Author: Wisconsin Examiner

Wisconsin faith leaders say that “loving your neighbor” means complying with COVID-19 safeguards

Wisconsin faith leaders say that “loving your neighbor” means complying with COVID-19 safeguards

Posted by | Nov 29, 2020 |

Some religious leaders have called measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus — including limits on crowd gatherings and mask requirements — an assault on their religious liberty. The Rev. Sonja Ingebritsen, a Madison pastor, strongly disagrees. “When Jesus is asked which of the commandments is most important, he answers, to love God with one’s whole being and to love one’s neighbor as oneself,” says Ingebritsen, pastor at the Community of Hope United Church of Christ in Madison. “Despite some of the rhetoric, religious liberty is not threatened by health mandates to limit indoor gatherings, require masks or...

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Attorney General Josh Kaul sues Wisconsin Legislature over unconstitutional lame duck constraints

Attorney General Josh Kaul sues Wisconsin Legislature over unconstitutional lame duck constraints

Posted by | Nov 29, 2020 |

Attorney General Josh Kaul and Governor Tony Evers are suing the Legislature for making it more difficult for them to do their jobs. The case is tied to the actions the Republican-controlled Legislature took during its 2018 lame duck session during which it got the working relationship off to a bad start by grabbing powers away from the governor and attorney general that the previous office holders, both Republicans, had enjoyed. The laws, Kaul stated, are a violation of constitutional separation of powers. Also at the core of the lawsuit, which includes the Department of Administration head Joel Brennan...

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Feeding the Hungry: Wisconsin food pantries view the holidays as just another day in a busy year

Feeding the Hungry: Wisconsin food pantries view the holidays as just another day in a busy year

Posted by | Nov 26, 2020 |

As the holiday season begins, Wisconsin’s food banks and pantries are working on sending turkeys and stuffing to families across the state, but Thanksgiving is just one out of 365 days in which these organizations work to put food on tables. This year that job has been even harder as they’ve had to completely rethink operations and deal with a number of obstacles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, even as the resulting economic fallout has increased families’ need for help. This year Second Harvest Food Bank, which serves hundreds of agencies across 16 counties, has seen demand go up...

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Billionaire megadoners who fought Wisconsin’s plans to contain pandemic get infected at White House

Billionaire megadoners who fought Wisconsin’s plans to contain pandemic get infected at White House

Posted by | Nov 15, 2020 |

Trump megadonors Liz and Dick Uihlein, owners of Uline shipping and outspoken opponents of COVID-19 prevention measures, have tested positive for the virus after attending an election night party at the White House. Earlier this year, Liz Uihlein called the pandemic “overhyped,” lobbied legislators to overturn the public health restrictions by Governor Tony Evers, and backed a petition to have the Governor removed from office. A rare and brief interview with The Guardian on April 23 introduced Uihlein by stating: “One of Donald Trump’s most fervent billionaire donors is lobbying against strict stay-at-home rules in the election battleground state...

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Garrity v. New Jersey: The 1967 Supreme Court decision linking Rodney King’s trial to probe of Joseph Mensah

Garrity v. New Jersey: The 1967 Supreme Court decision linking Rodney King’s trial to probe of Joseph Mensah

Posted by | Nov 13, 2020 |

Five Wauwatosa Police officers with important information about the scene of the 2016 police shooting of Jay Anderson were not interviewed as part of the independent investigation into the shooter, Officer Joseph Mensah. Those five officers were not questioned because the city’s police and fire commission (PFC) did not “authorize” Steven Biskupic — the former federal prosecutor assigned to investigate Mensah — to extend certain legal protections. Although the officers have participated in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s investigation into the incident and an internal affairs investigation, questions still remain about what happened at the scene on June 23,...

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Data-Mining during protests: Wisconsin courts consider legality of “trickle down surveillance”

Data-Mining during protests: Wisconsin courts consider legality of “trickle down surveillance”

Posted by | Nov 11, 2020 |

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court asked to consider a new legal frontier regarding police collection of cell data. The District III Court of Appeals has certified a case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court which explores the limits of law enforcement’s ability to download and access cell phone data. The case involves data which was downloaded from a man’s phone by the Green Bay Police Department and later viewed by Brown County Sheriff’s Office deputies in an unrelated case. Using the data originally obtained by Green Bay police, the Brown County sheriff was able to charge the man, George Burch, with first-degree...

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