Dane County Board of Supervisors are calling for criminal justice reform.
They say changes are needed at the Dane County Jail. They point to the fact that 42 percent of the people incarcerated at the jail are black, while only six percent of the state’s population is black.
Supervisors call the disparity “outrageous” in an open letter published this week. They say racism in the system has to be broken down – from the arrest to bail, through prosecution and conviction, to re-entry into the community.
Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney has received a similar letter from the Madison Common Council calling for the release of inmates who test positive for COVID-19.
