Diamond Jim Doyle Credit, Say What

Another pump for Jim Doyle from the Wisconsin State Journal

"State’s big prison population drop called ‘historic’

DEE J. HALL | dhall@madison.com |
Posted: Thursday, January 13, 2011 3:00 am"
State’s big prison population drop called ‘historic’

Wisconsin's prison population dropped significantly in 2010, reversing a trend of ballooning incarceration that had been predicted to continue for years.

Really?

It was the second year in a row that the number of people behind bars in state prisons had gone down, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. In 2010, the average daily population declined by 3,147 offenders to 20,015.

"This is historic," agency spokesman Tim Le Monds said. "This is the first time we've seen a sustained reduction in our prison population — ever."

Historic, Wow!

But it wasn't former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's controversial earned release program — coincidentally projected to result in up to 3,000 early releases — that fueled the reduction. And whatever small impact that program had will likely end soon: GOP Gov. Scott Walker has vowed to kill it.

It wasn't? Release 3000 inmates and the prison population doesn't decrease? Silly me.

Kollat acknowledged the department can't say for sure that the re-entry initiative — funded by a series of federal grants, private funding and a $10 million state grant — has played a role in the dramatic reduction, but it hasn't hurt.

You have to wait till paragraph 8 to see he's not sure if "re-entry initiative" worked or didn't work or do they give Jim Doyle all the credit? They can try all they want to paint Jimbo as a great gov., but the truth will always be Doyle's legacy was a failure.

Jim Doyle good, not, Scott Walker bad, not.

Sorry, I'll take Walker.