Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 28
Appoint a commission to find successor for Prosser
With the retirement of state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, Gov. Scott Walker has an opportunity to set an example for how justices are selected for Wisconsin’s highest court. He should seize it.
Instead of doing what governors of both parties have done for years - picking a loyal party member - Walker should name a bipartisan commission, perhaps with the help of the state bar association, that could vet worthy applicants and present a slate of highly qualified candidates from which the governor could choose.
The commission should consist primarily of distinguished jurists whose primary interest would be selecting the best person for the bench. Judicial experience and sound judgment should be the measuring sticks, not what the candidate has done for a party.
The commission should keep in mind the partisan nature of state politics and the fact that Republicans now control all three branches of state government. It should identify candidates who come as close as possible to the nonpartisan ideal.
Sixteen states use a system akin to the so-called Missouri Plan or merit plan to select their supreme court justices. Under the plan, first adopted in Missouri in 1940, a nonpartisan commission reviews candidates for a judicial vacancy. The commission then sends to the governor a list of candidates considered best qualified. The governor then has 60 days to select a candidate from the list. If the governor does not make a selection within 60 days, the commission makes the selection.
Such a move by Walker would be a big step toward removing the court from the political games and big money that has tainted Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections.
Over the long term, it’s a plan the state should consider adopting. But the governor doesn’t have to wait for a constitutional amendment. The constitution stipulates that the governor name a successor. It doesn’t say how.
We thank state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser for his years of public service; he leaves the bench July 31. Walker should use his retirement to set an example that would in the long term benefit the state and the court by naming a nonpartisan commission to offer him the best candidates rather than the most loyal candidates.
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The Journal Times of Racine, May 1
Wisconsin must get tougher on drunken drivers
How many times are we willing to tolerate someone getting caught driving drunk before we charge them with a felony?
The answer, for the moment in Wisconsin, is four times. We’d like to see that number reduced further.
Until April 25 , fourth offenses of operating while intoxicated were counted as felonies only if they were committed within five years of the previous offense. Under Senate Bill 455, signed on that date by Gov. Scott Walker, all fourth offenses will be felonies, punishable by up to six years in prison.
“Our hope is this will prevent any number of deaths in the State of Wisconsin,” Walker said at a ceremony in the state Capitol.
We hope so too, Governor.
Here in the Badger State, we must do more to reconcile our drinking culture with the need to keep drunken drivers off our roads.
We know, in the cold light of sobriety, that a car traveling at a high rate of speed can turn into a deadly weapon, intentional or otherwise. A vehicle operated by a drunken driver is even more deadly, and the impairment makes that driver even less aware of the seriousness of the situation.
We’d like to see tougher penalties for second offenders when it comes to OWI. A person not sufficiently humiliated and chastened by a first-offense conviction, we would argue, is going to need more than a $350 fine and five days in jail - the minimum penalties in Wisconsin for an OWI second offense - to be persuaded to never drive drunk again.
Of course, what should be obvious in the law change making a fourth offense a felony is that a third offense is not a felony.
We think reasonable people will agree that a person who has been convicted of drunken driving three times has a problem, and is a danger to themselves and their community.
We’re hoping the governor’s signature will be followed by a period of study by the state Department of Transportation, to see if the tougher fourth-offense law reduces the number of fourth offenses, and third offenses for that matter.
If after a period of say, three years, there has not been a reduction in fourth-offense convictions - which would suggest that the law signed April 25 has not been a sufficient deterrent - we would welcome legislation making a third offense a felony.
Because Wisconsin isn’t nearly tough enough on those who get behind the wheel when they’re drunk.
Wisconsin is the only state in the nation where a first drunk driving offense is not a crime; it’s a citation.
Ask the family on Victory Avenue in Racine’s Rubberville - whose home was set ablaze April 16 when a suspected drunken driver crashed her car into it - if a citation seems like sufficient punishment.
Alcohol-related crashes killed 162 people in Wisconsin and injured nearly 2,700 in 2014, the state DOT reports.
Just as troubling: There were more than 24,000 convictions for drunken driving offenses in Wisconsin in 2014.
We need to do a better job of persuading people who would drive drunk from getting behind the wheel. Because in Wisconsin, we seem to have a problem with it.
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Appleton Post-Crescent, April 30
Transparency is not negotiable for police
Neenah police and the Wisconsin Department of Justice should have released the videos the day after police shot a hostage behind Eagle Nation Cycles.
It’s that simple.
Police and the Department of Justice are violating best practices in dealing with the public, and the secrecy has to stop.
Mistrust of police is coming to a head in this country, yet police officials and the departments that protect them keep screwing it up again and again. The Neenah police shooting is no exception.
USA Today Network-Wisconsin obtained a dash cam video of police shooting and killing Michael L. Funk on Dec. 5 without warning him to drop the gun he pulled to defend himself against the hostage-taker. Police and the Department of Justice to this day have refused to release videos of the shooting despite our open records requests. The Department of Justice has not released a report on its investigation of the shooting that happened almost five months ago.
It didn’t have to be this way.
In Sumner County in Tennessee in early April, police released a body cam video the day after an officer shot a woman who attacked a sheriff’s deputy with an ax.
In Clarke County in Georgia this past week, police released a body cam video the day after an officer shot a man he was questioning about a liquor violation.
In Tucson, Arizona, police in April released a body cam video of an officer shooting a man who pulled out a weapon. The shooting happened in March.
In Glendale, Ohio, on April 12, police released a body cam video of an officer shooting a man who was begging to be killed. The shooting happened March 29.
A study called Guiding Principles on Use of Force from the Police Executive Research Forum says this: “Agencies that experience an officer-involved shooting or other serious use-of force incident should release as much information as possible to the public, as quickly as possible, acknowledging that the information is preliminary and may change as more details unfold.”
The report emphasizes that trust in police is strengthened when videos are released. We give police the power to take lives. With that we rightfully demand complete accountability.
Yet we’re still waiting for the Neenah videos from law enforcement.
Brad Schimel, Wisconsin’s attorney general, has been a strong advocate for transparency. Somehow, the state’s police agencies, including his own, haven’t gotten the message.
As of Friday morning, there were nearly 500 comments on our website and Facebook page about the video, and a vast majority of them are highly critical.
The Neenah Police Department blew it. But other departments in Wisconsin can do the right thing in the future.
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