Tougher crime penalties? Where will we put all the criminals?

We talked yesterday about legislation being debated in Madison that would toughen the state’s laws on crime. As we mentioned the legislation under consideration would increase criminal penalties. That would be welcomed by police who say they are tired of arresting people, even those accused of violent or gun crimes, then watching them get released by the courts and go on to commit new crimes. Proponents of these proposed laws say it would make our streets safer. But there is an elephant in the room that no one is acknowledging. Toughening criminal penalties means more people will be behind bars at any given time. And Wisconsin’s prisons are already overcrowded. Wisconsin’s adult prison population already tops 20,000 inmates. Passing these get tougher on crime bills would cause that number to rise. But lawmakers who want tougher penalties for lawbreakers haven’t proposed spending an additional dime to incarcerate them. Two years ago, when lawmakers considered toughening parole revocation standards, they also proposed an additional $350 million to build a new prison. This time around, they have not introduced legislation to provide funding to expand the state’s prison system. If we’re going to get tougher on crime, we’re going to need more prison space, but so far lawmakers seem to be ignoring that reality.