Given our recent focus on crime here on GOP3, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight a crime-related bill proposed by Senator Taylor (SB 534).
According to the Legislative Reference Bureau summary,
Under current law, if a person commits a misdemeanor (which, in general, is a crime for which a person may be imprisoned for no more than one year) before he or she reaches the age of 21, a court may order that the court’s record regarding the offense be expunged upon the offender’s successful completion of his or her sentence. … The court may enter such an order only at the time of sentencing and only if it finds that expunging the record will benefit the person and will not harm society.
This bill makes this expungement option available for all offenders, regardless of their age at the time of their offenses, unless the misdemeanor conviction was the result of a plea agreement for certain felony charges. In addition, upon the expungement of a person’s conviction, he or she can no longer be affected by any prohibition, disqualification, disability, increased penalty, or other adverse or unfavorable treatment that results from a misdemeanor conviction, including any adverse consequences that might result from a court’s consideration of the expunged offense in any subsequent case.
I believe that generally people deserve a second chance, and that juvenile offenders should be treated differently than adults. I also believe that people should be held responsible for their conduct, and that past acts are the best predictor of future behavior. I would oppose this effort to remove some of the consequences of individuals’ actions.
And for those of you who think that misdemeanors are just little crimes, know that in Wisconsin all of the following are misdemeanor crimes: Buying a handgun using false information, Prostitution / Sexual Gratification, Lewd and Lascivious Behavior, Graffiti, Knowingly violating a domestic abuse protection order, Criminal neglect of a child, and Intentional contribution to the delinquency of a minor. If you were wondering, I picked those examples because Attorney Lena Taylor has defended criminals who were convicted of all those crimes.
P.S. For those who thought I was exaggerating when I talked about Senator Taylor’s sex ed bill, note that Elmbrook Schools was planning to start teaching about oral sex in sixth grade.
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What’s the penalty for violating state law (on mandated positions) and federal laws (HIPAA), both of which Walker has done in the past year?