Wisconsin legislators approve constitutional amendment on bail for the April statewide ballot
MADISON - A constitutional amendment will be included on the spring election ballot asking voters to give judges more discretion when making bail decisions.
The state Assembly on Thursday approved the proposal in a bipartisan vote 74-23, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans in supporting the measure.
The bail amendment was introduced last year at a time when the topic was under fresh scrutiny following the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy months earlier when a Milwaukee man free on $1,000 in a felony domestic violence case drove an SUV through the route, killing six people and injuring more than 60 others. It passed the Assembly and Senate during the last session with bipartisan support. The legislation had been in the works for years before the attack.
A constitutional amendment must pass two consecutive legislative sessions and then be approved by voters.
Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, said one of the many tragedies of the Waukesha Christmas parade was the state’s current bail system.
“There are too many crimes occurring by too many individuals awaiting trial with a lengthy (criminal record),” Allen said. “We need to take away this shield from these soft-on-crime judges that are harming our communities.”
But Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, said he’s frustrated hearing the parade used as a reason for needing the amendment. Clancy said his son attended the parade and saw people hurt.
“My first reaction was revenge, but we can’t legislate based on feelings of revenge,” Clancy said. “We have to look at data, and it’s clear this will cause more harm than good.”
All four candidates running for Wisconsin Supreme Court in April said Thursday they support the bail amendment.
More:Bice: Supreme Court candidate Jennifer Dorow has been critical of the cash bail system
The Assembly also passed along party lines an advisory referendum question on the same ballot polling voters on whether Wisconsinites should be required to work for welfare programs.
Lawmakers have passed laws in recent years setting work requirements for food stamps, Medicaid and unemployment benefits. Some of the requirements have been waived by federal authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republicans who control the state Legislature moved quickly to put these questions on the spring ballot, in part, to boost turnout in the April 4 election, which will feature a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that will decide whether conservatives keep control of the court.
Both measures passed the Senate Tuesday.
The bail amendment would allow judges to consider the totality of the circumstances of a defendant, including a person's past criminal record and the need to protect the public from "serious harm," when setting the monetary amount of bail.
Bill author Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Town of Delafield, said Thursday she and co-author Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, are working on companion legislation that would define exactly what kind of crimes judges could take into account when setting cash bail.
Duchow said it will likely include offenses like child molestation, human trafficking, sexual assault, stalking and carjacking.
Bail is set at the beginning of the court process when a defendant is presumed innocent. Wisconsin is one of a handful of states where people have to post the full amount of cash to be released from custody. In many other states, those in jail can put up just a portion of their bail amount to be released using a bail bonds system.
Wisconsin does allow people to be held without bail for certain serious crimes, but prosecutors must meet a high legal threshold for that to happen and the statute is rarely used. Prosecutors in the state have urged lawmakers to revise that statute so defendants deemed dangerous can more easily be held without bail, but those legislative efforts have not moved forward.
Wanggaard said Tuesday the measure would empower Wisconsin judges to consider much more relevant facts when setting bail.
“This isn’t a silver bullet, it doesn’t fix all problems, but unless this is fixed, it’s just grandstanding,” Wanggaard said on the floor Tuesday. “This is a first step. Without this amendment, there is no second step.”
Democrats argued the amendment was fast-tracked and “purely political.”
Assembly lawmakers also voted 62-35 on a resolution introduced by Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos that would ask voters on the spring ballot, "Shall able-bodied, childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits?"
If passed, the referendum would have no effect.
Vos said Thursday he doesn't plan to put more referendum questions or constutional amendments on the spring ballot because he doesn't "ever want to have our ballot to California, where you have dozens of questions on all kinds of different topics."
"I think that's not good for the ability to educate folks on what's happening. So I think two questions is reasonable," he said.
Ashley Luthern of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin lawmakers vote to add ballot question bail to April ballot
