(Kenosha County Sheriff's Office)
SALEM LAKES, Wis. — A six-time convicted drunk driver with a lengthy criminal history has publicly praised liberal Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Jason Rossell for giving him a two-year prison sentence. But court and correctional records reveal a much different picture than the punishment announced in the courtroom. Rossell made the habitual drunk driver eligible for a program that allowed him to leave prison early, and less than 11 months after sentencing, the offender was released on extended supervision. The case raises broader questions about sentencing practices that can make prison terms appear tougher than the punishment ultimately served.
Paid Advertisement
(Kenosha County Sheriff's Office)
(Kenosha County Sheriff's Office)
You must be logged in to view the rest of this article.
Paid Advertisement
11 Responses
We can blame our state legislature and the Tavern League for such ridiculous OWI standards in Wisconsin. Every election period, the Tavern League whips out their checkbook and pays off the usual suspects so they will never try to strengthen our laws. They allow for these deals to get out early or not go to prison at all. They don’t care that we are ranked 50th of all states…. worst in drunk driving prevention.
Kenosha’s judicial system sucks, but these judges are given these loopholes by corrupt leadership. And no, it ain’t “the Libs” voting for this nonsense.
Do you actually believe that the tavern league has that kind of cash? Thats funny shit! And your conspiracy theory reeks of paranoia
Hell yeah, if I was drunk and accidentally killed somebody’s family, I would sure want that judge to be deciding whether or not I was a victim of soicum stance
15 years ago Kenosha County had the opportunity to participate in a DWI court program involving intensive treatment and monitoring using evidence based principles. The Kenosha County Drug Court team was sent for training but the program never got off the ground because the county was unwilling to spend the money for intensive alcohol and drug use monitoring so the program was never initiated.
There are many misunderstandings about the drunk driving laws in Wisconsin and the drunk driving problem. Some things are done well, some not.
The classic misperception is Wisconsin is lenient because we’re the only state where the first offense is not a crime. The actual reason for that is because it’s easier to convict for a civil offense so that we get drivers assessed and into treatment faster. Plea bargaining is supposedly against the law. No automatic jury trial. No public defender to drag the case out. You stand or fall as charged. The good news is that drunk driving fatalities are a fraction of what they once were. Also good news is that the recidivism rate of drivers “graduating” to a second offense is lower in Wisconsin than in our surrounding states where the first offense is supposedly a crime (but often plea bargained away).
Here’s the other shoe. The bad news is that repeat offenders, though smaller in number, are hard core drunks. They haven’t learned their lesson and will most likely continue to offend and threaten the community. We don’t know what to do with them because they are time bombs. No matter what they get sentenced to they won’t be “cured” and when they get out they will probably go right back to drinking and driving. There is one small glimmer of hope in that with substance abusers a small number will have the light come on and evidence shows that this group is actually responsive to intensive treatment. Intensive treatment. Not the “28 day rehab” programs that seldom work but 18 months or more of hard work, treatment and intensive monitoring. Even where they’re available — and Kenosha County isn’t one of the places — the programs are expensive and only open to a few (literally) people.
I’ve worked with this problem for more than 50 years. The biggest problem is with the hard core drunks.
Thanks making me famous
Big fan here
Famous for being a habitual POS
I wonder how any of these whining people grew up threw the 80s
Meanwhile he’s giving out 8 months to people a misdemeanor for their first crime in 12 years. He’s a shitty judge that’s full of himself and thinks his shit don’t stink
Maxing out a first or second misdemeanor conviction sentence to make it appear as a plea bargained felony, even though the actual original charge is misdemeanor level is not unusual for out of state defendants, those with money, and for offenses that are social/political hot buttons. Such sentences are quite likely effective. The incidences here are hard core drunks that are well known local revolving door repeaters to the overloaded court system. Only a change to WI statutes to ensure hard core drunks are imprisoned with significant sentences that are locked tight, not merely fined or jailed, can the deadly road risk they represent be effectively removed.
You may find yourself in his Court and think “he’s going to probably do this” then Jason does some completely sideways shit out of left field that no one saw coming, probably because it was an unreasonable decision. No consistency, often wrong, and full of himself.