Shawn Welch, 31, of La Crosse was arrested twice in four days for drug delivery, sparking the police chief issue a statement on the lack of "accountability" for some offenders.
Posted on 08/06/2014 2:48:41 PM PDT by mgist
“Too often our department spends weeks or months developing a case, make(s) a great arrest of a drug dealer, and (the defendant is) back out on the street within 24 hours.”
Ron Tischer, police chief
“If people believe that everyone can be locked up without bond because they’re arrested, before they’re convicted, that’s not a realistic expectation.”
Circuit Judge Scott Horne
A dispute over the setting of bonds and sentences in La Crosse County Circuit Court isn’t over. While both La Crosse Police Chief Ron Tischer and the county’s judges agree they need to meet, they won’t do so until a Criminal Justice Management Council later next week, a forum Tischer disparaged, in an interview with the Tribune last week, as “all talk” with agendas that lack “actionable items.”
The question of bond A cash bond set for an accused drug dealer prompted Tischer to issue the Jan. 21 press release about his concerns for “public safety and the lack of accountability being afforded those criminals who endanger the citizens of the city of La Crosse.”
“Too often our department spends weeks or months developing a case, make(s) a great arrest of a drug dealer, and (the defendant is) back out on the street within 24 hours,” he stated.
That suspect was on the street for nearly a month after first selling drugs to an informant before investigators arrested the La Crosse man with Illinois ties for selling crack cocaine Dec. 16 and 17 and again Jan. 13. Circuit Judge Elliott Levine set a $1,000 cash bond the day of the arrest, and Shawn Welch was released from custody about 12 hours after police took him in.
Investigators arrested him three days later, after they say he sold another $40 worth of crack cocaine to an informant. A reserve judge upped the bond to $50,000 cash.
In his press release Tischer criticized the $1,000 bond set after prosecutors argued for a “high” cash bond. The transcript from the hearing shows prosecutors simply requested a cash bond. Critics questioned how the chief could insist Welch was a danger in the community when his investigators waited a month before arresting him.
The chief wouldn’t grant interviews immediately after his press release, but on Jan. 23, during La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat’s public listening session, Tischer told an audience of 60 that he raised the issue after seeing drug dealers released from jail “before our officers have completed their reports.”
“Which was kind of an insult to the whole criminal justice system,” he said.
Tischer told the group he would push the issue now that the judges “ears are open.”
“The way we’ve been dealing with criminals hasn’t been working,” he said.
Frustrated community members and the mayor rallied behind Tischer, with Kabat commenting during his listening session that “the chief did a great job raising the issue.”
“The folks who are for-profit drug dealers, people want them gone,” Kabat said in an interview.
Concerned that Tischer’s comments left the public with the wrong impression of the limitations judges face when they are setting bond, four judges responded with an open letter addressed to the mayor and copied to the chief making clear that what the law and Constitution require when imposing bond and what they require when sentencing are very different.
“If people believe that everyone can be locked up without bond because they’re arrested, before they’re convicted, that’s not a realistic expectation,” Circuit Judge Scott Horne said.
Bond is designed to ensure court appearances, and it’s a constitutional guarantee that anyone accused of a crime is entitled to reasonable bail, Horne said.
“Imposing punishment prior to conviction is prohibited under the Constitution and bail statute,” the judges wrote in their letter. “We do not live in a police state, and a judge does not have the option to ignore these rights.”
In La Crosse County, anyone arrested for a felony or domestic offense is jailed without bond; cash or signature bonds are imposed in misdemeanor cases. A judge must review or set bond within 48 hours, during criminal intake court at 1:30 p.m. weekdays and early Sunday on weekends.
Defendants can ask a judge to reconsider bond at any point while a case is pending.
Among the factors judges consider when setting bond are the severity of the crime, strength of the evidence, whether the defendant has violated bond before, and whether the defendant is on supervision or bond from another case, Horne said.
