Finally, a Wisconsin Governor issues pardons again

It had not happened in Wisconsin for nine years, until yesterday. Wisconsin’s Governor has granted a pardon. Four of them actually. After restoring the state’s Pardon Board earlier this year, Governor Evers officially offered clemency to four people in Wisconsin. Not one person in the state was issued a pardon by Evers’ predecessor, Scott Walker, although previous governors Doyle and Thompson each issued hundreds of pardons during their terms. The pardon provides a new lease on life for Eric Pizer of Boscobel. Pizer is a father, a college graduate and a decorated veteran of the Iraq war. But 15 years ago, two days after returning from his deployment, Pizer tried to defuse an argument, but ended up punching a man in the nose. That lead to a felony charge of substantial battery. Since then, he has apologized to and received forgiveness from the man he hit. He has not committed another crime since. He dreams of someday becoming a police officer. Evers realizes Pizer, and the three others, deserve a second chance. With Evers’ pardon, Pizer has now gotten that second chance, something Governor Walker was not willing to provide to a single person in eight years.