MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – Governor Tony Evers hopes that state legislature considers a bill to reform the process of setting bail.
It’s a move already made by several states.
Importantly, he doesn’t believe it should be eliminated, just modified.
In the race for state attorney general… the issue of bail isn’t likely to go away. But, any changes made to the system will require support from both lawmakers, and the governor.
“I’m interested in good bills and looking forward to it in the future. I know it’s happening at the federal level too,” Gov. Evers said in an exclusive one-on-one interview.
However, some states that have reformed bail are seeing a pushback.
Examples include New York, where there’s been an uptick in crime. In Illinois, Republicans are urging Democrats to halt a law for no cash bail that takes effect next year.
Evers said there needs to be more of a balance.
“Yes, cash bail, it’s one of those things that should be kept. Maybe it should be modified in some fashion but I think there’s all sorts of other things that have to be looked at and have it be comphrehensive.”
As we first alerted you, Fond du Lac County District Attorney and state Attorney General candidate Eric Toney addressed criticism his office “botched” the bail of a man who would go on to shoot and kill an Appleton firefighter.
Evers commented on the case of the man charged in the Waukesha parade attack, who was released after a Milwaukee County DA recommended only a thousand dollars cash bail.
”In the case of Chisholm it was not necessarily him per say but the system kind of broke down. They didn’t have the appropriate risk assessment, so there’s lots of things that should have been done differently,” Evers said. “That’s why I’m really glad we’re talking about this as a state and as a nation and hopefully we can find a better way to do that.”
Evers also said he believes both cases regarding low bail now being highlighted are politically driven and meant to sway voters heading into the midterms.
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