William J. Connell was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Steven Ebert to 15 years in prison, followed by 15 years of extended supervision upon his release. The judge has committed the state of Wisconsin to thirty years of care for Mr. Connell. At a minimum, this care will cost state taxpayers US$600,000 including about US$500,000 worth of criminal incarceration, and another US$100,000 worth of extended close supervision following his release [preceding data accepted at face value from the linked article on treatment, then massaged and mercilessly rounded]. In all likelihood Mr. Connell will be returned to custody at some point in his supervised release, and at that point the people of Dane County will pick up some portion of the bill for holding him in jail before his return to prison. In 2024, 18% of the County’s jail population was being held for the State pending parole hearings, and the State reimbursement to the County was falling US$1.3 million behind the expenses the County incurred.
Mr. Connell is a firebug. To lump him with criminal arsonists-for-hire is to imply sane intentionality. I am sure that in the this case the letter of the law was followed, but the opportunity for treatment and correction was lost. Since Mr. Connell has a history of avoiding the medication that moderates his sociopathic behavior, I’m not sure what alternative exists for treatment and close supervision; but, I believe that there can be no meaningful “punishment” for the mentally ill. The mentally ill require and deserve treatment, not punishment. I wonder what it would cost to provide humane treatment for Mr. Connell? I wonder if State mental health treatment and supervision can be delivered for less than the $30,000 it costs to hold him in the correctional system? If it can be, then the Judge in this case has saddled the people of the State with the difference, an expense that should have been avoided.
