missnikki what you fail to share is why your husband fled in the first place? If you are not going to share his name so we can see the other side of the story than you contribute nothing to this story. Actions have consequences and I am quite positive he is there for good reason regardless of what he told you. I know we do not live in a society that generally incarcerates people in State or Federal prisons for no reason. County jail is a whole other demon and can sometimes be a pre cursor to other problems in life. Generally lack of employment opportunity is the real issue! "Idle hands are the devils workshop." For those of you who do not feel non-violent criminals belong in jail wake the hell up or message me your personal and bank account information. Didn't think so. Criminals cost money. Period. Time for us to realize their sweat equity.

For starters, I am the wife of a man who just got sentenced to prison for 2 years. My husband was first put in prison 6 years ago for a felony from outrunning the police. 6 YEARS! 3 years in and 3 years out! Well afterwards he was released and put in a halfway home because he had no place to live, which you are not allowed to drive there. But being the simple fact of being an adult and not being able to drive to find a job he drove! He got caught driving and got sentenced to 2 more years in prison. Do I support this whole budget plan. Absolutely not! Do I want my husband home? Absolutely. When I think of non violent offenders I think of my husband, and me being 20 year old mother with a child who has to miss her father because of some insane amount of time they think he deserves in prison. If you ask me I think it rediculous to put a person in prison for something so small. Now that is what I call a waiste of money. And to sit here and listen to some of you say some of the things you say about inmates is incredibly heart breaking. Many of the people who are in prison, are fantastic human beings and deserve a second chance. And maybe just maybe if they were given the opportunity they would be able show everyone that they are not all monsters. I am not in any way sitting here saying that everyone should be let out with a slap on the wrist and told not to do it again, but what I am saying is that maybe things need to be re evaluated. I would like to have the father of my child home to see all of the important things. And to sit here and say not to let them out because there are no jobs is also insane. Should innocent people be locked up because they will soon overcrowd the rest of the world outside of prison? This world is becoming so rediculous. Some of those inmates who are spoken badly about are actually very great people.

The only people Doyle supports conceal and carry for are the paroled felons. He won't have to know about them because they won't be licensed and checked by the state. Then when they are caught they are victims of the system again. Of course, Doyle will try to spend more money to get over that social ill that we profile illegal arms carriers based on past bad acts. In the meantime the law abiding citizen will have already been turned into the systematically victimized subject.

Lets just take a look at the genius of Jim Doyle on this subject. In 95 (i think), while acting as state AG, He and the DOC decided there would be no early release for drug offenders. All other criminals,murderers ,rapists, all others were allowed parole opportunities, just not drug offenders.
Wait it gets better. He decided we needed a 3 strike law. Sure there are plenty of criminals that need this type sentence, but not all. Over the years I've seen ridiculous abuses of this law. I say let judges, victims, and appeals court figure out what is an appropriate sentence.
I saved the best for last. Truth in sentencing is the biggest lie ever passed on to those that voted for him. The simple truth is that it is just not called parole anymore, it's called supervision. Same exact procedure, same exact result, it's still parole.

but really jd. its not about me being smarter...and truly i apologize fo the idiot thing. its about posting something that isnt true, like saying pot dealers dont affect our state prison system, when they do. nevermind the fact that even in our federal system they are still costing us. when compared to all the other drugs, even just THE LEGAL ones, pot is relatively harmless. no 'free' adult american citizen should be in jail for selling a 100% NATURAL PLANT to another consenting adult. its ridiculous.

20 billion it would take?? im assuming thats a guess too. according to ACTUAL numbers the state of california ALREADY collects 18 million a year from medical marijuana and if taxed like alcohol could generate 1.3 BILLION annually. thats one state.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1568...

i think your estimate of 20 billion in sales is an understatement as to how much legal pot would generate in sales annually. recreational use, medical use, clothing, fuel, food, and other industrial uses(fiber, paper, etc). legal pot could possibly help create hundreds of thousands of green jobs. my numbers here are a guess too, but i bet its a 100 billion dollar industry. at least. but ahhh heck, what we got goin now seems to be workin so lets just keep on keepin on. keep truckin.

appreciation appreciated;)

You're right kid, you have proved beyond a doubt to me and, I'm sure, to the rest of the readers on this blog that you are an intellectual genius and I am a mental midget. I bow before thee.

jd: your first comment stated 'The only people in prison for just pot related crime are dealers, and sorry, but they are in federal prison where they belong'. your second post regarding state prisons says 'That leaves 10% drug related only'. so assuming your second post is accurate, you actually prove that your first post is idiotic. muchas gracias

Boy, rexkramer and buckyboy, you sure snowed me with your logic. America has five times as many criminals as the rest of the world! Sort of makes you proud, we do like to be #1.
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Or maybe, just maybe, we're the ones doing it wrong.
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By the way, I made my points without personal attacks.

