Criminal Justice
Fox Valley law enforcement favor red-flag law
Attorney General Josh Kaul has taken the issue of Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws out of the State Capitol and to communities around the state. Tuesday, he was at the Appleton Police Department with area mayors and law enforcement who support passing legislation that would allow law enforcement officers and family to take firearms […]
Immigration activists push Milwaukee to clarify policy
Momentum continued to build in Milwaukee as immigration activists flooded City Hall on Thursday for a third time in two consecutive weeks. Dozens of community members marched and chanted through the halls before entering a Fire and Police Commission meeting, calling on officials to protect immigrant families. The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission’s scheduled vote […]
Why are private prisons controversial?
Editor’s note: Private prisons have long stirred controversy, most recently over their role in housing undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Several states have banned them, several banks have vowed to stop financing them and more than one presidential candidate has pledged to end them at the federal level. John M. Eason, associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has done […]
Family left “haunted” after father was taken by ICE
Milwaukee’s City Hall was charged with raw emotion last week as community members packed in, shoulder-to-shoulder, to support a family whose loved one had been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Holding signs reading, “following orders is not an excuse,” “never again is now” and “close the camps, shut down ICE,” they demanded action […]
Will Wisconsin tourists flock to Illinois to buy pot?
Wisconsin residents soon won’t have to go far to legally consume marijuana. A store that will sell cannabis less than one mile across the Wisconsin state line into Illinois got approved last Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported. The company plans to begin construction soon. The article, ‘Can Illinois draw marijuana tourists from out of state? […]
Arrest video fuels outrage over Milwaukee Police helping ICE
The Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) has become embroiled in controversy after its officers were filmed assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the arrest of a local man. While getting ready to go to school outside their home, Jose Alejandro (Alex) de la Cruz-Espinosa was removed from his car and arrested as his wife […]
Milwaukee voting rights bill backed by County Board
Resolution to restore voting rights to people on probation and parole is being backed unanimously by Milwaukee County, supporting a state bill in draft.
Is the Wauwatosa Police Department working with ICE?
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin recently discovered a partnership between the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But is Waukesha truly the only department cooperating with the federal immigration agency? The Wauwatosa Police Department (WPD) may also have formed an alliance with the deportation force. Authorized for just […]
Milwaukee eyes opioid settlement
Although news of an impending settlement with Purdue Pharma for helping fuel the opioid crisis sounds encouraging, things aren’t so simple. The hundreds of cities, towns and counties involved in opioid cases are now entering a negotiation process with the besieged pharmaceutical giant that makes OxyContin. “The court entered an order naming Milwaukee County one […]
‘Our kids are at risk every single day’
At a rally for common-sense gun laws on the steps of the Capitol,by the Wisconsin Coalition for Gun Safety, Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) urged a crowd of about 150 people to support universal background checks and other measures to stem gun violence. Instead of progress on gun safety, “what I’ve mostly seen in this building […]
Milwaukee County tackles restoring voting rights to ex-offenders
Milwaukee County Supervisors Sequanna Taylor is proposing a resolution to restore and protect the voting rights of people on parole or probation. Nearly 65,000 people in Wisconsin are denied the right to vote after they have served time and paid their debt to society, Taylor explained, because they are still “on paper.” “When a person […]
AG Kaul: Settlement with Oxycontin maker fails to provide justice
On Wednesday, Purdue Pharma moved to tentatively settle with 23 states, as well as thousands of local governments and Native American tribes, all of which have blamed the company for playing a key role in the nation’s opioid addiction crisis. Purdue is the manufacturer of Oxycontin. Owned by the Sackler family, Purdue has been fighting […]