Civil Rights & Immigration
Attorney General and lawmakers introduce gun control bills
Attorney General Josh Kaul joined state legislators to announce two new bills on gun control. One bill would expand background checks. The other aims to establish an extreme risk protection order system in the state. “You have heard about these bills before,” said Kaul during a press conference Thursday. “You know that the vast majority […]
Detective who labeled Wauwatosa Tosa mayor a “higher value target” is now sergeant
Recently, the Wisconsin Examiner learned that a detective who created a PowerPoint presentation which labeled Wauwatosa’s mayor as a “higher value target” was promoted after an internal investigation of the matter was completed. The PowerPoint, which was obtained through open records requests in January, shone a light on how police viewed those who supported protests […]
Poor People’s Campaign takes on Manchin on voting rights
The Poor People’s Campaign is taking on Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Manchin, whose support progressives finally won for a major voting rights bill, has joined Republicans in supporting restrictive voter ID measures and is a defender of the the filibuster, which could doom the very voting-rights bill he just agreed to join. Manchin is also […]
Immigration reform blocked from reconciliation bill in Congress, but Democrats vow to try again
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate parliamentarian has turned down a plan to include a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, a blow for Democrats and immigration advocacy groups when the decision was disclosed late Sunday. “We are deeply disappointed in this decision but the fight to provide […]
Riot bill’s penalties are as broad as they seem
A bill that would create a felony penalty for people who were part of a protest where rioting broke out appears to be as broad as it sounds. During a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, on Thursday, questions persisted as to who exactly the bill would apply to if […]
Sortwell hopes social media bills have uniting principles
When it comes to censorship on social media, Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers) hopes to find bipartisan ground to stand on. Recently, he introduced three bills which aim to both combat online censorship and provide new avenues for free-speech challenges. “Big tech has long been violating people’s free speech rights through deleting, censoring and shadow-banning […]
Moore Omokunde presses for bill to prevent police job-hopping
For Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde (D- Milwaukee), the legislative struggle to hold police accountable hits home. As a young man growing up in Milwaukee, he’d too found himself caught in the web of seemingly discriminatory traffic stops. To a certain degree, however, Moore Omokunde had a layer of protection in these encounters. “I’d be driving […]
Wisconsin joins the Enbridge Line 3 resistance
Across Wisconsin’s western border with Minnesota, Indigenous people and allies have united in months of resistance against the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline. For those who have traveled to the resistance camps, what’s at stake is clear. It’s a struggle not just against a defiant fossil fuel industry, but also against what some call “the Great […]
Safar takes the helm at Law Forward
Law Forward, Wisconsin’s nearly one-year-old public interest law firm, announced Thursday that it has hired its first full-time executive director, Nicole Safar. Safar helped lead Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin for many years, including as the group’s vice president of public affairs and legal advocacy, before leaving to serve as Gov. Tony Evers’ assistant deputy secretary […]
Billions of dollars in federal rental aid remains stalled in slow-moving states, localities
WASHINGTON — Make it simpler to apply for rental assistance money. Allow landlords to apply on behalf of unresponsive tenants. And consolidate two overlapping federal programs aimed at getting financial help to struggling renters. Those were among the proposals that U.S. House members weighed during a hearing Friday on how to better help states and localities […]
Inside the Google group police used to monitor 2020 protests
Last year, as the streets in towns across Wisconsin filled with marches against police violence, local law enforcement agencies established numerous ways of sharing updates and information on the protests. One response was the Milwaukee County Law Enforcement Executives COVID/Protest group, which became an online hub for local agencies monitoring the movements of protesters in […]
A fresh face for the Wisconsin Farmers Union
Eyes sparkling over a face mask decorated with little black-and-white cows, Vivienne Kerley-de la Cruz, the energetic new policy coordinator for the Wisconsin Farmers Union, slipped into a booth at Ancora coffee shop near the Capitol. Brand new in her job, which she started in June, Kerley-de la Cruz has a background in rural organizing […]