GOVERNOR URGED TO NAME SENTENCING PANELISTS SOON

Madison -- Now that truth in sentencing has been signed into law, a state
legislator on Monday urged Gov. Tommy Thompson to move swiftly to appoint
members to a commission to overhaul Wisconsin's criminal code.

The truth-in-sentencing bill that Thompson signed a week ago included a
Criminal Penalties Study Committee to conduct the first comprehensive
review of the code in nearly 50 years.

The law eliminates parole and early release dates as of Dec. 31, 1999.
Anyone convicted of a crime as of that date and sent to prison would serve
the entire term behind bars.

The committee will study the code and recommend changes to the Legislature
to make the punishment fit the crime. The panel consists of 18 members,
with Thompson appointing nine of them, including the chairman.

Sen. Brian Burke (D-Milwaukee) said the panel faced a tight deadline of
April 30 to come up with its recommendations. Since Thompson appoints half
the members, Burke urged him to expedite his appointments and prod others
to do the same.

Of the remaining members, Attorney General James Doyle will appoint three,
the Supreme Court will appoint two, and the Republican and Democratic floor
leaders in each house each will appoint one.

"Despite having a number of appointing authorities, it's incumbent upon the
governor to take the lead and make his appointments," said Burke, a former
Milwaukee County prosecutor.

"There's no reason that the appointments should not be made quickly so the
committee can begin its work. Ten months is not a lot of time to codify the
entire criminal code and develop new sentencing guidelines."

Since Friday, Thompson has been en route to Washington, D.C., leading his
annual Harley motorcycle tour, this year to a Wisconsin Sesquicentennial
celebration on the National Mall.

Thompson spokesman Kevin Keane, who is traveling with the governor, said
Monday that Thompson would appoint his members soon, possibly as early as
Friday, when he returns to Madison.

"The governor literally is in the process of making those appointments, and
that includes deciding who he wants, contacting those people and making
sure that they want to serve and have the time to serve," Keane said.

Burke said a criminal code rewrite was proposed more than a year ago.
Thompson and Doyle made it a key provision of their bipartisan package on
truth in sentencing on June 5, 1997, so, Burke said, they undoubtedly have
people in mind for their appointments.

"This is something that can come together in actually a number of days,"
Burke said. The longer the delay, the less likely the commission will
succeed in conducting a thorough review and winning the Legislature's
approval of its recommendations, he said.

Doyle said he had three people in mind but needed commitments from them. He
agreed that time was of the essence, but added that a delay of a few days
to finalize appointments should not hamper the panel.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)