Wisconsin | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 13
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Posted by Mike LaChance on October 15, 2016 12 Comments
The fact that Russ Feingold is even running for Senate is proof that the Democratic Party has no back bench. Feingold is a re-run who served in the Senate from 1993 to 2011. He is a big fan of Hillary, too. He even thinks she's trustworthy. The Journal Sentinel reports:
Russ Feingold calls Hillary Clinton 'trustworthy' Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold called Hillary Clinton "reliable and trustworthy" Monday but reaffirmed his stance that if she's elected president she should consider shutting down the Clinton Foundation.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 14, 2016 41 Comments
Chaos, violence, and looting erupted in Milwaukee late Saturday night following the shooting of an armed suspect by police. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:
A standoff between police and an angry crowd turned violent Saturday night in the hours after a Milwaukee police officer shot and killed an armed suspect during a foot chase on the city's north side. After an hours-long confrontation with officers, police reported at 10:15 p.m. that a gas station at N. Sherman Blvd. and W. Burleigh St. was set on fire. Police said firefighters could not for a time get close to the blaze because of gunshots. Later, fires were started at businesses — including a BMO Harris Bank branch, a beauty supply company and O'Reilly Auto Parts stores — near N. 35th and W. Burleigh streets.
Watch as the violence unfolds:

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 10, 2016 42 Comments
A federal judge has weakened the Texas voter ID law while the U.S. Court of Appeals suspended a ruling that eliminated parts of Wisconsin's law. Activists have gone after voter laws recently as the presidential election nears. They insist the poor and minority voters somehow cannot obtain an ID.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 31, 2016 16 Comments
Love him or hate him, new polling shows Speaker Ryan is a huge hit with his constituents back home. A new survey reported by the Washington Free Beacon's Lachlan Markay last week, had Ryan up by a whopping seventy-three points over challenger Paul Nehlen.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is easily beating back a Republican primary challenger despite his reticence to endorse presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to a new Washington Free Beacon poll. The survey shows Ryan leading his GOP challenger, businessman Paul Nehlen, by 73 points, 80-7, among those who say they will vote in the Aug. 9 Republican primary in Wisconsin’s first congressional district.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 27, 2016 8 Comments
Because I have been traveling, I'm late to this important development. In early April we reported how a State court judge throws out Wisconsin Right to Work Law in an absurd decision:
When conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley won the Wisconsin Supreme Court election last Tuesday, we pointed out how important that court has been in upholding union reforms. That may be tested again as Dane County Judge William Foust in Madison just threw out the state’s Right to Work law signed by Governor Walker a year ago. The decision was under the “takings” clause of the Wisconsin Constitution. As in an eminent domain case, the court found that the union’s interest in compulsory dues payments was property, that the property was taken by the right to work law for a public purpose, but without just compensation....

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 20, 2016 15 Comments
Leon's Frozen Custard in Milwaukee, WI, has come under fire for its English-only policy, inspiring one group to demand a federal investigation. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) flipped out over the private business policy. The group's state director Dr. Arturo Martinez released this statement:
"In the last 24 hours, LULAC of Wisconsin has received numerous requests to investigate the issue of workplace policy as it pertains to language at Leon's Frozen Custard located at 3131 S. 27th Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While many of us consider this as a community institution, it was surprising when we learned of their language policy, which is in clear violation of federal labor law. Upon reviewing the statements made by management in a video interview detailing Leon’s policy, we are requesting an investigation of this policy by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The law is clear on this issue and offers few exceptions. In the meantime, we encourage management to review their current employment policies with counsel to bring them into compliance. We are confident that in doing so, it will lead to a stronger business and a stronger community.”

Posted by Taryn O'Neill on April 16, 2016 38 Comments
In what some might be the next standoff over religious liberty, a high school near Madison, Wisconsin is at odds with an off-campus student lunch group over the right to hold free, Jesus-themed lunches. Fox News explains:
[Middleton] high school allows students to eat lunch off-campus. In 2014 a small group of parents began meeting with their children in a nearby park — providing home cooked meals along with a Christian-themed, inspirational message. The small weekly gatherings in the fall and spring eventually morphed into a popular gathering spot for hungry kids — with nearly 500 turning out for all sorts of goodies — ranging from Chick-fil-A sandwiches and fresh fruit to hundreds of homemade brownies. “We show up every week just to show the love of Jesus,” parent Beth Williams told me. “Our mission statement for Jesus Lunch is ‘food for the body, nutrition for the soul.’”
As students started inviting more friends to attend, the gatherings have brought as many as 400 hundred students to the lunches, which are held at a park directly next to the school campus.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 08, 2016 40 Comments
When conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley won the Wisconsin Supreme Court election last Tuesday, we pointed out how important that court has been in upholding union reforms. That may be tested again as Dane County Judge William Foust in Madison just threw out the state's Right to Work law signed by Governor Walker a year ago. The decision was under the "takings" clause of the Wisconsin Constitution. As in an eminent domain case, the court found that the union's interest in compulsory dues payments was property, that the property was taken by the right to work law for a public purpose, but without just compensation. The decision was announced by Attorney General Brad D. Schimel on the Vicki McKenna Show. The Decision is embedded at the bottom of this post.

