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 Brian
Blanchard
1. Disproportionate
Minority Confinement (DMC) has deep roots in public
and private institutions, both inside and outside
criminal justice systems. Given the huge disparities
today in Dane County, which frankly shame us as
a community, I and my colleagues in the courthouse
have strong moral and ethical responsibilities to
look closely to see what we can do to improve the
picture and we have been doing exactly that.
First,
we are working to raise sensitivity to the issue,
an important step. On Nov. 5, for example, the DA’s
office, together with judges and public defender
attorneys, will participate in half-day in-service
sessions on the issue of attitudes and experiences
regarding race. This is a first-of-its-kind training
in Dane County. Then, in February 2005, we follow
up with the entire staff of the DA's office, together
with workers from a number of other agencies working
in the criminal justice area, such as the Department
of Corrections, participating in a more intensive
day-long session, again a first in Dane County and
perhaps in Wisconsin.
Second,
I have worked with police to reduce the potential
for racial profiling of suspects and the potential
for the prosecution of innocent persons. We have
made it clear that racial profiling is not tolerated,
and we will not pursue charges resulting from any
investigation in which it appears that race may
have been used as a proxy for criminality. Similarly,
we fairly but aggressively charge hate crime enhancers,
punishing and deterring those who would single out
someone as a crime victim based on the victim's
race, gender, sexual preference, or other immutable
characteristic, and sending a strong message that
our criminal justice system exists to uphold the
rights of all citizens.
Third,
ADA Barb Franks is midway through a focused two-year
effort to identify how we can reduce DMC in our
juvenile justice system. I am on active memberof
this committee, which is collecting relevant data,
looking at key decision points in the criminal-justice
system, and assessing how the practices at those
decision points may contribute to inequity. We are
also engaging the broader community — educators,
social workers, schools, the faith community, kids
themselves — in discussions of factors that contribute
to DMC.
Fourth,
I have actively supported expansion of programs
that both protect the public and also build on the
strengths of kids and adults who have mental illness,
substance abuse problems, and other challenges,
a significant percentage of whom are persons of
color, to avoid jail if consistent with public safety.
We come out ahead as a community
when we connect them with medication, housing, and
employment or training. We need to invest more intelligently
in people who are unstable, underemployed, and often
homeless. Jail and prison should not be used
to warehouse persons sick with a form of mental
illness.
Finally,
we have expanded the Drug Court Treatment Program
(DCTP) admissions to include some offenders whose
crime is possession with intent to distribute, and
not merely the possession cases, and also offenders
whose identified crime is a property crime, but
whose problem is addiction. The small-time dealer
is sometimes a young Black male who has a low educational
level, sometimes with substance abuse problems.
When we use DCTP to stabilize their lives into training
or work and away from jail or prison, we sometimes
save a life as well as reduce DMC. My opponent would
"decriminalize" heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine,
making these valuable, low-level interventions impossible.
We
cannot afford to lose much of a generation of young
people to cycles of crime, confinement, more crime,
more confinement, and despair for their families
and loved ones. Fortunately, there is widespread
willingness, of which we should be proud and on
which we should build, to make changes to help reduce
DMC. I will continue on the projects I’ve described
above, as well as continuing to be a strong advocate
for more resources to fund the programs and initiatives
that are proven effective in reducing DMC.
I
thank The Madison Times for its tireless focus on
these critical issues, and I ask everyone who is
troubled by them to join me in advocating for the
additional public resources we need to tackle them.
 Sally
Stix
The disproportionate
minority confinement in Dane County jail and the
unconscionable disparity between the number of African
Americans Dane County sends to prison compared to
Whites is one of the major civil rights issues of
our time, locally, as well as, nationally. There
is no indication that the problem has been a priority
to the current district attorney.
When
the current district attorney took office in 2000,
the Dane County jail population was 35 percent Black
and 65 percent White and the rate of new prison
admissions from Dane County was about 40 times higher
for African Americans than for non-Hispanic Whites.
At the end of 2003, the Dane County jail population
was still 35 percent Black and 65 percent White
and there remained an extreme disparity in the rate
of new prison admissions from Dane County of African
Americans compared to Whites.
The
United States has the world’s highest incarceration
rate with African Americans imprisoned at a rate
seven times higher than Whites. The guiltiest state
is Wisconsin which in 2001 led the nation in the
Black/White disparate incarceration rate. Dane County,
as far as this disparity, is one of the worst offenders
in Wisconsin. While Dane County’s population is
only 4 percent African American, more than 50 percent
of the people sent to prison from Dane County are
African Americans.
The
relevant factors that concern me as a district attorney
candidate, are the policies and practices of our
criminal prosecution system which contribute to
this racial disparity, even assuming it occurs without
conscious prejudice or discriminatory intent. For
instance, Blacks are arrested far more often than
Whites for drug and property offenses. But most
of the difference in imprisonment rates results
from the greater likelihood of a Black person going
to prison than a White person.
The
gross disparity arose in the 1980s and 90s with
huge increases in arrest and prosecution of drug
cases. However, the rate of drug use among Black
and White adults is the same and it’s even higher
for White juveniles than Black. So where is the
disconnect?
The
“War on Drugs” is racist and unnecessary. “The drug
war is aimed towards Blacks,” observed Jodine Deppisch,
Warden of Taycheedah Correctional Institute. My
research and the people I've spoken to since I have
been a candidate for DA have confirmed the warden’s
pointed observation. More importantly, I believe
something can be done about this disparity. The
majority, approximately 80 percent, of the drug
arrests in Dane County are for possession. Therefore,
as DA, I will immediately implement the following
policies: I will not prosecute nor continue to prosecute
drug possession and drug paraphernalia possession
cases.
I
believe a moratorium on prosecuting possession cases
will provide an opportunity to review our
response to the systemic problems created by the
unwinnable “War on Drugs,” and to begin a dialogue
for change
In
addition, as district attorney, my office will keep
records of all charges brought and the outcomes
of prosecutions, identifying the race, age, and
gender of individuals prosecuted. The records will
be public documents and will provide the DA’s office
with a working knowledge of progress or lack of
progress in resolving the racial disparity in the
criminal prosecution system in Dane County.
While
the above changes are being implemented, the DA’s
office will work with community organizations in
Dane County, especially organizations in and representing
communities of color, to identify the causes of
the disparity and develop policies to try to mitigate
it.
The
incumbent DA says he recognizes there is a problem
and is working on it. However, we knew these startling
statistics three years ago; the first year of his
first term. What does that say about his priorities?
Unfortunately,
Dane County is one of the worst of the worst for
arresting and incarcerating people of color. If
we don’t acknowledge that as a major failure in
our system, we won’t be able to work to create a
just society. I want to create a just society —
that’s why I’m running for Dane County District
Attorney as a Green Party candidate. On Nov. 2,
Dane County residents will have the choice to move
in a new, progressive, and more just direction.
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