BUCHER'S ANTI-FALK PAGE VILE, DISHONEST AND WRONG

From the Capital times

By Joel McNally
Remember Willie Horton, previously the all-time low in vicious political advertising employing the criminal mug shot of a scary black man to stir up racial fears among the voters to elect a totally shameless candidate?
Now imagine Willie Horton multiplied over and over. Imagine a glowering rogues' gallery of a dozen menacing black men, a couple of sinister-looking Latinos and a few sullen white guys looking as if they are about to snatch innocent children off the streets.
Line up all these mug shots next to a smiling picture of Kathleen Falk, Democratic candidate for Wisconsin attorney general, emblazoned with the nickname, "Catch and Release Kate." For the final touch, stamp "Release" under the picture of every blood-chilling bogeyman.
Waukesha District Attorney Paul Bucher, a Republican candidate for attorney general, wants anyone viewing this vile collage to believe Falk was somehow responsible for releasing this blood-chilling -- and, oh, so African-American -- pack of murderers, rapists and child predators onto our streets.
In fact, Falk has absolutely no connection to any of the double- and triple-murderers and other degenerates whom Bucher dishonestly pictures on his campaign Web site.
Falk did not "release" any of the criminals Bucher wants voters to believe she set free. As Dane county executive, Falk has no power to release anyone from the criminal justice system.
Even if the state were to grant such extraordinary power of clemency to a Dane county executive, why in the world would it extend to Milwaukee, the home of most of the heinous criminals pictured by Bucher?
Either Bucher couldn't find scary enough looking criminals from Dane County, or, more likely, he preferred the heavy black and brown color scheme he achieved by drawing his villains from Milwaukee.
What is the point of a Web site attacking Falk as "Catch and Release Kate" by picturing her next to a lineup of black and Latino criminals whom she has neither caught nor released?
The question answers itself. The whole point is simply to stir racial fears and to make frightened white voters focus those racial fears on Falk. It is a vile and dishonest political tactic.
Bucher's political cover story is that he is attacking Falk because she supports diverting nonviolent, first-time drug offenders into treatment instead of sending them to prison.
But, if that's the point, why doesn't Bucher picture Falk next to a string of mug shots of nonviolent, first-time drug offenders? Apparently, nonviolent offenders weren't scary enough, so Bucher decided to go with double- and triple-murderers instead.
The most bizarre thing about the Web site is that it doesn't demonstrate anything at all about the diversion program advocated by Falk. But it does demonstrate the utter failure of Bucher's approach of relying on incarceration to combat crime.
Those violent criminals are not examples of offenders diverted into drug and alcohol treatment run amok. There is no evidence presented that any of them ever received any treatment.
But Bucher proudly points to the fact that in every single case a judge sentenced them to prison. Then Bucher misses the point he accidentally makes. Guess what happened, in every case, when those offenders returned to the community after prison?
That is when those scary people committed their double and triple murders, rapes, child molestations and all the other heinous crimes Bucher can't possibly tie to Falk.
Prison, advocated by Bucher, was a total failure in protecting public safety. People came out worse than they went in and committed horrible crimes.
A treatment program that failed so miserably would be shut down. When prison fails, advocates like Bucher call for even more incarceration. Let's see if we can produce some quadruple-murderers next time.
If race baiting and totally dishonest campaign tactics weren't reason enough to vote against Bucher, throw in the fact that he's totally wrong about the drug offenders who are filling our prisons.
On the Web site, Bucher claims it's a "myth" that harmless drug offenders are clogging our prisons. "The crime usually doesn't result in a prison term unless you have a long record, are a habitual criminal or used a firearm, or there were other aggravated circumstances."
A recent study by Justice Strategies -- requested by two Republican legislators -- says Bucher doesn't know what he's talking about.
The research report identified 2,900 low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with very limited criminal backgrounds who are currently incarcerated in Wisconsin prisons.
The bill taxpayers are paying to lock up these nonviolent drug offenders -- prime candidates for the kind of diversion to treatment advocated by Falk -- is a whopping $83 million a year.
* Falk's approach makes conservative financial sense. The average cost of incarcerating someone in Wisconsin is $28,622 a year compared to $6,100 a year for high-quality, community-based treatment.
Bucher repeats totally erroneous information from some completely disreputable source, probably his own Web site.
\ Joel McNally of Milwaukee writes a weekly column for The Capital Times. E-mail: jmcnally@wi.rr.com