The recent story of John Tate and the Wisconsin Parole Commission’s decision to let a 54-year-old murderer go free after serving 20 years was very concerning.

Douglas Balsewicz, 54, was due to be released on May 17 for the 1997 murder of his wife, Johanna Rose. He was sentenced by the Milwaukee County Circuit Court to 80 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years were served.

The details of the murder are horrific, with Balsewicz having been accused of stabbing his wife dozens of times while their young children were in the house.

The children were later found covered in their mother’s blood.

According to information released by the Wisconsin Parole Commission, Balsewicz became eligible for parole in 2017, but was denied parole on four previous occasions.

Tate, who is chair of the parole commission and serves as president of the Racine City Council, approved Balsewicz’s fifth request on April 27.

That’s sparked controversy, both from the family of Johanna Rose who want to see Balsewicz spend more time behind bars and then ultimately from Gov. Tony Evers, who was the one who appointed Tate to the committee and expressed his concern after meeting with the family.

In opposition to the early release, Evers wrote, “I do not agree with this decision, and I have considerable concerns regarding whether Johanna’s family was afforded sufficient opportunity to voice their memories, perspectives, and concerns before this decision was made.”

Tate later said in an email to The Associated Press and the Department of Corrections that he understands the governor’s concerns about the lack of victim input and that he was rescinding Douglas Balsewicz’s parole.

We are still left with questions after all this.

Why didn’t the family have sufficient opportunity to voice their concerns before this decision was made?

Why was the commission planning to release Balsewicz in the first place? The commission explained to be granted parole, five matters must be considered: conduct while incarcerated, programming, risk reduction, and time served.

According to the Wisconsin Parole Commission, “Balsewicz has sustained acceptable institution conduct, with no major conduct reports, and the last minor conduct report was from 2016.”

That explanation is not good enough. Likewise the way that Tate quickly changed his mind after Evers’ letter also brings up questions.

Even though there are only a limited number of people behind bars who could get early release — those incarcerated before Truth in Sentencing — families, victims and the public deserve to better understand how these early release decisions are being made.