Judges also take into account the defendant’s ties to the community and criminal history, Levine said.
“Liberty is precious, and the goal is not to deny liberty until we have a reason to do so,” he said.
Bond isn’t mandatory in any case, but it is imposed in every criminal one, Levine said. Studies show jailing low-risk offenders can increase recidivism and create more harm to the community, he said.
“That doesn’t mean you don’t lock people up at times,” Levine said. “But there can be a diminished public safety element by using cash bonds.”
It’s the role of public defenders to protect their clients’ constitutional rights and insisting on the presumption of innocence by asking for a reasonable bond.
Sharing ties to the community through job, home and family, as well as a history of appearing for court appearances, can show a judge a defendant can be trusted on bond, said Tom Locante, head of the La Crosse public defender’s office.
“Even if cash is set, it should only be in the amount to ensure appearance,” he said. “The amount shouldn’t reflect how bad the community feels about the allegations.”
Prosecutors will argue for a cash bond for defendants considered a danger to the community or a risk to not appear for court, District Attorney Tim Gruenke said.
“There’s a conflict between innocent until proven guilty and someone facing a serious (charge),” he said. “You can’t just lock them up because they were arrested.”
Judges can set court orders for defendants released on bond that prohibit them from drinking alcohol or using drugs, contacting victims and visiting certain places, and judges can set a curfew.
Justice Support Services supervises some defendants on bond to make sure they’re complying with those conditions through drug and alcohol testing, electronic monitoring to determine if they’re at home and GPS to find where they have traveled, program manager Jane Klekamp said.
An average of 185 people are on bond. In the first half of last year, the jail population also averaged 185, with 45 percent of inmates housed because they were unable to post a cash bond or because of a combination of a cash bond and a probation hold.
It cost taxpayers $90 a day to house an inmate and $17 a day to supervise someone on bond, Klekamp said.
Defendants who violate bond conditions face a new criminal charge: The district attorney’s office last year filed bail jumping charges against 652 people on bond for misdemeanors and felonies, a 5 percent decrease from 2012. Most didn’t commit a new crime but rather violated a condition of their release.
Judges can increase bond or impose tighter restrictions in those cases.
“The magnitude of the response is going to depend on factors like the seriousness of the underlying charge and nature of the violation,” Horne said.
The judges insist they’re following their obligations when setting bond and that no amount of criticism meant to “inflame the public” will force them to change position “so they don’t follow the bond law,” Horne said.
“It’s would be unethical,” Levine said. “We’re neutral detached magistrates.”
‘The punishment isn’t fitting the crime’ In his first interview since his initial press release, the police chief said his criticism of bond reflects his deeper frustration that the county’s judges are too lenient with violent criminals and for-profit drug dealers.
“When you look at a lot of these major cases that come through and what people are getting, the punishment isn’t fitting the crime,” he said.
The community is fed up, too, and the chief said he can’t explain why only his department is listening.
“There’s no message being sent to people from out of the area that your drug dealing and your setting up shop here is not welcome,” Tischer said.
Welch, the defendant whose case sparked this public discussion, could have fled to Illinois but stayed to sell drugs in La Crosse because he knew he would make money and because “he knows nothing was going to happen to him,” Tischer said.
Police investigators built a similar case against a Milwaukee man and on Feb. 3 arrested him for selling crack cocaine to an informant for the second time in a month.
Prosecutors this time asked for a specific cash bond of at least $5,000 and cited a host of information to persuade the judge: He is living in Milwaukee, he’s driving a car with Illinois plates, and he claimed to be in La Crosse to visit family but wouldn’t name them. He stayed at a hotel five times since November and paid for the room in cash, missed court in the past, took photos of himself holding a gun and a large amount of money, and he was arrested with marijuana, heroin and police buy money.
Horne recited during the hearing what the law requires he consider when setting bond before imposing a $5,000 cash bond, which the defendant posted. He walked out of jail less than four hours later.
