcerated people are housed. It is difficult for deputies to monitor and prevent suicide attempts. There are inadequate facilities for mental health treatment. Too often solitary confinement is used out of necessity that was harmful to the wellbeing of incarcerated people suffering mental health episodes. There is general agreement that those two floors need to be replaced in some fashion. Even if construction of a new jail started today, a new facility wouldn’t be in place for another 5 years. The County should explore more options to increase safety and more appropriate placements sooner.

So why stop now? (written before the letter above)

Spending $148 million to continue to incarcerate people of color without changing our culture of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is wrong. The changes that have been implemented to decrease the jail population need to be fully assessed. What is the true population number? Should we instead be building mental health facilities that are human service based? Should there be beds in treatment instead? LaCrosse County for example ended their work release program and transitioned to human services based programs instead. We could easily implement this change in Dane County among many other reforms. You can read one of the reports that lists over a 100 reforms here:

https://board.countyofdane.com/documents/pdf/CriminalJusticeAssessment1007.pdf. Dane County implemented a handful of these reforms over a decade ago and it reduced the jail population by 500. This was deemed “impossible” and “dangerous” by the criminal justice system at the time.

This is the worst county in the worst state in the worst nation in the world for people of color. We must do the hard work to change our culture of over policing and over incarcerating people of color. The COVID-19 crisis has shown us that it can be done. The current jail population has dropped in half due to this emergency. When this is over will we return to business as usual, ruining yet another generation of young people of color? A criminal record that will deprive them of employment, housing, a future filled with possibility and hope? If the County truly believes that racism is a public health crisis, nothing short of the efforts put forth to combat the pandemic should be utilized to address this crisis.

WORK IS NOT DONE, ACTION STILL NEEDED

This hiccup is not enough, tell your elected officials to support Resolution 145.

This includes:

your County Board Supervisor – board.countyofdane.com/Supervisors

County Executive Parisi – parisi@countyofdane.com

District Attorney Ismael Ozanne – danecoda@da.wi.gov

and the Circuit Court Judges – courts.countyofdane.com/Judges

Demand that reforms be implemented to end the racial disparities in the criminal justice system and the jail and that funding be shifted to human service solutions before spending millions on a new jail. Do not spend hundreds of millions of dollars of our tax money to continue the same system that has ruined the lives of so many people of color over the decades. Do the hard work of reform.