Action Gets the Goods! Notes from February 5 Parole Commission Hearing.

Twenty-seven people from around Wisconsin came out early on a Wednesday morning to support fundamental changes on the parole commission. After the meeting, we held a small debrief and then rally (only a dozen or so people stuck around braving the below freezing weather). We plan on returning to attend the next meeting on Wednesday March 4. Next time we will have our rally immediately after the hearing goes to closed session, however unpredictable that may be. This month, we learned that public examination and demonstrations of support is an effective way to speed the change we need. Hope to see more people on March 4!

The meeting.

It took the DOC 20 minutes to arrange a larger room in the training center for us. There we waited another ten for commissioners LaCost and Drankiewicz to join us. Tate said they all left the small meeting room together, but the others were inexplicably delayed.

The room was chilly. It reminded formerly incarcerated attendees of the prison housing units the DOC keeps uncomfortably cold to keep people from being able to think straight. While we waited for the commissioners to make it into the room, we asked Chairman Tate to turn up the temperature. He apologized and said “us being here will warm it up,” then added, joking “you all brought the heat.”

Let Our People Go Rally! Feb 5, at the DOC

Wisconsin's parole commission is a disintegrating disaster.

Volunteers, organizers and supporters of people sentenced under the old law (and thus eligible for parole) have been attending the monthly meetings of the parole commission since last August. There we have seen evidence of active efforts to sabotage and obstruct the long overdue releases of our loved ones.

The racism and signs of manipulation we witnessed at January's meeting were particularly intolerable. We will not sit and watch this injustice any longer. From now on we will follow the monthly meetings with a rally supporting reform and releases.

We're asking you to join us on February 5 and on the first Wednesday of every month thereafter until they LET OUR PEOPLE GO!

Agenda

• 9:30 am- attend the public portion of the parole commission meeting. Public is not welcomed to speak during the meeting, but the more people we have bearing witness, the more pressure for reform will be felt.

• Unknown- the meeting will go to closed session and we will have to leave the room, but will gather outside near the staff parking lot on the south side of the building.

• 12:00- rally and press conference, outside the DOC building on the south side. We will have speeches, signs and chants demanding release of our loved ones as the parole commissioners leave the building.

Speakers include:

Talib Akbar- survivor of Wisconsin prison system, sentenced under the old law and released in 2013. Organizer with MOSES.

Davina Jones- fiance and advocate for Anton C. Hudson, currently trapped in Wisconsin prison under the old law.

Tiffany Hollimon- fiance and advocate for Marshawn Venzant , currently trapped in Wisconsin prison under the old law.

More TBA

If you cannot attend, please support this effort by signing and sharing our petition demanding accelerated releases and reformed criteria.

Also, please share and invite friends using the facebook event.

Background

Governor Tony Evers appointed John Tate II, a social worker from Racine to Chair the Commission. Tate is the second black man in this role, and the first person coming from a social work and helping profession (typically commissioners come from the DOC or prosecutor's offices). He came in with a stated intention to increase releases and help reduce mass incarceration in Wisconsin.

In response, Tate has seen extraordinary obstruction from the DOC, the legislature, and even the rest of the commission.