Next steps The judges called Tischer’s decision to attend the council’s Feb. 19 meeting and participate in the discussion “a healthy step forward.”
Local justice system leaders are gathering data for the meeting, although state statistics and court records “do not, at first glance, reflect an ineffective criminal justice system,” with arrests for violent crime, felony prosecutions and drug trafficking cases decreasing since 2006, the judges stated.
“Why this is the case and what it means, we are not sure,” the judges said. “However, the Criminal Justice Management Council is the proper forum to examine these facts in more detail, consider the performance of the entire system and identify what we are doing well, as well as areas in which changes in practice may be in order.”
They pointed out in their first joint letter that they “have been far from reluctant to incarcerate offenders when circumstances warrant” and that jail capacity expanded in 1997 and 2010.
Tischer denied suggesting the county open the jail’s vacant pod.
Sentencing philosophy is a legitimate public policy dispute, Horne added.
Tischer agrees that some offenders can be rehabilitated and benefit from some of the county’s programs designed to beat addictions and reduce recidivism. But he doesn’t believe for-profit drug dealers and violent and repeat offenders should be afforded those opportunities.
“We’re going to keep working at this until the problem is solved,” he said.
The criminal justice system plays a vital role in revitalizing neighborhoods, and the public needs to tell judges how criminals affect them, La Crosse’s mayor said. It’s time to move the discussion forward, Kabat said.
“I am very interested in coming up with solutions,” Kabat said. “What can the city be doing? I think it’s important everyone look in the mirror.”
“Too often our department spends weeks or months developing a case, make(s) a great arrest of a drug dealer, and (the defendant is) back out on the street within 24 hours.” Ron Tischer, police chief
Shawn Welch, 31, of La Crosse was arrested twice in four days for drug delivery, sparking the police chief issue a statement on the lack of "accountability" for some offenders.
The article isn't talking about sentences for convicted drug dealers; the police are complaining that defendants whom they arrest are being freed on bail until their trial. Too very different issues.
When someone takes a drug, what crime has been committed? The hospitals and pharmacies are full of drugs, and no crime.
We got along just fine before Carrie Nation and the highway to hell paving crew got their panties in a wad.
Now look what prohibition has brought us!!!!
The Kennedys, Al Capone, Hussein and the Sinolas!<
Thank you nanny state, goody two shoes, force others to do what you think right even if you have to murder them! After all it's for the cheeruns!
Thomas Jefferson: "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."
Cops enforce the law against bad guys?
Who knew, what with all the innocent citizen harassment and dog killings.
Welcome to the world of the DOJ. Holder is doing what he needs to to destroy our laws and society. He hammered the Pennsylvania crime codes about being to hard on the crooks and othere trash. Stating that the sentencing is too harsh.
It’s lenient because the defense always has a key witness to show up at trial “Mr. Green”.
I remember years ago 60 minutes did a show on how “Mr. Green” influences drug trials and sentencing, it has only got worse.
Money talks and BS walks!
What prohibition? Legal Rx heroin has created an epidemic in this country. History is repeating itself, the Opium Wars are alive and well, except today we are China. Today we have drugs used in warfare, as assasination methods, on the streets available for our children. Fentanyl, a synthetic drug, 100x more powerfull than morphine, has children dropping like flies.
You have either been brain washed by the elite that fear the population, or are a shill. Russia, China, and Iran are all nation with the highest addiction rates in the world, they are all slave nations, that is what they want to do to us.
