MOSES takes on racial disparities in incarceration

The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families' “Race to Equity” report indicates that Wisconsin, and particularly Dane County, may have the worst racial disparities in incarceration in the nation. MOSES, an interfaith social justice organization, is working to fix that.

In fact, it may go even farther than that. Amy Pooler, a leader in MOSES, said, “Dane County has the worst racial disparities in incarceration rates of African American rates in the country, and that means in the world, because the U.S. already incarcerates more of its population than any other nation on Earth.”

UW-Madison Sociology Professor Pamela Oliver said Dane County offers an extreme example of the racial inequality across the country. Oliver’s research in the criminal justice system shows racial disparities at arrest, likelihood of being charged, prison sentences and likelihood of having parole revoked. Even alternatives to prison like bracelet monitoring heavily favors whites.

“All the research shows that the disparities tend to happen at every step in the process,” she said.

The research also shows that blacks are twenty times more likely to be incarcerated than whites.

According to Oliver, the biggest disparity between whites and blacks can be found in lesser offenses.

“Here we are in Dane County, Madison, we have the worst rate of incarceration rate of African American men in the nation. Worse than Milwaukee, and worse than the southern states,” Pooler said. “We should be ashamed of ourselves if we’re not working to change it immediately.”

And that’s what MOSES and its new Jail Task Force seeks. According to Rubin, MOSES is only in its third year, but is already a vigorous organization.

Many members have either been incarcerated or been close to people who have. It’s a real learning experience when privileged members from the community interact with those who have been through the system, Pooler said.

Members learn of first-hand stories from those hurt by the criminal justice system in Wisconsin, like a man’s malfunctioning GPS bracelet functioning resulted in his being sent to jail or a woman who witnessed her job application immediately being thrown away after her incarceration.

“We discover these stories as we go, and we’re constantly changing because we’re working so hard at learning,” said Pooler.

The group is working with stakeholders and community leaders to get the word out not just racial disparity, but other issues such as keeping those out of prison that don’t need to be, improving conditions for incarcerated, and assisting those released from jail.

Reducing unnecessary incarceration is the top priority, said Pooler chair of this task force.  She said many of the people waiting in jail for a hearing are not a danger to the community. Many waste time in cells that cause them to miss work and separate them from their children.

“So many people don’t realize how many people are sitting in jail unnecessarily,” said Pooler. “It’s really pretty crazy. And destructive.”

Unnecessary prison sentences are not only destructive for the prisoners who may lose their jobs, but are financially taxing for the state as well, said Rubin.

According to MOSES President Carol Rubin, about a third of people are sitting in jail because they can’t post bond.

“It’s like, wait a minute, we’re paying hundreds of dollars a day or more because they can't afford $500 bond. This suggests crimes were minor, so do they even need to be in jail?”

According to a UW Population Health Institute study, investing in treatment alternative and diversion programs which avoid incarceration and conviction records would yield significant cost savings compared to the current criminal justice approach.

Treatment Alternative and Diversion programs like this can begin to solve incarceration problems, but according to Oliver, there’s no one magic bullet. Some of the options she suggests are a shift in enforcement towards equality, reducing unintentional bias, paying attention to how one makes judgments in the criminal justice system, decriminalizing drugs and reducing discrimination in housing.

But Rubin said incarceration alternatives are worth more than just the money they save.

“Being an interfaith organization, our first interest is allowing people to regain their lives, and secondarily the fact that this will save money,” she said.

Another MOSES project is its Post Release Task Force, which tackles problems people face when they come out of prison like housing and employment discrimination. Most recently it celebrated the Madison City Council’s passage of the Ban the Box initiative, which removes questions about felony history from initial job applications.

Rubin said the felony box “is such a burden on people. They’re told they should work, they need to work, they apply again and again and again and can’t even get a foot in the door.”

The Fair Employment Law in Wisconsin bans discrimination based on conviction history, but Rubin said employers often ignore that. The Ban the Box rule means applicants’ criminal history cannot be considered until the final step in the hiring process, which allows them to put their good qualities first and not be denied based on a crime committed long ago or that is irrelevant to the potential job.

 “The single most important factor for people not returning to prison is if they can get employment,” Rubin said.

MOSES also campaigned to stop a proposed new Dane County Jail from being built. Supporters of the project said it would address issues surrounding inadequate cells and safety issues. MOSES argued that reforming practices around incarceration could improve conditions without the creation of a new building that might encourage harsher sentences, said Rubin.

In an official statement, MOSES opposed the proposal, instead arguing that jail conditions could be improved without building a whole new establishment and further increasing incarceration rates. President of MOSES Carol Rubin said the fastest and best is to evaluate the criminal justice system as a whole and implement new solutions. The jail was not in Dane County Executive Joe Parisi’s 2015 budget.

MOSES also is addressing denial of what is called old law parole. According to Rubin, many of those incarcerated were sentenced under old practices that gave long sentences, but with the chance for parole. Changes in sentencing laws are being applied retroactively, however, meaning three to four thousand are currently being treated under harsher new law provisions.

MOSES and the Jail Response Task Force also aim to improve conditions for those currently in jail. The group recently rallied at the Capital to end solitary confinement, even setting up a makeshift solitary cell. According to Rubin, solitary confinement only aggravates mental illness.

MOSES believes far too many people with mental illnesses are incarcerated. Rubin suggested a mental health court, which would be set up like a drug court in that if a judge determines mental illness is the underlying factor to the crime, the person would go into treatment and complete a program instead of being convicted and sent to jail.

And despite the hefty list, MOSES seems up to the challenge. With trying to cut the state prison population in half, improve conditions for those incarcerated, and developing alternatives to prison and helping former prisoners, MOSES has a lot on its plate. But the organization’s members are determined.

“We’re in it for the long haul, but we’re also very intent on making things move faster than they have been and making all of our politicians and county leaders accountable to not letting this immoral status quo continue,” said Pooler. “It’s a total waste of money and lives.”

Pooler and Rubin welcome anyone interested to get involved. MOSES holds a meeting every first Saturday of the month and can be reached on their website, mosesmadison.org.