In April, State Senator Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos teamed up with a majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to make a historically bad decision. Seeking a political advantage, they forced Wisconsinites to choose between exercising their right to vote and their health. That decision to overrule the Governor's plan to postpone the spring election certainly caused further spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Yesterday, the same forces teamed up to do something even more dangerous. They overturned Governor Evers' "Safer at Home" order, which had been working well to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our state. They did it without an alternate plan, and without any goal other than to make Wisconsin un-governable. WISDOM has supported the "Safer at Home" order, and we sincerely hope that our members and our congregations will show better judgement and more respect for human life than the segment of our political leadership that prevailed yesterday.
We urge the Governor to continue to lead boldly. While opponents of public health have temporarily seized control of the legislature and Supreme Court, the Governor needs to know that the court of public opinion is squarely with him on the side of common sense and safety.
While WISDOM has applauded the general efforts of Governor Evers to safeguard public health, we are deeply disappointed that the Governor has not used the same good judgement when dealing with the grave danger being faced by the people who live and work in Wisconsin prisons.
The highly-respected, bi-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau recently released a report about the possibility of reducing the prison population in response to the COVID-19 threat. The report, which you can download here, makes it very clear that the Governor has the authority to commute the sentences of people in prison, to grant pardons, and even to grant furloughs to people in prison. He does not need the legislature or the Supreme Court in order to safely and quickly move at least 25% of people out of our state prisons, starting with the elderly, the sick, and those who would be coming home soon anyway.
We ask the Governor not to show the kind of disregard for the lives and well-being of the men and women in our prisons that his political opponents have shown for the rest of the state. We live in dangerous, unprecedented times, and we need our Governor to act boldly in defense of the lives and health of EVERY person in Wisconsin.