2013 “Criminal plans” by Iran could be under way in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, the report said.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/03/world/americas/iran-latin-america/
Mexican Cartels Buying Afghan Heroin
http://www.banderasnews.com/1101/nr-afghanheroin.htm
In 2011, DEA was laundering drug money from Mexican cartels, “Agency officials declined to publicly discuss details of their work, citing concerns about compromising their investigations.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/world/americas/us-drug-agents-launder-profits-of-mexican-cartels.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&;
Rockefeller is Outed as a Soros Ally in the Drug Legalization Scheme in Latin America
Illuminati Billionaires Love Marxists & Marijuana
Http://henrymakow.com/2013/09/Illuminati-Billionaires-Love-Marxists-Marijuana.html#sthash.UZwooUp2.dpuf
Obama’s America:
Heroin Becomes Cheaper and More Available July 2014
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/longform/news/crime/2014/07/20/heroin-becomes-cheaper-available/12906981/
“The horrific toll of America’s heroin ‘epidemic”
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26672422
America’s Heroin Epidemic -BBC 2014
2013 Dirty doctors, Russian mafia fueling legal Rx drug and heroin abuse in N.J., investigation finds
The Russian Mafia is in my neck of the woods, and Little Moscow could also be considered Little Tel Aviv.
http://www.examiner.com/article/north-miami-beach-and-the-russian-mafia
2010 The Darker Side of Tropical Bliss: Foreign Mafia in Thailandhttp://www.thailawforum.com/foreign-mafia-thailand-2.html
2014 Killer batch of white heroin responsible for at least 100 deaths across the country... and rising.The killer dope is a 50/50 blend of heroin and fentanyl
Fentanyl is a synthetic drug. The Pharmaceutical company that produces Fentanyl was sued September 2008. Cephalon paid $425 million to the federal government to settle four whistleblower lawsuits and a criminal charge alleging Cephalon had marketed Actiq, Gabitril and Provigil for “off-label” (unapproved) uses.
In 2011 an Israeli company, Teva purchased Cephalon the makers of pharmaceutical Fentanyl. So “Fentanyl” is produced in Israel.
Soros Fund Management is one of Teva’s top Institutional Holders.
1997 Israel’s Mossad was accused of using Fentanyl in assassinations.”The damage to Israel’s vaunted spy service has been particularly acute. Not only was Israel forced to disclose information about what it said was a new assassination technique — believed to be based on a synthetic opiate called Fentanyl — but more importantly, for several years the Mossad spy agency had been quietly allowed to keep an office in Amman, and now Jordan has thrown it out.”
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/15/world/the-daring-attack-that-blew-up-in-israel-s-face.html
2002 Fentanyl used as weapon by Terrorists in Russia
http://www.haaretz.com/news/russia-says-theater-siege-gas-based-on-fentanyl-1.29898
2006 Fentanyl: From Analgesic to Bioterrorism Agent to Drug of Abuse
http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2006/06/06/fentanyl-from-analgesic-to-bio/
2006 Chicago and NE started seeing Fentanyl deaths
Heroin mix tied to dozens of deathshttp://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-05-04-heroin-mix_x.htm
2014 Opiates are now the leading cause of accidental deaths, surpassing car crashes and alcohol.
http://elitedaily.com/news/world/prescription-painkillers-overtake-car-crashes-leading-accidental-death-us/
Banks Laundering Cartel Drug Money -Rampant
http://www.globalresearch.ca/money-laundering-and-the-drug-trade-the-role-of-the-banks/5334205
2012 Where the Mob Keeps It’s Moneyhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opinion/sunday/where-the-mob-keeps-its-money.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
2012 Most Educated People Understand that Major Trafficking Doesn’t Happen Without Government Complicity
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137529/moises-naim/mafia-states
2014 Marketing “Heroin chic” is alive and well.http://www.thefix.com/content/urban-outfitters-pinpoints-hairroin-salons-free-hypodermic-pens
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 100 people in the United States die from drug overdoses every day, and death rates as a result of drug overdoses have more than tripled since 1990. It has surpassed alcohol and car accidents in accidental deaths. The CDC also reports that nearly three out of four prescription drug overdoses are caused by opiates.
If this were an STD causing these deaths on homosexuals it would be scandalous. Instead, thousands of anonymous families have been devastated by the destruction and eventual loss of lives of loved ones, that started with a trusted doctor. The few elite, the people lining political pockets, funding “research”, mass media/advertising biggest customer, etc. are making $billions, and apparently that is all that matters.
