http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/category_rss/criminaljustice The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that a man has been charged for registering to vote and trying to register others after being convicted of a felony. While this specific case may not directly apply, it does bring up some very important questions that we should be asking ourselves. In Wisconsin convicted felons are not allowed to vote until after they have completed the terms of their sentence. That could mean a prison term in addition to a long extended period of supervision. Convicted felons often have to serve very long periods of probation and/or parole after they leave prison. One of the major goals of this supervision is that they become productive and fully integrate back into society. Exactly how are they supposed to do that if they are barred from voting, one of the most basic rights/responsibilities that we have as citizens? Many of them hold down jobs, pay taxes, provide for their families but still Wisconsin law refuses their right to vote. According to an ACLU study , 62,324 people with felony convictions in Wisconsin are not allowed to vote; however, 61% of these people are no longer incarcerated. By not allowing them to vote, we are hindering their ability to reinstate themselves as active members of the community. According to Senator Russ Feingold , “…the more doors we close on people trying to rejoin society, the more likely it is we will drive them back to the behaviors we want them to leave behind.” Wisconsin ’s felony disfranchisement laws are more severe than those of several of its neighboring states. Michigan , Illinois , Indiana and Ohio all automatically restore voting rights upon release from incarceration. Disenfranchisement in Wisconsin also disproportionately affects African American males and other minority populations. The ACLU study found that one out of nine African Americans males are disenfranchised because of Wisconsin ’s ex-offender laws. This statistic places Wisconsin 11th in the nation for the disenfranchisement of African American voters. This is obviously unacceptable and some might even call it Jim Crow, Wisconsin style. It is a disgrace and the current law should be changed. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVB http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVB/commentary#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:07:11 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVB Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVB/ Wispolitics.com reported that the as-yet-unfrogmarched Karl Rove, apologized to Wisconsin's delegates at a Republican National Convention event this morning for "getting weepy." He wasn't crying to atone to God and man for being the hack architect for this god awful endless war in Iraq that has caused so many deaths and so much misery. And it wasn't because he violated the law by compromising the security of an undercover CIA agent to punish her husband. And it wasn't for debasing our national discourse with his slash-and-burn character assassination brand of politics. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/scotross/CHBF http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/scotross/CHBF/commentary#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:15:07 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/scotross/CHBF Scot @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/b15bea43ee26199f1d_l7awmvb5t.jpg Scot @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHBF/ The phantom southside Milwaukee candidate for state assembly, José Guzmán, is at last revealing himself contending with his recruitment by the political operative, Tom Reynolds, the notorious former state senator known for his anti-Catholic views and often bizarre political behavior . After weeks of silence, Guzmán is meeting criticism of his campaign by finally speaking to the press, and accusing one of his opponents, incumbent Democratic State Rep. Pedro Colón (Eighth Assembly District, Milwaukee), of being "anti-catholic" for his vote for the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill, signed into law by Gov. Doyle in March. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/michaelleon/CHBv http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/michaelleon/CHBv/commentary#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:48:18 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/michaelleon/CHBv User from Madison, WI User from Madison, WI 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHBv/ The bureaucratic mind never ceases to amaze. The Department of Corrections has decided it is just too risky to allow a non-profit, in-state group to send free books to inmates in Wisconsin prisons. Citing security concerns that the books somehow might contain contraband, Corrections has informed Wisconsin Books to Prisoners that it will no longer allow the group to send books to prisoners. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/CHMy http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/CHMy/commentary#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:05:39 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/CHMy Xoff Xoff 1 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHMy/ Marquette Professor John McAdams might be too busy silencing speech to comment, but two more studies have determined that Wisconsin leads the nation in yet another dubious category. The studies found that African Americans in Wisconsin are 42 times more likely than whites to receive prison terms for drug convictions. The stat is the highest racial disparity in drug sentencing in the nation. The studies also found that the City of Milwaukee has the second-highest racial disparity for drug arrests among all major U.S. cities. The new national studies largely validate an analysis done by the Wisconsin Sentencing Commission last year. At that time, by “creative” use of numbers, John McAdams was able to crow bar his preconceived notions into the data. It was his confused attempt to belittle what are clear disparities in our criminal justice system. When he finally finishes his crusade against a comedian, McAdams will likely turn his biased analysis back to why these racial disparities are no big deal. While he is in the mood to censor stuff, that would be one presentation that I would like to nominate. