I'm deeply disturbed by your paper's report that Gov. Walker refuses to grant any pardons to people in our state prisons.
Time and again law professors and their students have taken on the study of prisoners who feel they have been falsely convicted of crimes and unlawfully held prisoner for lengthy periods of time. There have not been a lot of such cases that have been proven valid by subsequent legal investigation and actions, but these have been enough to make one aware that our legal justice system doesn't always work to bring justice to the people accused of crimes or to people who are the victims of crimes.
In a way I understand our governor's reluctance to engage in the pardon process. After all, how embarrassing it would be to release somebody who was guilty or even though not guilty subsequent to their release committed a terrible crime.
On the other hand how unfair and awful would it be to suffer imprisonment for a crime for which one is not guilty? Years of separation from family and friends. Tons of valuable time in employment and education lost.
The pardoning process is an important part of our democracy. The three branches of our government - executive, legislative and judicial - need to watch and criticize each other for effective government that results in justice. I would urge those who read this letter to get in touch with Gov. Walker and ask him to set up the board to review pardon requests, which Wisconsin law allows him to do, listen to its recommendations and issue pardons if he is convinced they are in order.