“The Drug Story” by Morris A. Bealle, is free and available online. Knowledge is power.The Deceptive Stories of a Legalization Success countries are Simply Cons Cooking the Books.
https://fullfact.org/factchecks/Portugal_decriminalisation_drugs_effects-3276
Pot seen as reason for rise in Denver homelesshttp://news.yahoo.com/pot-seen-reason-rise-denver-homeless-175115981.html
Despite problems, media has shamelessly been touting the benefits of Marijuana. What message does this send to children CNN?http://www.ibtimes.com/cnn-reporter-high-during-live-shot-anderson-cooper-questions-randi-kayes-giggly-pot-report-1542209
July 15, 2014
Although Colorado legalized marijuana, the criminal black market thrives. Both legal alcohol and cigarettes still have a black market, but drug legalization “experts” pretend otherwise.
That black market is alive and well in Colorado.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/4/marijuana-black-market-still-thrives-colorado-wher/
The Black Market for Weed is Still Thriving in Coloradohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/weed-colorado-black-market_n_4548338.html
Legal Pot Hasn’t Stopped the Black Market
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/04/colo-pot-black-market/7292263/
Black Market Cigarrettes are still a problemhttp://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/02/02/boston-black-market-cigarette-problem/mJpfuuFZXXYxrBiEgTcyJM/story.html
Abattis Makes History as First Marijuana Stock to List on Prestigious OTCQX
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/abattis-makes-history-as-first-marijuana-stock-to-list-on-prestigious-otcqx-2014-07-15
House Votes to Allow Marijuana Related Banking 7/16/2014
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/house-supports-easier-marijuana-related-banking-24588337
Wall Street Banks are illegally Laundering Drug Money with Impunity.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/money-laundering-and-the-drug-trade-the-role-of-the-banks/5334205
Wall Street has given more to Obama’s Political Campaign than Any Other Politician in History.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&=&v=zt3vwWfP-EA
The question of bond A cash bond set for an accused drug dealer prompted Tischer to issue the Jan. 21 press release about his concerns for “public safety and the lack of accountability being afforded those criminals who endanger the citizens of the city of La Crosse.”
“Too often our department spends weeks or months developing a case, make(s) a great arrest of a drug dealer, and (the defendant is) back out on the street within 24 hours,” he stated.
My, isn’t this police chief a bit rusty on the American legal system? They are not “criminals” just because he arrested them, they are, at best, “accused criminals”, until they are convicted of a crime. They are also not a “drug dealer” until that is proven in a court of law. Even if the judge knew they were criminals and drug dealers for certain, neither of those facts alone would rise to the level of denying them bond.
I have no problem with users taking whatever drug they choose just so long as there’s an equal law stating that tax dollars shall not be used to resuscitate over dosed drug users.
You take the drug, then you are responsible for your health and behavior until the effects of the drug wear off. If you become violent I will shoot you and I will not call the hospital or the police to send someone to take care of you. If you become unconscious, same rules apply.
Another day, another attack against the 8th Amendment here on Freerepublic. At least this one varies from the usual shopworn advocacy of cruel and unusual punishments.
Well Jesus still loves you too.
Had a friend /co worker od on fentanyl a few years ago. My best friend is an opioid addict. He has partial spinabiffida and his back is messed up, so it's like either live with debilitating pain or take Uncle Sham Wow's poppy mix. The worst part is he used to be a great guitar player and writer, but the junk has stolen his creativity and desire.
Too bad he can't grow his own cannabis and ditch the poppy, but half the R party act like nazis about things like that.
Was your creative friend forced to take drugs by someone or did he do it voluntarily?
Read this post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3189769/posts?page=10#10
You vill take the drugs they tell you to take. They have ways of making you!
Tell him to try ActivOn. It available online.
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