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2Pm http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2Pm/commentary#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 15:33:57 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2Pm Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 3 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Pm/ The resident's of the A.O. Smith/Tower Automotive neighborhood and everyone who feels personally connected to the site have decided it is time they build a united front for change in their neighborhood. They are researching Community Advisory Board models around the country with the hopes of creating their own board here in Milwaukee. The board will not be a 501c3, will be autonomous from any funding strings and will speak directly to the needs and the political concerns of the residents. Residents who are interested in helping this effort should attend the next neighborhood meeting on May 10th, 2008 at the Center Street Library. (27th and Fond du Lac) at 10:15 AM. This meeting is open to anyone who cares about what is happening in our city and believes that residents should have the opportunity to compete for the jobs our money creates! http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jenniferlepps/C2P8 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jenniferlepps/C2P8/commentary#comments Mon, 05 May 2008 12:58:21 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jenniferlepps/C2P8 Jennifer Epps http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/e70f0a69f56dbd7c0d_7cm6beyip.jpg Jennifer Epps 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2P8/ 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, Wisconsin is one of 9 states currently practicing same-day registration, so that despite the fact that it's 33% likely you live by a DMV that's almost never open, you can still register to vote on Election Day. In the wake of the 2004 election, Indiana passed a voter ID law, citing the need to preserve electoral integrity and curb the rampant voter fraud that allegedly happens during presidential elections - despite the fact that several studies have shown this problem simply doesn't exist in Indiana, here in Wisconsin, or on a national level at all, for that matter. Several organizations representing historically disenfranchised groups - namely, African-Americans, senior citizens, and the working poor - challenged this law in the U.S. Supreme Court, saying that it unduly burdens a citizen's right to vote. You'd think the Supreme Court would reject an argument made by lawmakers that this legislation is necessary to protect democracy by targeting a problem that doesn't exist and disenfranchising thousands of people in the process. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/incogmito/C2Pr http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/incogmito/C2Pr/commentary#comments Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:36:35 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/incogmito/C2Pr Mitra http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/43bfaf4c01bdedb4a0_zvxmv2b2c.jpg Mitra 2 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Pr/ Imagine not 4,000+ Americans dead, but 150,000 American fatalities in the last five years. Thirty or more American deaths on the average day, week in and week out, with no end in sight. Would that be enough to arouse the citizenry, to demand an end to the killing and bloodshed? You'd think so. But the answer is no. The 4,000 US fatalities in Iraq pale beside the 150,000 Americans killed by firearms in this country over a five-year period. Read the rest here: http://www.uppitywis.org/the-invisible-toll-150000-us-dead-5-years http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/C2PB http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/C2PB/commentary#comments Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:02:05 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/C2PB Xoff Xoff 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2PB/ The non-profit Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP), in conjunction with Rainbow Bookstore (Madison), sends books, free of charge, to prisoners in Wisconsin and other states who request them. They need your help. Many prisons have antiquated, non-accessible, and, in some cases, non-existent library facilities. As a result, prisoners have little or no reading or educational material. WBTP tries to address this problem. WBTP currently gets about 30 requests a week and each package of 2-3 books costs on average about $3 to mail. During the past year, postage costs alone exceeded $3,000, and that's expected to double by the end of 2008. The project is facing a financial crisis and must raise funds for postage immediately; it has temporarily suspended sending books to out-of-state prisoners until it raises money for postage. Can you help? http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/C27m http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/C27m/commentary#comments Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:23:36 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/xoff/C27m Xoff Xoff 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C27m/ Yesterday a coalition of groups, including the Institute for One Wisconsin , formally launched an effort to restore voting rights to felons that have served their time in prison. Under current law, convicted felons can’t vote until after they are off probation. In some cases this disenfranchises people for decades even after they have already served their time in prison. Even though they work, pay taxes, and raise families in our community, they are barred from fully participating. Even though the goal is that they become productive members of society, our outdated law forbids them from taking part in the most fundamental responsibility that we have as citizens. The estimate is that some 40,000 people in Wisconsin are blocked from voting because of our current law. The Restore the Vote WI Coalition believes that felons who have served their time in prison should be able to vote immediately upon release into their communities as they do in some 15 other states including Illinois, Ohio and Indiana. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2ys http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2ys/commentary#comments Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:04:34 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2ys Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 2 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2ys/ 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. