MILWAUKEE — A state lawmaker wants to change the Wisconsin Consitution to give judges more flexibility to set bail for people with criminal histories.

The renewed push comes after the suspect in the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy, Darrell Brooks Jr., was free on $1,000 bail posted just two days before the deadly incident.

What You Need To Know

  • Under current law, the Wisconsin Constitution provides that all persons are eligible for release prior to conviction to assure the person's appearance in court, protect members of the community from serious bodily harm, or prevent the intimidation of witnesses

  • Right now, judges cannot consider the dangerousness or violence of a defendant when deciding how much cash bail to set

  • The joint resolution provides an amendment to the state Constitution that removes restrictions to judges when determining the bail amount or if an individual can be denied bail by including the consideration of the safety of the community, seriousness of offense, and previous record to reflect the needs of the present

The joint resolution by State Rep. Cindi Duchow's, R-Town of Delafield, would remove constitutional restrictions on judges to allow them to consider the seriousness of the offense and a defendant's previous record, all while weighing the safety of the community.

State Rep. Cindi Duchow

When deciding how much cash bail to set, Duchow said judges can't consider much.

“The only thing you set bail for is to make sure that you appear in court,” Duchow said.

This is the third session Duchow is putting forth bail reform legislation.

“We passed this out of the Assembly in '17, and it didn't get through the Senate,” Duchow explained. “I did not have a lot of support for it, I thought, last session, so I was going to bring this back actually next week, and with the events that happened on Sunday, we moved it up a week and brought it out a week earlier.”

Duchow said the idea of letting judges consider more factors when setting bail is becoming more popular on both sides of the aisle despite roadblocks in recent years.

“There's been a lot of conversation about recidivism, and maybe people shouldn't be locked up, we need to have them out in their community and working, but there are some people that we are not going to be able to help,” Duchow said. “This gentleman on Sunday, obviously it took the district attorney 15 minutes to read his rap sheet. He should have been locked up a long time ago.”

What's next?

Duchow hopes to have her joint resolution on the floor in January.

It would have to pass both chambers in two consecutive legislative sessions, so she hopes it can be on the ballot for voters in April 2023.