The Third Branch, Summer 2002

Vol 10 No 3 H I G H L I G H T S Summer 2 Court financing to be studied 7 Volunteers in the Courts 2002 4 Eau Claire launches restorative justice 10 Wisconsin judges help to reform Chinese courts program 12 Three new judges take the bench 6 Sesquicentennial projects planned 14 People Budget reform act Truth-in-Sentencing, part II means cuts for courts by Judge Michael B. Brennan, Milwaukee County Circuit Court by Deborah Salm, budget officer n 1998, the Wisconsin Legislature 2, page 18). The MR converter was n July 26, Governor Scott Ipassed, and the governor signed into chosen to maintain consistency in the OMcCallum signed into law 2001 law, 1997 Act 283, which brought maximum time an inmate can serve in Act 109, the budget reform act. The act Truth-in-Sentencing to our state for prison prior to first release. After took effect on July 30. McCallum intro- crimes committed on and after Dec. 31, applying the MR converter to initially place a crime in one of the new A-I duced the budget reform bill in 1999. The act provided the basic structure for determinate sentencing, but classes, the CPSC made adjustments so February in order to address an esti- a publication of the Wisconsin Judiciary a publication of the Wisconsin none of the details. Parole was abolished that crimes of similar severity are mated $1.1 billion deficit in the state's and felony sentences were restructured classified together. The exact placement general fund during the 2001-2003 bien- as bifurcated sentences consisting of a of each crime is discussed in the nium. The Legislature amended the bill term of confinement followed by a term CPSC’s report, which may be found at and passed it on July 5 after months of of extended supervision (ES). The act http://www.doa.state.wi.us/secy/index.asp deliberations to resolve differences also increased penalty ranges 50 percent between the Assembly and Senate ver- for all felonies to allow Other 'TIS II' changes sions. for ES, authorized the In a change since The act requires the three levels of judge to impose Truth-in-Sentencing took court to lapse the equivalent of 2.75 per- conditions on the ES effect, the maximum cent of their 2002-2003 funding. It also term, and required that amount of time an requires lapses equivalent to 3.5 percent the ES term equal at least offender may spend on in 2001-2002 and 6.25 percent in 2002- 25 percent of the term of extended supervision will 2003 from the Director of State Courts confinement. It also now be capped (see Office and Wisconsin State Law eliminated intensive Table 2, page 18). While Library. These result in a total lapse of sanctions as a fines play no role in the $2,375,900, and will require the court confinement option. disposition of most system to continue cost-saving measures To prepare the state felony cases, the statutes and state maximum fines are at all levels. The act also provides $10.7 Judge Michael B. Brennan million to the State Public Defender’s government for this adjusted as well (see Office to address a shortfall in private major change in criminal sentencing Table 2, page 18). While some penalty enhancers will bar funding. law, Act 283 created the Criminal Penalties Study Committee (CPSC). In be changed, those used most frequently, The act includes a proposal by the August 1999, the CPSC issued a lengthy such as committing a crime while armed governor to increase the court support report with appendices and draft (Wisconsin Statutes § 939.63), will services fee by 30 percent. This fee is legislation. But the CPSC’s work stalled remain the same. The CPSC applied the collected on most civil filings and for- in the Legislature. The recently enacted MR converter to the terms of feitures and the increase will apply to budget adjustment legislation, 2001 Act imprisonment under the habitual actions commenced on the effective 109, places into law nearly all of the criminality penalty enhancer statute, date of the act. The increase will gen- work of the CPSC, with one Wis. Stat. § 939.62(1), and opted to erate approximately $8.1 million annu- controversial addition. incorporate lesser-used enhancers into ally in revenues, to be deposited into the an omnibus statute identifying state’s general fund. The governor pro- Code reclassification aggravating circumstances that the judge posed the fee increase as a means to The present system of six classes of must consider at sentencing. While such exempt the circuit courts, Court of felonies is expanded to nine (A through a sentencing aggravator may be Appeals, Supreme Court, and State I; see Table 1, page 18) to allow for considered to impose a heavier Public Defender’s Office from further more precise classification of the sentence, it does not affect the budget reductions; however, as noted approximately 500 felonies in the maximum possible sentence. Wisconsin statutes. Initially, crimes To increase the judge’s sentencing The Third Branch above, the Legislature amended the legislation to require