Denied Parole Six Times, Baron Walker Gets His Release

Bruce Vielmetti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 5:10 p.m. CT Aug. 16, 2018 |

Updated 11:02 a.m. CT Aug. 17, 2018

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2018/08/16/wisconsin-inmate-featured-documentary-wins-release-fairness/993003002/, reposted by Healing Communities USA

In 1996, Baron Walker was sentenced to 60 years in prison for being part of a pair of bank robberies in which no one was hurt.

No one thought he’d serve it all. It was before Wisconsin adopted Truth in Sentencing, when it was expected that after serving 25 percent of a sentence, a deserving inmate would be paroled. There was also a presumptive mandatory release after two-thirds of the sentence.

But 22 years later — seven years after he became eligible for parole — Walker, 44, remains in prison, despite having taken every possible avenue for treatment and education while incarcerated.

He’s also maintained close contact with his wife and five children, and they were all featured prominently in the award-winning 2016 documentary film “Milwaukee 53206,” about the ZIP code with the highest incarceration rate of African-American men in the nation. More than 60% were imprisoned by age 34.

In the documentary, Walker is heard asking in a phone call, “What more does Wisconsin need to know in order to find out I’m not a menace to society? That is actually the question I would like to know myself.”

On Thursday, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Mark Sanders modified Walker’s sentence to time served on one count, and a stayed seven-year sentence and five years of probation on the second, plus 40 hours of community service and re-entry programming after agreeing with lawyers that Wisconsin’s changed policy on granting parole is a new factor unknown to the original sentencing judge.

Potter said the bank manager who testified about the emotional trauma of the robberies at Walker’s original sentencing was surprised he was still in prison and supported the modification.

Sanders said the state’s backing was critical to his decision to grant the motion.

During his years in prison, Walker has earned certification in food service, pesticide application, forklift operation and building maintenance.  He’s done cognitive group intervention three times, restorative justice training and a parole re-entry simulation program.

“No therapeutic or vocational training programs remain for Mr. Walker to complete to achieve parole, yet he has not been released,” wrote Mastantuono, in a motion to modify Walker’s sentence.