Wisconsin 2023-2024 Regular Session

Wisconsin Assembly Bill AJR1 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	LRB-1078/1
2	2	CMH:wlj
3	3	2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
4	4	2023 ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTIO N 1
5	5	January 6, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives DUCHOW, NEYLON, ALLEN,
6	6	BRANDTJEN, DITTRICH, EDMING, GUNDRUM, KITCHENS, KNODL, KRUG, KURTZ,
7	7	MACCO, MAGNAFICI, MICHALSKI, MOSES, MURPHY, MURSAU, NOVAK, ORTIZ-VELEZ,
8	8	RETTINGER, ROZAR, SNYDER, SORTWELL, STEFFEN, TITTL, WICHGERS and WITTKE,
9	9	cosponsored by Senators WANGGAARD, BRADLEY, TESTIN, FELZKOWSKI, FEYEN,
10	10	JAMES, QUINN and STROEBEL. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
11	11	*AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE*
12	12	To amend section 8 (2) of article I of the constitution; relating to: conditions for
13	13	release prior to conviction, including the imposition of bail (second
14	14	consideration).
15	15	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
16	16	EXPLANATION OF PROPOSAL
17	17	This proposed constitutional amendment, to be given second consideration by
18	18	the 2023 legislature for submittal to the voters in April 2023, was first considered by
19	19	the 2021 legislature in 2021 Assembly Joint Resolution 107, which became 2021
20	20	Enrolled Joint Resolution 6.
21	21	Under the Wisconsin Constitution, a person accused of a crime is eligible for
22	22	release before conviction under reasonable conditions designed to assure the
23	23	appearance of the accused in court, protect members of the community from serious
24	24	bodily harm, or prevent the intimidation of witnesses. Such conditions of release
25	25	may include monetary bail only upon a finding that there is a reasonable basis to
26	26	believe that bail is necessary to assure the appearance of the accused in court.
27	27	This constitutional amendment provides that the accused is eligible for release
28	28	before conviction under reasonable conditions designed to protect members of the
29	29	community from serious harm as defined by the legislature by law, not just serious
30	30	bodily harm, in addition to the other conditions specified above.
31	31	The constitutional amendment also eliminates, only with respect to violent
32	32	crimes as defined by the legislature by law, the requirement that monetary bail may
33	33	be imposed as a condition of release before conviction only upon a finding that there
34	34	1
35	35	2
36	36	3 - 2 -
37	37	LRB-1078/1
38	38	CMH:wlj
39	39	2023 - 2024 Legislature
40	40	is a reasonable basis to believe that it is necessary to assure the appearance of the
41	41	accused in court. Instead, the constitutional amendment authorizes the imposition
42	42	of bail as a condition of release for persons accused of violent crimes only upon a
43	43	finding that there is a reasonable basis to believe that it is necessary based on the
44	44	totality of the circumstances, taking into account the seriousness of the offense
45	45	charged; whether the accused has a previous conviction for a violent crime as defined
46	46	by the legislature by law; the probability that the accused will fail to appear in court;
47	47	the need to protect members of the community from serious harm as defined by the
48	48	legislature by law; the need to prevent the intimidation of witnesses; and the
49	49	potential affirmative defenses of the accused.
50	50	PROCEDURE FOR SECOND CONSIDERA TION
51	51	When a proposed constitutional amendment is before the legislature on second
52	52	consideration, any change in the text approved by the preceding legislature causes
53	53	the proposed constitutional amendment to revert to first consideration status so that
54	54	second consideration approval would have to be given by the next legislature before
55	55	the proposal may be submitted to the people for ratification [see joint rule 57 (2)].
56	56	If the legislature approves a proposed constitutional amendment on second
57	57	consideration, it must also set the date for submitting the proposed constitutional
58	58	amendment to the people for ratification and must determine the question or
59	59	questions to appear on the ballot.
60	60	Whereas, the 2021 legislature in regular session considered a proposed
61	61	amendment to the constitution in 2021 Assembly Joint Resolution 107, which
62	62	became 2021 Enrolled Joint Resolution 6, and agreed to it by a majority of the
63	63	members elected to each of the two houses, which proposed amendment reads as
64	64	follows:
65	65	SECTION 1. Section 8 (2) of article I of the constitution is amended
66	66	to read:
67	67	[Article I] Section 8 (2) All persons, before conviction, shall be
68	68	eligible for release under reasonable conditions designed to assure their
69	69	appearance in court, protect members of the community from serious
70	70	bodily harm as defined by the legislature by law, or prevent the
71	71	intimidation of witnesses. Monetary conditions of release may be imposed
72	72	at or after the initial appearance only upon a finding that there is a
73	73	reasonable basis to believe that the conditions are necessary to assure
74	74	appearance in court, or if the person is accused of a violent crime as
75	75	defined by the legislature by law, only upon a finding that there is a
76	76	reasonable basis to believe that the conditions are necessary based on the
77	77	totality of the circumstances, taking into account whether the accused has
78	78	a previous conviction for a violent crime as defined by the legislature by
79	79	1
80	80	2
81	81	3
82	82	4
83	83	5 - 3 -
84	84	LRB-1078/1
85	85	CMH:wlj
86	86	SECTION 1
87	87	2023 - 2024 Legislature
88	88	law, the probability that the accused will fail to appear in court, the need
89	89	to protect members of the community from serious harm as defined by the
90	90	legislature by law, the need to prevent the intimidation of witnesses, and
91	91	the potential affirmative defenses of the accused. The legislature may
92	92	authorize, by law, courts to revoke a person's release for a violation of a
93	93	condition of release.
94	94	Now, therefore, be it resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring,
95	95	That the foregoing proposed amendment to the constitution is agreed to by the 2023
96	96	legislature; and, be it further
97	97	Resolved, That the foregoing proposed amendment to the constitution be
98	98	submitted to a vote of the people at the election to be held on the first Tuesday of April,
99	99	2023; and, be it further
100	100	Resolved, That the question concerning ratification of the foregoing proposed
101	101	amendment to the constitution be stated on the ballot as follows:
102	102	QUESTION 1: “Conditions of release before conviction. Shall section 8 (2)
103	103	of article I of the constitution be amended to allow a court to impose on an accused
104	104	person being released before conviction conditions that are designed to protect the
105	105	community from serious harm?”
106	106	QUESTION 2: “Cash bail before conviction. Shall section 8 (2) of article I of
107	107	the constitution be amended to allow a court to impose cash bail on a person accused
108	108	of a violent crime based on the totality of the circumstances, including the
109	109	seriousness of the crime, previous convictions of the accused, the probability that the
110	110	accused will fail to appear, the need to protect the community from serious harm and
111	111	prevent witness intimidation, and potential affirmative defenses?"
112	112	(END)
113	113	1
114	114	2
115	115	3
116	116	4
117	117	5
118	118	6
119	119	7
120	120	8
121	121	9
122	122	10
123	123	11
124	124	12
125	125	13
126	126	14
127	127	15
128	128	16
129	129	17
130	130	18
131	131	19