Posted by New Neo on April 08, 2016 9 Comments
On the face of it, answering the question as to what happened in the GOP primary in Wisconsin seems like a no-brainer. As Edward Morrissey writes, Trump shot himself in the foot---dissing popular governor Scott Walker, and flubbing abortion questions---and ended up losing by 13 points, 35 to Cruz's 48. To shore up this argument about a Trump reversal in Wisconsin, Morrissey cites a Wisconsin poll from late January and one from late February, the first of which had Trump leading by 6 and the second by 10. So the narrative seems to make sense---that is, until you actually look a bit deeper, when you find that something additional might have been going on.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 06, 2016 190 Comments
Remember when Ted Cruz (or Marco Rubio, or Jeb Bush, or any other Republican) lost a primary and accused his opponent of criminal election activity, and then hid from the media on election night? Neither do I. You get out there on election night, congratulate the other side and give a speech to rally for the next battle. Or at least you don't act like a two-year old brat who just had a half-finished candy bar taken away. Last night Donald Trump acted like the two-year old. For the first time in his adult life he was speechless and camera-shy after getting crushed in the Wisconsin primary. Wisconsin Republican Primary 2016 Results No graceful concession speeches there. Instead Trump issued a vitriolic, bizarre statement (emphasis added):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 05, 2016 98 Comments
All eyes are on Wisconsin. Before I get to today's primary, let's take a look back at one of my favorite political periods in the history of the world - the defeat of the Recall against Governor Scott Walker after over a year of protests against the public sector union collective bargaining reform bill. It was what I called Wisconsin's Long, Strange Trip, linking to our exhaustive coverage of all the crazy:
Police insurrections.  Palace guards.  Catch a Senator contests.  Doctors behaving badly.  Massive national solidarity protests which weren’t.  Identity theft as political theater.  Shark jumping.  Legislators who run away to other states.  Busbang bangs.  Protesters locking their heads to metal railings and pretending to walk like Egyptians.  Beer attacks.  Canoe flotillas.  (alleged) Judicial chokeholds.  Tears falling on Che Guevara t-shirts at midnight.  Endless recalls.  And recounts.  Communications Directors making threats.   Judges who think they are legislators (well, I’ll grant you that one is common).  V-K Day.  Hole-y warriors.  Cities namedSpeculation and Conjecture.  And the funniest blog headline so far:
First They Came For The Right To Retire After 30 Years On Full Salary With COLAs
When Walker defeated the Recall late in the evening of June 5, 2012, it was Oh what a night. That was a time when the Legal Insurrection community was more united and cohesive, and thousands of us celebrated the win with the inaugural launch of website fireworks and John Phillip Sousa music:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 01, 2016 32 Comments
Rebel Pundit (aka Jeremy Segal) and Andrew Marcus have filmed some great videos of anti-Trump protesters. They filmed Bill Ayers and other wack jobs at the Chicago protest to shut down the Trump rally. The blond woman screaming about white male privilege is a haunting image of post-intellectual America. Language Warning

Posted by Taryn O'Neill on March 30, 2016 29 Comments
On Tuesday morning, Ted Cruz kicked off a Women for Cruz coalition in the liberal stronghold of Madison, Wisconsin. The senator was joined by his wife Heidi, mother Eleanor, and former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina for a conversation on issues considered important to women. In a change of pace from prior events, Cruz gave a shortened stump speech and focused on the meaning of the term "women's issue," itself:
"This event this morning is a celebration of strong women. One of the most frustrating things about the Democrats is the Democrats love to pigeonhole women. Put 'em in a little box [and] you have a set of issues that are women's issues. Well, listen. I have news for the Democrat party: Women are not a special interest. Women are a majority of the United States of America and every issue is a women's issue."
Cruz went on to say that his campaign is about three issues, those being jobs, freedom, and security. Despite the Democrat party's effort to deem only issues advancing the progressive cause as valid women's issues, Cruz made a point to emphasize that these three crucial issues are inherently women's issues just as they are men's.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 30, 2016 1 Comment
As the primary battle in Wisconsin heats up with the endorsement of Senator Ted Cruz by Governor Scott Walker, an different kind of fight is occurring among the state's citizens. As of this report, nearly 60 Wisconsin residents have been stricken with bloodstream infection from a bacteria called Elizabethkingia, and 18 have died. Additionally, one Michigan resident has also died from an infection.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 29, 2016 54 Comments
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker appeared on the Charlie Sykes radio show in Wisconsin and endorsed ... Ted Cruz. It was a very strong endorsement for Cruz, not an anti-Trump endorsement. Walker said he was "all in" for Cruz. https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/714817364588634112
Scott Walker Statement Endorsing Ted Cruz

Posted by Mike LaChance on February 19, 2016 21 Comments
Wisconsin is trying to take measures to deal with illegal immigration and sanctuary cities. Naturally, detractors are describing the initiatives as racist and anti-immigrant. As a result, thousands of protesters showed up at the Wisconsin capitol yesterday, reminiscent of the anti-Walker protests of several years ago. Here's what it looked like in 2011, in case you've forgotten: