Justice System

Here We Go Again: Judicial Misconduct II

Earlier this year marked the first time that a sitting Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice was disciplined by her own colleagues on the court. Now, only months after Annette Ziegler received a reprimand, the state Judicial Commission has filed a complaint against Michael Gableman, the empty suit that WMC helped install on the high court in April. […]

Sleaze Carriers or Sleaze Enablers?

On Sunday the Wisconsin State Journal reported that Wisconsin’€™s largest lobbying organization, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) may be rethinking the tone of their infamous political ads. Who could ever forget the sleazy and misleading ads that they have run, most notably in their state Supreme Court efforts to install empty suit Michael Gableman while […]

$900,000 Worth of Sleaze and a Strangely Silent GOP

Less than a month after sending out a blustery press release complaining about an advertising purchase by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the Republican Party of Wisconsin is strangely silent now that the reliably inaccurate Coalition for American’€™s Families has reserved almost $900,000 for television ads on Eau Claire, La Crosse and Green Bay television. […]

Coalition for America’s Families: $900,000, RPW Criticisms 0

MILWAUKEE — Less than a month after a blustery press release complaining about an advertising purchase by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the Republican Party of Wisconsin is strangely silent now that the reliably inaccurate Coalition for American’s Families has reserved almost $900,000 for television ads on Eau Claire, La Crosse and Green Bay television. […]

Fact Free Farrow Perfect Palin Puppet

How comical is that the Wisconsin representative to the so-called ‘€œPalin Truth Squad’€ is Margaret Farrow? The ‘€œSquad’€ presumably will criticize anyone who brings up Sarah Palin’€™s ethics scandal, truth bending, right-wing extremism and revisionist history. Or those who point out that Palin refuses to talk to reporters and won’€™t answer questions. This is a […]

The Time for an Intervention is Now

The staff and leadership of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) have proven that they are drunk with partisanship. The only hope is for both the rank and file and higher profile members to have a long overdue intervention. The long list of events over the last several months should finally inspire the legitimate business interests […]

Gableman and Ziegler… Sitting on the SC… Not R-e-c-u-s-i-n-g

Pro-corporate soulmate Supremes Mike Gableman and Annette Ziegler get closer by the day. The latest revelation, Gableman’€™s going to pull a Ziegler and rule on cases where Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is involved ‘€“ despite WMC dumping nearly $2 million during his run to get on the high court. Ziegler earned front page headlines after […]

Another horrible idea from the inexhaustible genius, Frank Lasee

From the legislator who brought the great state of Wisconsin a plan to arm teachers with guns in an effort to curb school violence (you all remember his hilarious appearance on the Daily Show about 2 years ago’€¦), comes another idea worthy of all kinds of jokes and ridicule ‘€“ lifting a ban on drilling […]

The Church’s Abuse of the Law

The issue of religion in the United States has always been one the Supreme Court has been quick to avoid. We can hardly blame them; it’€™s perhaps the most contentious political topic this nation faces. However, it cannot continually be avoided, and so here in Wisconsin is a case involving a man named Gary Kazmarek. […]

WMC to Members: (Don’t) Read the Fine Print

WMC has launched a (multi-)million dollar fundraising campaign to its members to finance continued issue-based smear campaigns against progressives who don’€™t kow-tow to WMC’€™s pro-corporate, anti-worker agenda. We all know WMC has distorted the records of numerous public officials over the years, most notably in recent efforts to get the ethically-challenged Mike Gableman and Annette Ziegler […]

What’s the Difference?

My pal Bill Kraus at Common Cause in Wisconsin decided to take a poke at OWN yesterday on the FightingBob.com blog for our efforts advancing progressive values, ideas and policies to ensure a Wisconsin with equal economic opportunity for all. Bill has a long and admirable career of doing what he thinks is best to make […]

Who Hit the Mute Button on Gableman?

On Thursday One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint against Michael Gableman with the state Office of Lawyer Regulation. The complaint centers around dozens of telephone calls that Gableman made as the Ashland County District Attorney, using state phones. These calls were made to Republican operatives, fundraisers, campaigns and even the Republican Party itself. The calls […]

WMC Got What it Paid For, We Get the Shaft

In a 4-3 decision the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled against the State of Wisconsin in the Department of Revenue v. Menasha Corporation case. Of all people, ethically challenged Justice Annette Ziegler wrote the majority opinion. Last year hundreds of Wisconsinites called for her to recuse herself from the case because it was a major priority […]

Gableman Has Serious Questions to Answer

After asking three separate law enforcement agencies and the Government Accountability Board to investigate questionable calls made by then-Ashland County District Attorney Michael Gableman, One Wisconsin Now has filed a complaint with the state Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR). Months ago, One Wisconsin Now discovered that Michael Gableman made many questionable calls, when he was […]

