SJR 2

Explanation of Proposal

This proposed constitutional amendment, to be given second consideration by

the 2023 legislature for submittal to the voters in April 2023, was first considered by

the

2021

legislature in 2021 Assembly Joint Resolution 107, which became

2021

Enrolled Joint Resolution

6

.

Under the Wisconsin Constitution, a person accused of a crime is eligible for

release before conviction under reasonable conditions designed to assure the

appearance of the accused in court, protect members of the community from serious

bodily harm, or prevent the intimidation of witnesses. Such conditions of release

may include monetary bail only upon a finding that there is a reasonable basis to

believe that bail is necessary to assure the appearance of the accused in court.

This constitutional amendment provides that the accused is eligible for release

before conviction under reasonable conditions designed to protect members of the

community from serious harm as defined by the legislature by law, not just serious

bodily harm, in addition to the other conditions specified above.

The constitutional amendment also eliminates, only with respect to violent

crimes as defined by the legislature by law, the requirement that monetary bail may

be imposed as a condition of release before conviction only upon a finding that there

is a reasonable basis to believe that it is necessary to assure the appearance of the

accused in court. Instead, the constitutional amendment authorizes the imposition

of bail as a condition of release for persons accused of violent crimes only upon a

finding that there is a reasonable basis to believe that it is necessary based on the

totality of the circumstances, taking into account whether the accused has a previous

conviction for a violent crime as defined by the legislature by law; the probability that

the accused will fail to appear in court; the need to protect members of the community

from serious harm as defined by the legislature by law; the need to prevent the

intimidation of witnesses; and the potential affirmative defenses of the accused.

Procedure for Second Consideration

When a proposed constitutional amendment is before the legislature on second

consideration, any change in the text approved by the preceding legislature causes

the proposed constitutional amendment to revert to first consideration status so that

second consideration approval would have to be given by the next legislature before

the proposal may be submitted to the people for ratification [see joint rule 57 (2)].

If the legislature approves a proposed constitutional amendment on second

consideration, it must also set the date for submitting the proposed constitutional