They should be letting people out of "conditional release", who HAD been mentally-ill, but now are on meds. They have these people monitored by parole agents (can you believe it). They need to see their psychiatrist once every three months for meds and report to a case manager, but should not kept under the wing of an agent as a criminal and not have to be housed at the descretion of where the nazi-like agent prescribes. This is wrong and hindering to these people and puts the FEAR in them. This is not helping, this is scaring!

amen Rex and also I wouldn't trust anyone driving when high on pot anymore than I would if driving drunk, only a pothead would think they drive good when high ... go figure.

What the hell is the matter with legalizing pot? it works just fine in Amsterdam. Drivers on pot are more likely to drive under the speed-limit and over-cautious, not likely to be a problem. there are many beneficial effects of MJ and there would be many benefits to our society, not to mention Cancer and glaucoma patients. I could go on and on. I'm not a pot-head but I know about the benefits of moderate use. Or lets just keep building more and more prisons to house the by-products of our faulty, god-less,materialistic society. OR we could institute programs that have been proven to work to reduce repeat offenders by educating them and giving them job skills instead of just sitting in prison using up tax-payor dollars doing nothing.

My goodness, thekid, such name calling. Try relaxing a bit, I'm told a marijuana cigarette is very good for that. And, if Jim Doyle and the democrats get their way, you won't even have to worry about doing hard time!

Oh, and while you're relaxing, digest this report from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute: http://www.wpri.org/Reports/Volume%203/V...

If you don't want to take the time to peruse it, let me just sum it up for you: fully 90% of Wisconsin prisoners are in for either assaultive crime (including rape and murder) or property crime (including robbery). That leaves 10% drug related only (granted many in the first categories are involved with drug crime). You are right I did not research that 10% but I am going to go out on a limb and say that exactly ZERO of them are in for simple marijuana possession.

And as to your argument about the "peeps" on probation who fail a drug test, sorry, no sympathy here. If a person is that stupid as to fail a drug test while out on parole, then maybe, just maybe he deserves to rot in prison.

Now who is the fool and the idiot?

jd1965 you are a fool. so no one in state prisons are there for dealing pot?? all federal prisons?? idiot. i bet there are more peeps in wi state prison for marijuana violations than federal prisons. im guessing you did absolutely no research before you posted that. what about the people on probation who fail a drug test and get revoked?? they sure as heck are in state prisons and taking up space.

Rexkramer,couldn't have said it better myself.Janesvillean is too stupid to realize that the "problem" is already there and that is the reason for prisons in the first place!

Now the state must pass "Conceal and Carry". If they are to release all these felons back on to the streets, that law abiding citizens need to be able to protect their life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

"This is a good first step. The United States already imprisons people five times as much as the rest of the world, and it doesn't seem to be solving the problem any more effectively for all that"

Just when I think I've read the most ignorant, idiotic comment on this site, you come along and leave everyone else in the dust. Maybe we imprison 5 times as many because, oh, I don't know, we have more criminals, or maybe we don't just let criminals run the streets to keep victimizing people like other countries. Tell you what genius, I propose a measure to move these folks right into your neighborhood. Then you can go door to door and hold hands and sing songs together. As for the rest of us, we've had it with being subjected to crap like this because folks like you keep voting these politicians into office.

This is a good first step. The United States already imprisons people five times as much as the rest of the world, and it doesn't seem to be solving the problem any more effectively for all that.

Yeah let them out early and give them a joint as they walk out the door .... I don't think so. Let them do their time, this is one time I don't mind my tax dollars taken out of my check to keep them in jail. Anyone wanting pot legalized i'm going to guess is a pothead just waiting for that to happen, I mean we can't even handle all the drunk drivers we have now killing people. It's a joke to even think about giving the offenders a walk and a joint .... my thought.

What is a low-risk sex offender? One who has only raped and murdered one child? Jim Doyle won a dirty re-election campaign against Jeff Wagner in 1994. In that race it was pointed out that David Spanbauer got out of prison, then raped and killed Cora Jones and Ronnie Eicksted, both under 14. Wagner supported the death penalty, Doyle did not. Jim Doyle and Marc Pocan are ultra-liberals who are pro-criminal and anti-2nd Ammendment. They do not even believe we should be able to defend ourselves should an intruder come in after our kids, which WILL happen should this STUPID budget item pass.