On the Highway to Helms

United State Senator Jesse Helms (R-What’s Wrong With You Sick, Frothing Morons?) is finally dead. Happy birthday, U.S. of A. Helms was a hate-slathered cretin, whose campaigns and governing showed American democracy at its worst. “White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, […]

Van Hollens Legislation Part 1

Judicial Activism is both praised and criticized, as it often divides the court„ but it has without question produced valuable results over issues that were controversial at some time, such as Brown v. Board of Education, a critical case that brought an end to segregation during the 1950s. This judicial activism is defined as ‘€œan […]

Supreme Court Piece Gets Revealing Angry Response from Bigot

The following text (in two e-mails) below was received from timkisting@aol.com, commenting on a brief analysis (SC Decision Striking Down Gun Control Is Fine with This Progressive) on the Supreme Court decision, District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), that was picked up in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on Sunday. Well, let’s hope this guy, timkisting@aol.com, doesn’t […]

Capital Times Calls for Ziegler Recall

Earlier this week the Capital Times newspaper called for the recall of ethically challenged Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler. They point to her blatant violations of very clear conflicts of interest rules prior to taking her seat on the high court. Her serious and repeated violations of judicial ethics rules are not the only reason […]

Supreme Court Denies Noesen Appeal

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has denied pharmacist Neil Noesen’s petition for review of the 3rd District Court of Appeals decision upholding the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board’s (PEB) reprimand. Noesen, the state-licensed pharmacist who refused to fill or transfer a woman’s birth control prescription in Menomonie in 2002, was disciplined by the PEB in 2005 for […]

Never Too Early for Special Interest Cash

Shortly after Annette Ziegler was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court she closed her campaign committee and took her seat on the high court. Not so for the latest Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) empty suit Michael Gableman. He has started campaign fundraising some 10 years early. He is scheduled to have a fundraiser in […]

McCain to follow Gableman’s low road?

John McCain’s campaign is loooking at the recent campaign of Michael Gableman for Supreme Court as a possible route to winning Wisconsin in November. What’s wrong with that? Gretchen Schuldt nails it: Gableman’s disgusting campaign focused on racial fear-mongering. How low will McCain go?

When in Doubt, Hand Out a Gun

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has had a rough couple of weeks recently. First he and his partisan hires have been waging a war on the professionals in the Department of Justice. Van Hollen has demoted some of the most respected law enforcement officers in the nation while at the same time actually driving […]

Deceptive Column Writing 101

Once again John Torinus has written a column trying his best to minimize the serious violations of Justice Annette Ziegler. Like Ziegler, Torinus is willfully ignoring many factors in the unprecedented decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to discipline one of their own. Once again he fails to inform readers of his own conflict while […]

Van Hollen Helps Run Out the Clock

Several months ago One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint with the new Government Accountability Board regarding Supreme Court Justice Elect-Michael Gableman. At the center of the issue are what appear to be political calls that he made from a state phone when he was the Ashland County District Attorney. Calls were made to Republican fundraisers, […]

The Pill Kills?

It is no secret that anti-choice groups have long used radical tactics to oppose abortion. This year, we saw young children outfitted in “I survived the American Holocaust” tee shirts in legislative hearings in the Wisconsin capitol. Last July, we watched in horror as a group of “pro-lifers” staged, in front of a Milwaukee abortion […]

A Preview of WMCs Corporate Court?

In an editorial today the Tomah Journal highlights a case that came before the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week. The case involved the family of a three-year-old boy suffering from brain cancer and a large HMO. The same day that the court slapped fellow Justice Annette Ziegler on the wrist for her willful violation of […]

Cause for Concern on the High Court

On Wednesday the State Supreme Court issued its ruling in the disciplinary case against Justice Annette Ziegler. The matter has been a dubious first in the history of the high court. As expected, Ziegler’€™s colleagues took the recommendation of the Judicial Commission and the Judicial Conduct Panel and gave her a public reprimand, which was […]

Running Out the Clock for Gableman?

In April One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint against Burnett County Judge Michael Gableman with the new Government Accountability Board (GAB). The complaint centered on what appear to be political fundraising phone calls that he made from the Ashland County District Attorney’€™s office. These troubling actions took place at the same time that the caucus […]

Bush Agenda Finds Loyal Follower in McSame

MILWAUKEE — Senator John McCain has been a rubber stamp in the U.S. Senate for the failed agenda of George W. Bush. That’s the message behind the Stamporee event One Wisconsin Now (OWN) is holding outside the Wisconsin Republican Convention in Stevens Point today. “Whenever Bush has needed another rubber stamp in the U.S. Senate […]

