Evers can free inmates – without the Legislature

Gov. Tony Evers can free incarcerated men and women without the assistance of the State Legislature. He has simply chosen not to do it.

The Legislative Reference Bureau made that perfectly clear in March, when it released a report entitled, "Emergency Release of Prisoners Due to COVID-19."

Here is what is said about Evers' powers. The added emphasis is ours.

The governor’s authority to release inmates from state correctional facilities derives from both the Wisconsin Constitution and the Wisconsin Statutes.

Constitutional powers of clemency. Article V, section 6, of the Wisconsin Consti­tution provides the governor with the power to grant clemency to individuals who have been convicted of a crime except in cases of treason or impeachment, subject to certain statutory limitations. This clemency can take one of three forms: a reprieve, a commuta­tion, or a pardon. A reprieve is a temporary delay of punishment, in which case a prisoner could be released and punishment delayed for some period before being reinstated. A commutation is a reduction in punishment and could take the form of shortening a prison term and releasing an offender early. Finally, a pardon is an official act of forgive­ness for a crime after the sentence has been completed that restores certain civil rights, but does not erase the record of the crime.

The governor’s use of this authority is wholly discretionary. For example, Governor Scott Walker did not grant clemency in any form during his two terms as governor. Governor Evers has reinstated a pardons board to handle clemency applications. The governor has set criteria for obtaining clemency such that only pardons are available; reprieves and commutations are not currently included in the administration’s applica­tion criteria. Rather, a person must have completed his or her sentence at least five years before applying. Under the current policy of the Evers administration, any clemency ap­plication by a person who has not completed his or her sentence will be denied. Thus, while the Wisconsin Constitution provides that the governor may use his or her clemen­cy power to shorten prison terms and release inmates, the current administration’s policy suggests that this is unlikely....

​The entire LRB document is here.