Update on the Old Law Freedom Campaign by Ben Turk

Update on the Old Law Freedom Campaign

written in 2020, soon to be updated

by Ben Turk

Since Governor Evers appointed John Tate II to replace Daniel Gabler as chair of the parole commission, many people sentenced under the old law and their families and loved ones have been cautiously excited. The election of Evers and appointment of Tate, a former social worker and Black alderperson from Racine held a promise of long awaited release.

Under Daniel Gabler—who is currently a Milwaukee county Judge seeking re-election on April 7—parole releases had diminished to almost nothing. Unfortunately, John Tate II has thus far been unable to restore the parole commission to its original purpose: releasing people from prison who were ready to return to society. By attending monthly parole commission meetings, corresponding with incarcerated people, and networking with other advocates, Forum for Understanding Prisons (FFUP) is working to help everyone understand why.

Clear the parole backlog! by George Cooper

George Cooper sent us a suggestion for clearing the Parole Commission's backlog of deferrals. We forwarded his suggestion to Chairman Tate with a brief introductory letter. George gave us permission to share the letter.

If you like George's ideas, drop him a line sometime!

George E. Cooper #148394
P.O. Box 938 (OCI)
Oregon, WI 53575




Dear Chairman Tate,

After sending notes from recent parole commission meetings to people incarcerated under the old law, I received the following suggestion from a man named George Cooper.

Previous parole chairs used to send out Pre-Parole Investigations and Parole Grants in the mail. You have a list of names of those who are actually ready now to go home today but due to back log and things done by commissioner LaCost, they are just sitting holding up space and adding to the back log.

February 10 Parole Commission Staff Meeting

Commission Chair John Tate II and new commissioner Shannon Pierce

 

The WI Parole Commission had a staff meeting via zoom today. They have only had three of these meetings since March 4, 2020 (when the pandemic began).

The meeting was breif as usual and John Tate II did not allow public comment, or questions, not even the zoom chat was available to participants. Nevertheless, I was able to glean a little bit of insight from it.

It's confirmed, Danielle LaCost is back and terrible as ever.

Message from inside:

They did some parole hearings here at Stanley today via CCTV and it was LaCost that did the hearings. I thought that she was supposed to be gone. Do you have any information as to whether or not this woman is leaving? There has got to be a way to get rid of her!! One of the guys that went in front of her today had gotten a 10 month defer from Landreman, with an endorsement to do the welding program. Right after he started the program they had some staff issues so he was put on hold. Now they have restarted it. Today, LaCost  gave him an 8 month defer, and an endorsement to secure minimum. Her reasons that she used for not granting parole was, he has an obligation to the welding program which is 5 or 6 months, insufficient time, COVID-19 because the jobs that are out there are for the people that have been laid off not for people being released from prison, and because he still owes restitution. He has been down for 25 years on a 50 year sentence. This woman has got to go, she is so hellbent on keeping us locked up. I go for my third time in August. I've been down 21 years on a 50 year prison bid. I do not want to go in front of this evil woman again. How do we get rid of her?!!

Wait, go back and read that again.

Danielle LaCost is using COVID-19 as a reason to keep people IN PRISON.

She openly stated that she was denying release because:

1. the prison needs his underpaid labor to do welding.

2. she doesn't want him competing with other people for jobs in this economy.

LaCost hangs on, prolonging harm. Notes from the March 4 parole commission meeting.

LaCost hangs on, prolonging harm. Notes from the March 4 parole commission meeting.

These notes are written by FFUP volunteer Ben Turk, based on his memories and interpretations of events and statements at the monthly Parole Commission meetings.

Half a dozen supporters attended the March parole commission (PC) meeting. On the PC’s side Commission Chair John Tate II was joined by Commissioners Doug Drankiewicz, Jennifer Kramer and Records Associates (ORA) Oliver Buchino and Katelyn Hendricks. ORA Sara Tome did not attend because she was at a training.

After the meeting, I contacted the parole commission via email with some more questions and got some clarifications.

On Correspondence

Sounds like they’re keeping up on mail from outside and are making progress on mail from incarcerated people. The ORAs are responding to mail, but Tate is reviewing the responses and giving guidance. Mail from incarcerated people often discusses issues beyond the scope of the commission. The ORAs spoke about getting aggressive mail from frustrated people. Tate said to empathize with their frustration and respond clearly as possible with the PC’s scope and his intentions.

Tate has also requested people stop contacting him about parole through unofficial channels. He wants to be fair and make sure everyone has the same chance, and the best way to make that happen is for everyone to follow the same process. Its my opinion that the official process has always been really unfair, but it’s also clear that bothering Tate at his Racine office or home phone or address will hurt more than help. Violating the boundaries of the guy who decides whether or not you should be released is maybe the worst thing you can do.

A Head-full of Historical Information: notes on the parole commission, by Harlan Richards

 

The following is a response from Harlan Richards. You can write him and help advocate for his release here: Harlan Richards
37975
Stanley Correctional Institution
100 Corrections Drive
Stanley, WI 54768-6500
This letter is in response to, and contains corrections for Ben's notes from January 8. We appreciate these insights and strive for accuracy, but expect we'll continue to make small mistakes, given the complexity and opacity of the system we're trying to take apart.

1. Regarding release of paroled prisoners: there is no legal requirement that the record office conduct any sort of review of a person granted a parole. That is a DOC-created process where they search the file looking for an excuse to not release someone. They can do it in a timely manner if they want. A couple of months ago a guy in my housing unit had his conviction vacated by the court and the record office managed to process his paperwork in just a few days.

2. There is no requirement that DCC staff provide rides for paroled prisoners. Most prisoners have historically been picked up by friends or family (or if released from a prison far from home, take a bus) and are merely given a time and date to be at their parole agent's office.