By Gretchen Schuldt Little progress was made this last legislative session to ease the state’s tough criminal justice laws, while Gov. Evers — who took office talking about reducing the prison population — signed several bills creating new crimes and harsher penalties. An oft-introduced bill that would have eased expungement rules and another bill that would have provided juveniles sentenced to life in prison with a chance at reduced sentences failed to get to the governor’s desk. The Legislature has no more floor periods scheduled until the next legislative session begins in January 2025 ..read more

By Margo Kirchner ​When John Remington takes his seat this month as Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, he will be the eighth new judge joining the court during the past 12 months.   And once newly elected Marisabel Cabrera takes her seat, about one-fifth of the judges on the court will have been appointed since June 2023. Cabrera’s term starts August 1.   For comparison, just one judge started on the court in all of 2022 and two in 2021.   “Is it unusual to have this many (new judges)? Yes, no question,” said Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Carl Ashley in an inter ..read more

Kate Hamilton Pier Kate H. Pier Caroline Hamilton Pier Harriet Hamilton Pier Images from the 1887 and 1891 University of Wisconsin Law School graduating class photographs. University of Wisconsin Law Library Digital Repository, Alumni Photos Collection. By Amy Rabideau Silvers   In the history of Wisconsin law, it’s safe to say there has never been anything quite like Kate Hamilton Pier and her daughters.   Their story began in the 19th century, decades before women won the right even to vote. Miss Kate Hamilton Pier, daughter of mother Kate Hamilton Pier, gra ..read more

​"Evers' judges" is our effort to present information about Gov. Tony Evers' appointees to the bench. The information is taken from the appointees' own judgeship applications.   Italics indicate direct quotes from the application.​ Typos, including punctuation errors, come from the original application even though we have not inserted “(sic)” after each one. WJI has left them as is. Name: John R. Remington   Appointed to: Milwaukee County Circuit Court   Appointment date: Feb. 15, 2024, effective May 3 (term ending July 31, 2025)   Education: Law School – Washington Univer ..read more

​"Evers' judges" is our effort to present information about Gov. Tony Evers' appointees to the bench. The information is taken from the appointees' own judgeship applications.   Italics indicate direct quotes from the application.​ Bold type within italicized answers comes from the original application. Typos, including punctuation errors, come from the original application even though we have not inserted “(sic)” after each one. WJI has left them as is. Name: Lena C. Taylor   Appointed to: Milwaukee County Circuit Court   Appointment date: Jan. 26, 2024, to a term ending July ..read more

By Alexandria Staubach Evan Goyke is being sworn in as Milwaukee city attorney today during a ceremony at city hall. Goyke recently won election to the position after challenging incumbent Spencer Tearman.   Tearman’s administration has been embroiled in controversy since his election in 2020, with accusations ranging from sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment to, most recently, an inspector general report that found that Tearman’s deputy city attorney, Odalo Ohiku, may have continued to do private legal work while serving as deputy.   Readers in Wisconsin’s 18th ..read more

By Alexandria Staubach On April 4, the Dane County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved doubling the daily wage rate paid to in-custody workers at the county jail. Incarcerated persons at the jail previously earned a wage of $3 per day for their work. Resolution 382 lifts the wage to $6 per day. The county said in the resolution that the prior rate was "insufficient” and that it would seek additional means to improve wages and combat poverty upon reentry for incarcerated persons, calling the wage raise an “interim step.” The Dane County resolution recognizes that most correctional fa ..read more

Gov. Tony Evers, Wisconsin Judicial Council members, and Legislature staff members at the signing of 2023 Wis. Act 245 on Mar. 27, 2024. By Margo Kirchner   Wisconsin courts will now accept written declarations instead of notarized affidavits in civil litigation.   A new law eliminates the need for a notary’s signature and stamp on various documents in civil proceedings. Rather than swearing to the truth of written statements before a notary, a person may now “declare under penalty of false swearing under the law of Wisconsin” that what they are signing is true.   The law shou ..read more

For those following WJI's candidate questionnaires or interested in judicial elections across the state, here are the results of yesterday's 10 contested races according to unofficial results posted online today: Roger Klopp defeated incumbent Troy Cross in Columbia County (by 386 votes) Jennifer Moeller defeated Brett Reetz in Door County Heather Iverson defeated incumbent Frank Gagliardi in Kenosha County Incumbent Mark Huesmann defeated Candice Tlustosch in La Crosse County Marisabel Cabrera defeated Rochelle Johnson-Bent in Milwaukee County Mary Sowinski defeated Michael Fugle in Oneida ..read more

The Wisconsin Supreme this morning denied a motion by the Wisconsin Elections Commission seeking clarification on what maps apply to recall and special elections.   The court issued the order in the Clarke redistricting case. The court stated in the order that “(o)n December 22, 2023, we enjoined the ‘Elections Commission from using [the prior] legislative maps in all future elections’ because the maps violated the Wisconsin Constitution.”   The Legislature then passed redistricting maps proposed by Gov. Tony Evers. On Feb. 19, 2024, Evers signed them into law as 2023 Wisconsin Act ..read more