Court Opinion

ID: 9742705
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:18:28.061292+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:33.888869
License: Public Domain

Dieterich, J.
(dissenting). I disagree with the majority opinion that the legislature intended that the punishment of a misdemeanor, when the sentence is for one year, may in the discretion of the court be served in either the state prison or in the county jail.
There is no need to look behind the words of applicable statutes for legislative intent where such statutes are, as here, clear and unambiguous. “A crime punishable by imprisonment in the state prison is a felony. Every other crime is a misdemeanor.” Sec. 939.60, Stats. The majority opinion states that this definition distinguishes felonies from misdemeanors on the basis of punishability, but does not necessarily control or determine the place where the actual confinement is to be served. The majority opinion continues by saying that “a felony carries the potential of imprisonment in prison.” With this I agree, however, it should also be stated as a corollary that a misdemeanor does not carry the potential of imprisonment in the state prison.1 The only *175exceptions to this corollary are those grounded in public policy, which are enumerated in sec. 959.045.2
Defendant was convicted for issuing a worthless check under sec. 943.24, Stats., which provides that such crime is a misdemeanor. Punishment is by fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment of not more than one year or both. The place of imprisonment is not given, nor need it be. By definition a misdemeanor is not punishable by imprisonment in a state prison. Under the Wisconsin statutes the place of imprisonment is implicit in the word “misdemeanor.” It is not necessary to read sec. 959.044 3 together with other sections of the Criminal Code in order to determine where the defendant should serve his term where the crime is labeled a misdemeanor. Defendant does not fall within one of the specific exceptions provided by the legislature in sec. 959.045. Therefore, his sentence cannot be served in a state prison.

 “53.01 Names of prisons. The penitentiary at Waupun is named ‘Wisconsin State Prison,’ the medium security penitentiary near Fox Lake is named ‘Wisconsin Correctional Institution,’ the penitentiary at Taycheedah is named ‘Wisconsin Home for Women,’ the penitentiary at Green Bay is named ‘Wisconsin State Reformatory.’ The institutions named in this section are state prisons.”

 “959.045 Sentence and commitment. (1) Male persons not less than sixteen nor more than thirty years of age may be sentenced to the Wisconsin state reformatory if convicted of a felony (other than murder in the first or second degree) or a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail or house of correction for one year or more. . . .
“(4) A female person over eighteen years of age convicted of a misdemeanor for which the maximum penalty is imprisonment for six months or more may be sentenced to a term not less than six months in the Wisconsin home for women instead of the county jail if the department certifies to the court that it has adequate facilities at said home and is willing to accept such commitment.”

 “959.044 . . . (b) a sentence of more than one year shall be to the state prison and the minimum under the indeterminate-sentence law shall be one year, and (c) a sentence of one year may be to either the state prison or the county jail. . . .”