They Said it Wouldn’t Happen

Although Wisconsinites passed the ‘€œmarriage amendment’€ in 2006, polls at the time showed that they were supportive of domestic partnerships and civil unions. Advocates warned that the amendment would endanger both. Supporters of the amendment disingenuously claimed that it was only an effort to legally define marriage and not one to kill domestic partnership benefits […]

Nuns unable to vote in Indiana

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling that Indiana’s voter ID law is constitutional, about 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place because they didn’t have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.  Another person who attempted to vote with a federal ID card was turned away because the card […]

Public Records are Not Created Equally

On Friday, the Wisconsin State Journal fawned over Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in an editorial. It was about a recent opinion that he issued regarding open records on traffic accidents and crime in local communities. While the paper praised Van Hollen for sending a ‘€œstrong signal’€ it would have been nice if they also […]

America Votes Statement on Indiana Supreme Court Ruling

America Votes Statement on Indiana Supreme Court Ruling The voice of every American citizen needs to be heard at the voting booth. It should be easier— not more difficult— for Americans to cast their ballots. This is why the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding Indiana’s law requiring voters to present government identification is so deeply disturbing. […]

Unconstitutional Solution in Search of a Problem

On Monday the Supreme Court upheld Indiana’€™s strict voter ID law. The most direct and accurate analysis of this decision was by Representative Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee). She said that the decision was ‘€œan unconstitutional solution in search of a problem.’€ This is such a good statement because it is accurate and gets directly to the […]

The implications of Crawford v. Marion County (the Indiana voter ID law)

In Wisconsin, approximately half of the African-American population does not have driver’s licenses, and at least 123,000 people were found to have no form of state-issued photo ID in 2005. And 33% of Wisconsin’s DMV offices, where one theoretically could register to vote, are open less than 4 days a month. Lucky for us, though, […]

Paying for elections

There has been some discussion in the news regarding the electoral process and a futile attempt by the Wisconsin State Senate to reform it. Several bills were sent to the Assembly to reform such things as the State Supreme Court races and fund raising. These were all conveniently dropped into committee to die by the […]

A Hands Off Approach to Discrimination?

On Wednesday Democrats and some Republicans in Congress tried to pass a discrimination bill. It would have allowed employees more time to sue if they were being discriminated against in pay. The bipartisan effort was unsuccessful because of an almost exclusively Republican filibuster. Even if the measure would have passed, it would have also faced […]

The One Good Result

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) successfully bought a corporate majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court this week. They accomplished their goal in the most dishonest and deceptive of ways, churning out a nonstop flow of deceptive ads. They were successful at kicking out one of the most brilliant minds and first ever African American on […]

Now he tells us: Sykes agrees Gableman ’embarrassing’ candidate

Even Charlie Sykes, who has no shame, is embarrassed — not by the kind of campaign that WMC and Mike Gableman ran, but by the candidate. He posts this comment from someone he calls a “savvy listener”: Shame on conservatives from letting 2006 hangover result in putting up such a completely lame slate of candidates. […]

Have you no sense of decency, Charlie?

“Have you no sense of decency, sir?” Said more than 50 years ago by Joseph Welch in the famed Army-McCarthy hearing, the phrase should be directed this Wednesday morning to Charlie Sykes, the WTMJ radio talk nut. Justice Louis Butler was unseated by a narrow margin from the State Supreme Court in voting yesterday and […]

Where’s the Outrage Journal Sentinel?

Exactly one year ago, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel thundered with rage at Linda Clifford. The Supreme Court candidate had the temerity to use the name of the might Journal Communications newspaper’s name in an autocall going to potential supporters that referenced, well, the Journal Sentinel’s endorsement of her. In virtually the last seconds of the […]

Vulture Fund’ Kingpin Gets $40,000 in Late Cash to Gableman

Paul Singer has come to Wisconsin in the form of $40,000 in late contributions to Judge Mike Gableman from himself, an executive at his company and couple of people with Singer’€™s same last name. Singer is the slug who’€™s made his money by operating so-called ‘€œvulture’€ funds, where he purchased government bonds from poor counties […]

Justice Appointments Better Left to the Pros

Direct democracy is a necessity in this country. Being able to vote in open, free elections is important and everyone should have a voice to decide who works in their government. However sometimes appointments should be left to the governor and not to the voice of the Wisconsin voter.Such is the case in the current […]

Welcome to Fantasy Island: 501 E Washington

Over the weekend the Associated Press ran a story pointing out the striking similarities of the current fight for Wisconsin’€™s Supreme Court and a new John Grisham novel, The Appeal. I have not read the book but just hearing some of the details, it seems like someone at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) got an […]

Murder Case Went Nowhere with Tough Talking Gableman

Honestly, is this some kind of a sick joke? The guy that has been running around the state claiming to be tough on crime sat on a murder case for two years or more? Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Bice has revealed the details of a homicide case while Michael Gableman was Ashland County District […]