This just boggles my mind . . .

I wasn't aware that in Wisconsin (and, apparently, in up to a dozen other states), family members who conceal evidence of a crime by other family members, or who dispose of it, or even plant false evidence to incriminate others, are not guilty of a crime in the eyes of the law. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Criminals in Wisconsin can turn to family members to hide murder guns, bloody clothes and other evidence, and prosecutors are powerless to punish those family members under current state law.

A bill set for a hearing Thursday in Madison would remove the exemption for family members who help relatives escape from the law or hide evidence. It also would stiffen the penalties. There are no penalties now for family members.

Prosecutors say they often see family members covering up crime.

"It ties our hands," Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams, head of the homicide unit, said of the current law. "It gives them a free shot to hide evidence. You can run to mama's house, give her the gun. She can do whatever she wants with it and there is nothing we can do."

Wisconsin's version is among the most liberal harboring felon laws in the country, according to experts. A dozen other states have exceptions for family members, but Wisconsin exempts more family members and allows them to even plant false evidence without fear of prosecution.

Wisconsin has no accessory-after-the-crime law. Prosecutors in states with such laws can charge someone who helps cover up a crime as a party to the original count. So if someone hides a gun used in a murder or burns bloody clothes - as happened in a Milwaukee County case recently - that person could face the same prison time as the person who actually committed the homicide.

There's more at the link, including details of several cases of murder where the assailants hid themselves and/or weapons and/or other evidence with family members.

It's sickening to think that such a law exists . . . but what I want to know is, who passed it in the first place? Who thought that such a law would be a good idea? Who could possibly have been stupid enough to believe it would benefit the law-abiding citizens of Wisconsin to allow those more criminally minded to - quite literally - get away with murder like this?

I really hope someone provides (and publishes) answers to those questions. The electorate of Wisconsin deserve to know the names of anyone and everyone who supported this law, or who opposes the current attempts to change it - so they can vote them out of office at the next available opportunity!





Peter