Roadmaster-at least Republicans can read-Democrats neither read nor listen-just follow old Jimmy boy like the ignorant lemmings they always are

Here's an idea-lets make sure all the released sex offenders live next door to Gov. Doyle and every other legislator who votes for this "reform plan"

The reason these issue finally get voted on in the middle of the night is the Republicans on the committee wasted time such as reading names out of the phone book. The proposals have been out in the public since the Governor released his budget in February, There were many hearing held around the State since then.

A good way to get rid of some of the more serious criminals is the death penalty. What ever happened to the state of WI voting YES for that in 2004?

Hey potheads: put your joint down a second and think about it. "Legalizing marijuana would free up all the space we need in prison". Right. The only people in prison for just pot related crime are dealers, and sorry, but they are in federal prison where they belong. "Taxing pot would help the budget problems". Ooookay. We would have to sell, what 20 billion dollars worth of pot to get enough tax money to make a dent in our budget deficit? Not to mention the intangible costs of a drugged up society, missing work and eating all of our Doritos, causing increased pressure on our health care system. Lets not even go down this road in this discussion.

One more thing, this hasn't been signed into law, and you can let your representative know your feelings about this, and maybe some sanity will return in Madison. If you don't know how to get ahold of your rep. please use this link: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/w3asp/waml/...

This is only part of an unbelievable all nighter pulled by the finance committee, the bad news in this budget proposal is stunning. Gutting of truth-in-sentencing, changes in liability laws so that you might have to pay 100% damages in an accident if you are even found 1% at fault, incredible anti-business and job killing provisions.... like I said, truly stunning. Ask yourself why they felt it necessary to ram this through in the wee hours of the morning, rather than put the provisions out there for public consumption and debate. Remember who is in charge, and please do something about next election day.

Doyle needs these guys for votes

Legalizing marijuana would open up all the space we need in our jails and prisons. And it would allow our law enforcement to spend more time protecting all of us.

Yet another brilliant solution by our miserable failure of a governor. Heaven forbid you cut some spending somewhere else and risk losing a special interest group that might line your pockets come election time. Nah, let's just put some felons back on the street earlier than they were supposed to be there. After all, it only takes about a dozen arrests before these guys actually get to see any jail time, so why not release them soon once they get there. Hey folks, I'm not the one that keeps putting this clown in the governor's mansion, maybe those of you who are will finally learn your lesson this time around.

we don't have enough sex offenders running around. let them relocate next door to the 1)governors house, 2)in the committies neighborhood or 3) near the paroll boards places of residence. how far would that idea go then??

As a Law Enforcement student I don't agree with the early release simply because of the economy. What are these offenders suppose to do when they get out? There are no jobs. So I think they will resort to what they know best, which is what landed them in prison in the first place. As for the taking away of the t.v, this protects the corrections officer. It's a scary day at work when you are supervising people who have nothing to lose. The officers use t.v as a leverage to maintain control. As for the food with bugs, we have amendments that protect ALL from cruel and unusual punishment.

This is only a short-term stop-gap measure. We must change our entire approach to law enforcement. No non-violent offenders should be in prison at all, and we need to look at decriminalizing things like marijuana. Other states are doing just this amidst their budget crises.

If we don't have the room to house all the people that should be in the prisons, make it a hell on earth for the short time they are in. Take away the TVs, air cond, most of the heat, serve them mush with bugs. Just use a 1960's Turkey prison as a example. I think the prisons would have much more effect this way.

Northman, if someone destroys the sanctity of your home they deserve to leave with the coroner. I fail to see why this should convince you to protect yourself as police forces around the nation have been stretched thin in good economic times. Furthermore Democrat or Republican is a moot point. Any politician trying to spend more money (building more prisons)would be assassinating his own position. Lets face it folks. There is a certain percentage of children who have to experience life before they take their parents advice just as there are a certain percentage of adults who feel it necessary to test our very expensive judicial and corrections infrastructure. We have to be willing as a society to bear these costs or live in the barn with the animals.

“Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the . . . “ Oh wait, now somebody can break into my house and steal everything, get caught, then get a “Get out of jail free” card if they are convicted. This doesn’t sound like a crime deterrent to me. If our fine Democratic legislators are trying to convince us to buy guns, and make sure that burglars who enter our homes leave in a body bag, this is a pretty good step in the right direction.