MONROE - Two laws recently went into effect that make punishment for crime a lot tougher.
Wisconsin Act 111 makes harsher penalties for people convicted of repeated drunken driving.
A person convicted of fifth-offense drunken driving faces up to six years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. Fifth-offense drunken driving is a felony.
However, in the past, all subsequent arrests for drunken driving remained as a class H felony and the penalties remained the same. For example, someone convicted of seventh-offense drunken driving faced the same penalty as a person convicted of fifth-offense drunken driving.
As of April 2, the classification and penalties increase for drunken driving convictions.
Sixth offense drunken driving remains a class H felony. Seventh, eighth- and ninth-offense drunken driving now are class G felonies, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.
People who are arrested for tenth-offense or subsequent offenses of drunken driving, will now face a class F penalty. They could spend up to 15 years in jail and face up to $25,000 in fines.
In Green County in 2007, there were three cases in which drivers were charged with a fifth or greater offense for drunken driving. So far this year, there has been one.
Green County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Kohl said the new rules give courts more options.
"The court can put people in jail to keep them off the streets," Kohl said. "It becomes obvious that deterrence and rehabilitation isn't working."
The state is starting to get tougher on drunken driving, Kohl said.
Another act by the state, which goes into effect Friday, creates a new crime for strangulation.
The crime will be charged to anyone who impedes normal breathing and blood circulation by applying pressure to the neck or blocking the nose or mouth of another person.
First offenders will be charged with a class H felony. Repeat offenders will be charged with a class G felony.
The act also extends the legal definition of "bodily harm" to actions that result in a "small, colored spot that appears on the skin, eye, eyelid or mucous membrane of a person" due to ruptured blood vessels.
Kohl said some injuries caused by strangulation don't always show up immediately. A person who has been strangled for a short time could have a stroke a few months later.
Kohl said the strangulation law, like the drunken driving law, gives more options to the courts.
Wisconsin Act 111 makes harsher penalties for people convicted of repeated drunken driving.
A person convicted of fifth-offense drunken driving faces up to six years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. Fifth-offense drunken driving is a felony.
However, in the past, all subsequent arrests for drunken driving remained as a class H felony and the penalties remained the same. For example, someone convicted of seventh-offense drunken driving faced the same penalty as a person convicted of fifth-offense drunken driving.
As of April 2, the classification and penalties increase for drunken driving convictions.
Sixth offense drunken driving remains a class H felony. Seventh, eighth- and ninth-offense drunken driving now are class G felonies, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.
People who are arrested for tenth-offense or subsequent offenses of drunken driving, will now face a class F penalty. They could spend up to 15 years in jail and face up to $25,000 in fines.
In Green County in 2007, there were three cases in which drivers were charged with a fifth or greater offense for drunken driving. So far this year, there has been one.
Green County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Kohl said the new rules give courts more options.
"The court can put people in jail to keep them off the streets," Kohl said. "It becomes obvious that deterrence and rehabilitation isn't working."
The state is starting to get tougher on drunken driving, Kohl said.
Another act by the state, which goes into effect Friday, creates a new crime for strangulation.
The crime will be charged to anyone who impedes normal breathing and blood circulation by applying pressure to the neck or blocking the nose or mouth of another person.
First offenders will be charged with a class H felony. Repeat offenders will be charged with a class G felony.
The act also extends the legal definition of "bodily harm" to actions that result in a "small, colored spot that appears on the skin, eye, eyelid or mucous membrane of a person" due to ruptured blood vessels.
Kohl said some injuries caused by strangulation don't always show up immediately. A person who has been strangled for a short time could have a stroke a few months later.
Kohl said the strangulation law, like the drunken driving law, gives more options to the courts.