This has not been a good week for Wisconsin Gov Tony Evers. First he vetoes a middle class tax cut, and now gets caught in a huge lie about the prison population. We found the 11 percent level of drug offenders in state prisons last year. Inmate Profile- Inmates in Prison on December 31, 2017 It was a simple google search. From the Journal/Sentinal While announcing plans to decriminalize marijuana, Gov. Tony Evers claimed 75-85% of prison inmates in Wisconsin were there for drug offenses. Evers is shown here delivering the State of the State in January 2019. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel In all this time, why didn't anyone check these facts? We did....last year.
According to Politfact, Our rating
Evers claimed in a news release and a tweet that drug-related crimes account for as 75 to 85 percent of the Wisconsin inmate population.
That statistic was pulled from an incorrect article published six years ago.
Current DOC data shows the actual number of prison inmates sentenced for drug offenses is a fraction of that number — about one-quarter of the prison population.
Indeed the numbers are so far off, and the sourcing — a six-year-old article based on a radio interview that focused on a different topic — is so remote, it’s ridiculous.
We rate the claim Pants on Fire.
The complete story here > Evers claims drug crimes account for 75 percent or more of state prison population. Not even close.