Pubdate: Mon, 27 Dec 1999 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 1999, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact: 414-224-8280 Website: http://www.jsonline.com/ Forum: http://www.jsonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimate.cgi Author: Richard P. Jones and David Doege, Journal Sentinel staff REVISION OF CRIMINAL CODE 'ESSENTIAL,' JUDGE SAYS Barland Fears Chaos From Truth-In-Sentencing Law A revised criminal code is "absolutely essential" if the state's new truth-in-sentencing law is to work smoothly, according to a judge who chaired a panel that proposed major changes in the code. "There is no question about the need for it," said Eau Claire County Circuit Judge Thomas H. Barland. "It is really going to create chaos in the state without it. There are no sentencing guidelines, harsher sentences, no sentencing commission. It's absolutely essential that it pass, the sooner the better." The new law takes effect Friday, and those who are convicted of committing felonies from that day on must serve their entire prison sentence behind bars. For them, parole is no longer possible. It will be replaced by a period of extended supervision set by the judge the same day he or she imposes the prison sentence. In adopting the truth-in-sentencing law last year, state legislators agreed to also revise the criminal code, something Barland's Criminal Penalties Study Committee spent 14 months doing. The panel sent its recommendation to the Legislature in fall. A bill to implement those changes passed the Republican-controlled Assembly on an 83-13 vote in September. However, the measure has yet to come to a vote in the Democratic Senate. The bill remains in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Gary George (D-Milwaukee). George wants to negotiate changes with the Assembly, but Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen (R-Town of Brookfield) has refused, insisting that the Senate first act on the bill already passed by the Assembly. So far, Gov. Tommy G. Thompson won't call a special session, and lawmakers won't call themselves back for an extraordinary session. So the bill is on hold until at least Jan. 25, when the Legislature is scheduled to return to the Capitol. "It's a real tragedy that the Legislature didn't take it up," said former state Supreme Court Justice Janine P. Geske. "The committee was made up of really respected individuals, both liberals and conservatives, a lot of good legal thinkers. "I thought they did a really good job of being fair and scholarly, and I just think it's tragic that the Legislature hasn't taken it on," she added. Barland's committee proposed an expansion of the classes of felonies, from six to nine, in an attempt to strike some balance between the crimes and prison sentences, after years of penalty enhancers and new crime laws previously enacted by the Legislature. The criminal code bill would eliminate many of those enhancers and give judges greater discretion in sentencing. It also offers temporary guidelines for judges to follow and calls for a permanent Sentencing Commission to improve on those guidelines. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge John J. DiMotto said the code was in need of updating before truth in sentencing, but with the new law, revamping felony penalties is even more important. "I believe the Legislature needs to reclassify felonies to make them reflective of what they are," DiMotto said. "For instance, right now robbery and burglary carry the same 10-year prison term. Someone who burglarizes a garage faces the same amount of time as someone who robs you on the street, even though they are two very different crimes." Walter Dickey, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School and former Department of Corrections secretary, served on Barland's committee but dissented from its recommendations. "The penalties are so high now that that's almost of no importance whatsoever, because in order to approach the maximums you've got to hand out so much time that it doesn't really matter at all," he said. He also described the guidelines as meaningless because they are voluntary. Attorney General James Doyle disagreed, saying the guidelines were necessary to help avoid a wide disparity in sentencing as judges across the state apply the new law. He said it also was important for the Legislature to end the political bickering and adopt the new classification of penalties. "If they would sit down and recognize that both of their positions make good sense, this could get done," Doyle said. "But in this political atmosphere, sometimes that's very difficult to do, even to the point of playing this kind of brinkmanship." Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Dec. 27, 1999. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D