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C29k http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C29k/commentary#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:59:07 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C29k Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C29k/ Judges never forget their ambulance chasing days. They learn they have to be scoundrels to compete. It is part of a lawyers survival. Most lawyers are pretty boys or rich kids. Lets face it the average person thinks of making money to help the family etc. We all dream of college, but finances do not allow it. Only rich spoiled brats can make a career out of college or their dealers. I'm talking 8 to 10 years of college as a scoundrel does. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jerryperson/C24n http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jerryperson/C24n/commentary#comments Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:30:49 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jerryperson/C24n User from Ojibwa, WI User from Ojibwa, WI 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C24n/ 2008 PROPOSED BALLOT INITIATIVES Contact Person / Organization Jerry Person W 7942 Squires Rd Ojibwa, Wisconsin 54862 (715) 266-3125 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jerryperson/C24S http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jerryperson/C24S/commentary#comments Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:21:43 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/jerryperson/C24S User from Ojibwa, WI User from Ojibwa, WI 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C24S/ On Wednesday, February 27th, the Senate Health Committee heard testimony on SB 398, the Women's Health and Safety Act. The bill seeks to repeal Wisconsin statute 940.04 (Wisconsin's Criminal Abortion Ban), which, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, would outlaw nearly all forms of abortion in Wisconsin. Moreover, the law includes a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for doctors who perform an abortion and a woman could receive up to 3.5 years in prison for having an abortion or performing an abortion on herself. The law is currently unenforceable as the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade legalized abortions in all fifty states 35 years ago. However, if Roe fell, Wisconsin's Criminal Abortion Ban would immediately go into effect; local district attorneys could prosecute both women and doctors involved in the now-illegal procedure. Throughout the hearing, pro-choice advocates from organizations such as NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin and Planned Parenthood kept their testimonies to the point, focusing on the antiquated law passed in the 1840's and the importance of repealing it. The anti-choice speakers often focused on graphic imagery and rare circumstantial cases that were off topic and had little to do with the legislation at hand. Here are some of the facts presented by the pro-choice organizations. Last year, Bush's new Supreme Court upheld the Federal Abortion Ban in a 5-4 decision that sided against women's health, chipping away at one of the most basic principles of Roe. With this decision indicating a change in the federal court, it is only a matter of time before Roe v. Wade is overturned and the right to a legal safe abortion is back in the hands of our state government. The repeal of 940.04 is necessary before Roe is overturned, or women and doctors statewide will be facing criminal investigation for exercising the right to choose. At the hearing, pro-choice organizations and advocates focused on the criminalization of doctors and women under the current law for providing or accessing basic health care. They focused on the necessity of repealing a bill so antiquated that at the time of its passing in the 1840's, women weren't allowed to own property or vote. Abortion is a personal decision, not a criminal act. Medical decisions should be kept private, rather than promoting the next McCarthy era by making these decisions a matter of public investigation. The Women's Health and Safety Act is truly about keeping our prisons filled with real criminals, rather than criminals that were created by politicians looking to score political points. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/prochoicewisconsin/C24B http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/prochoicewisconsin/C24B/commentary#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:45:01 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/prochoicewisconsin/C24B NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/7615399716529c05a6_votmv2a9p.gif NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C24B/ Legislation is being held up by the Republican controlled Assembly, that would save taxpayers money, streamline election day procedures and enfranchise some 38,000 people, allowing them to vote in November. The bill would allow those that have been convicted of felonies to vote while they are still on parole or probation. Current Wisconsin law disenfranchises those citizens until they are totally “off paper.” African Americans comprise 39 percent of this group of people even though they only make up 5 percent of the state’s voting age population. One has to wonder about the Assembly Republicans real intentions in holding up such a bill. Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express reported this week that 16 states have changed their laws to allow released felons to vote since 1997. The Legislative Audit Bureau has reported that Wisconsin’s strict policy has prevented at least 1,537 people from voting even though they legally could vote in November 2006. Not only does our restrictive law lock out some of the wrong people, it also prevents the people that we want to reintegrate back into society from doing so fully. As State Rep. Joe Parisi (D-Madison) has said, “Our goal should be reintegration, not alienation.” http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2mz http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2mz/commentary#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:41:52 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/C2mz Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2mz/