additional lapses. were placed in the new A-I discretion, 2001 Act 109 removes some The act leaves funding provided in classification system by determining mandatory and presumptive minimum the biennial budget for state employee mandatory release date (MR) under pre- sentences. The law maintains the pay increases in 2002-2003 (the 2000 law when a court imposes the general rule for calculating the Assembly version of the bill would have maximum sentence. As a general rule, maximum punishment for attempted crimes at one-half the maximum for deleted this funding), effective July 1 MR is fixed by statute at two-thirds of the sentence actually imposed (see Table completed crimes. It also provides that see Budget on page 9 see TIS on page 18 www.courts.state.wi.us 2 Summer PPAC to take a dollars-and-cents look at court Interpreter training 2002 system sessions get underway by Dan Wassink, senior policy analyst THE THIRD BRANCH any factors are coming together and intensity of the calls for state The Director of State Courts Office Mthat could significantly impact funding have increased as counties will hold training sessions in Appleton, future funding for Wisconsin courts, so look for ways to reduce local Eau Claire, Madison, Milwaukee, and the timing couldn’t be better for a new responsibility for a ‘state’ function Wausau from mid-August to late Planning and Policy Advisory and courts look for sufficient November for individuals interested in Committee (PPAC) Court Financing resources to operate effectively. The learning more about court interpreta- Subcommittee. PPAC unanimously courts should play an active role in tion. People currently interpreting in approved a proposal by Chief Justice this discussion.” the Wisconsin courts are being invited Shirley S. Abrahamson to create the to participate, as are members of the subcommittee at its May meeting. The function of the new committee general public. In addition, presenta- Among the developments: will be to examine the way that respon- tions to judges on working with inter- sibility for funding the circuit courts is preters are slated for upcoming judicial ! The Governor’s Blue-Ribbon split between the county and the state – education programs. Commission on State-Local a financing structure that results in a The two-day public training ses- Partnerships for the 21st Century varied range of services, with differ- sions are designed to give participants (better known as the Kettl ences from county to county. an overview of the needs and expecta- Commission for Professor Don Subcommittee members will study tions of the courts, with emphasis on Kettl, chair) last year said that the these issues and identify stable, respon- ethical conduct, legal terminology, “conflict in the state-local partner- sible, and effective funding mechanisms court procedure, and basic legal inter- ship in human resources and crim- to promote efficient and uniform serv- preting skills. Small group practice inal justice ranks with shared rev- ices throughout the state. exercises will help to develop inter- enue as the toughest problem the PPAC conducted a mail ballot to preter skills. The sessions are intended Commission faced.” A new Task determine subcommittee membership. as an introduction to the complexities Force on State and Local While some members had not been of court interpreting, rather than as an Government now has begun selected at the time this article was in-depth training. The faculty includes meeting and might suggest methods written, the subcommittee will include: judges, district court administrators, to address that conflict. lawyers, and experienced court inter- ! Two clerks of circuit court preters. ! The state’s budget deficit is forcing (John Barrett, Milwaukee The program is part of a broad ini- the courts to absorb budget cuts and County; Bernadette Flatoff, tiative of the Director of State Courts future reductions in shared revenue Portage County) Office to improve interpretation and to local municipalities. ! Two circuit court judges translation in the courts. According to (Jeffrey A. Conen, Milwaukee the U.S. census, between 1990 and ! The PPAC Planning Subcommittee, County; Robert E. Kinney, 2000, Wisconsin’s Hispanic and Asian in its March 2002 final report to the Oneida County) populations doubled. Many other Supreme Court and director of state ! Two chief judges (Edward R. immigrant populations also grew, and courts, identified court funding as Brunner, Barron County; are continuing to grow, at a rapid rate. one of the four most critical issues Michael J. Rosborough, As a result, the Wisconsin courts facing the court system. The report Vernon County) increasingly must find qualified inter- stated, in part, that: “The frequency ! One district court administrator preters who can speak not only see PPAC on page 5 Spanish and Hmong, but also Russian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic, Somali, Polish, and more.

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