MADISON, Wis. — Today, the RGA’s Right Direction WI PAC released their latest false attack ad against Governor Tony Evers. As national Republicans desperately try to spread false attacks, we will continue to push back with the facts on Gov. Evers’ record.
Fact Check: Right Direction WI PAC’s latest ad alleges Gov. Evers released violent criminals early, while neglecting the facts about Wisconsin’s parole process.
The reality is that the governor plays no role in individual parole decisions. In fact, nearly half the parolees released under Evers were required to be released by law.
- Of the 884 convicted criminals released under Gov. Evers’ administration, nearly half were released because their release was required by law. In Wisconsin, some paroles are discretionary and others are required by law, usually when an inmate reaches two-thirds of their sentence. The parole commission has oversight over both discretionary and mandatory parole.
- Evers’ parole commission has released fewer inmates via discretionary parole than Governor Scott Walker, and nearly 50x less than Governor Tommy Thompson, who presided over record releases in the 90s, leading to political criticism and the resignation of his parole chair. Governor Thompson has endorsed Michels in his race for Governor. Scott Walker’s administration granted over 650 discretionary paroles during his time in office, and Tommy Thompson’s administration granted 23,000 discretionary paroles during his tenure as governor. Criminals paroled under Walker and Thompson include hundreds of violent criminals including murderers, rapists, and child molesters.
- In Wisconsin, only the parole chair can decide who gets let out of prison on parole. The governor has no role in these decisions. But when it became clear the parole chair’s judgment was in doubt, Gov. Evers asked for and received his resignation.
- While the parole chair, John Tate, never received a full confirmation hearing, he was unanimously recommended (5-0) for confirmation by the Republican controlled Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety. If Republicans in the legislature were unhappy with his performance, they could simply have put his confirmation to a vote in the full Senate and rejected his confirmation. Instead, Republicans like Tim Michels play political games while Gov. Evers has actually held people accountable.
Fact Check: The ad claims “Evers’ liberal policies are making our communities less safe. Tony Evers put criminals first and our families’ safety last.”
The reality is that Gov. Evers has prioritized community safety through legislative measures and by investing in our law enforcement and violence prevention programs across the state.
- Gov. Evers is committed to keeping violent criminals off the streets. In April of this year, Gov. Evers signed a bill to prevent violent criminals and sex offenders from being released early from prison in the future. Evers’ bill would also prevent violent offenders and sex offenders from being released early on probation in the future.
- Gov. Evers is taking action to fund our police and keep our communities safe. Evers has devoted over $100 millionto law enforcement and violence prevention in Wisconsin. He has directed funding to every single local and tribal law enforcement agency in Wisconsin, and increased pay for state troopers by 10%. Gov. Evers has devoted $10 million to fight crime in Milwaukee alone, including over $2 million in direct response to shootings in downtown Milwaukee this summer.
- By contrast, Tim Michels supports a radical agenda on guns that would make Wisconsin less safe. Michels opposes common sense gun safety measures like red flag laws that allow law enforcement to seize guns from individuals a judge has concluded might hurt others or themselves. He opposed bipartisan federal legislation making it harder for domestic abusers to get guns, but supports letting 18 year olds buy AR-15s with no waiting period. And he has promised to lift restrictions on firearms as governor and let people bring loaded guns on school grounds.
