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Get the latest news and research from Badger Institute
- How to strengthen the climb from the safety net
- The silence breaks: Accountability at last for those who make Milwaukee life unlivable
- Data centers could be a godsend — if communities let them
- Economic freedom is worth defending — even when political parties forget it
- Wisconsin is missing its Medicaid accountability moment
- Lawmakers agree suspended drivers on Wisconsin roads remain a problem
- Wisconsin should choose the right side of the income tax divide
- Data centers often bring faster connections to world
Browsing: Corrections and Public Safety
A call for greater transparency
What we know thus far
An employer handbook
Two studies look at Wisconsin’s complex community corrections system and why many on supervision are failing.
Fair-chance hiring laws may hurt the job-seekers they aim to help
The Wisconsin Criminal Justice Coalition, led by the Badger Institute, offers policy ideas for combating recidivism, fostering opportunity, saving taxpayer money and maintaining public safety.
How to let Wisconsin’s judges help job-seekers and employers.
The report includes two policy briefs:
► Problems with Wisconsin’s Expungement Law: How the Law is Used and How to Make It More Equitable and Effective
► Sentence Adjustment Petitions: Is this Truth-in-Sentencing Provision Really Working?
Badger Institute President Mike Nichols on “UpFront with Mike Gousha” talks about the need for corrections reform in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin cannot afford the status quo on its corrections policy. Programs across the nation that are working to reduce recidivism should be part of the state’s strategy.
Authors include Michael Flaherty, Marie Rohde, Michael Jahr, Janet Weyandt, Joe Stumpe and Gerard Robinson.
Evidence suggests that there are ways to minimize the risk of non-appearance while avoiding unnecessary detention of defendants.
MPS has a fundamental lack of focus. Instilling accountability will require a structural and cultural transformation similar to the one the Milwaukee Police Department has undergone — one that revolves around measurable objectives.
Wisconsin’s criminal justice system is marked by a pronounced cycle of crime followed by incarceration followed by parole followed by repeated crime.
An examination of potential cost savings
Fugitives from the justice system
The path to fewer prisons
Is it an idea whose time has come (again)?
Plea bargaining, punishment, and the public interest
What’s the connection?
A profile of urban inmates in Wisconsin prisons
As Wisconsin spends more money on its correctional system, this report analyzes how much value citizens are getting

