The Gableman Mirage on Crime and Punishment
In early debates and speeches, Michael Gableman has continually suggested that he has gone toe to toe with arsonists and other criminals. It has been very clear that Gableman and his corporate supporters are trying to make him into a crime fighting super hero. Even though the high court does not exist to lock up criminals, they are using this tactic because it has worked for them in the past. With that being said, the image that they are painting of Gableman is not accurate. It seems that Michael Gableman is prone to exaggerating about his record and padding his resume.
The first ad supporting Gableman was from the Club for Growth. It is the same type of ad that the corporate interests used last year to drown out the ethical problems of Annette Ziegler. Although the ad is by Club for Growth it sounds like it came right out of Michael Gableman’s stump speech. The ad says that he has ‘gone toe to toe with the arsonists, sexual predators, domestic abusers and white-collar criminals who belong in jail.’ Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express is reporting this week, that after an exhaustive search of online records Gableman’s record does not match his tough rhetoric.
Although Gableman and his backers tout his prowess at prosecuting Burnett County arsonists, Wisconsin’s Consolidated Court Automation Program (CCAP) shows that Gableman only prosecuted one arson case and lost it. Further CCAP only lists 9 felony cases citing Gableman as the prosecutor. These 9 cases resulted in 6 jury trials because some involved the same defendant and were tried together. Regarding these handful of cases, the Shepherd Express reports the following:
These felony cases involved charges such as witness intimidation, sexual assault of a child, robbery, arson, substantial battery and felony child abuse. Gableman only managed to win two of those six trials’a theft from business and a sexual assault of a child case. Five years after winning the sexual assault case, the matter was dismissed on appeal to a higher court.
So according to CCAP records Michael Gableman has successfully prosecuted only one felony case. Apparently there are two different records for Gableman as a prosecutor, one that is largely a mirage in a slick ad campaign, and another that is the rather pathetic reality.
(another media outlet reached similar conclusions about Gableman’s record)