DAILY WISCONSIN

Crime

Crime, Law, LGBT

Doubt

“One of the questions on the jury sheet was, ‘Do you believe that lesbianism is morally wrong?’ And I would say a good 75 % of the people we interviewed said yes. But then the district attorneys, [prosecuting attorneys], would ask if they thought they could set aside their opinion of lesbians and judge the case just on the evidence, and they would say yes,” said Penny Brummer. “(Ingrid Ricks, The Advocate (1995)].

Via Notable Quotes from a Malicious Prosecution @ MAL Contends…

Business, Crime, Misconduct

Repeated Claims of Fraud 

A Menomonee Falls architecture and construction firm has agreed to pay $3 million to settle civil and criminal charges that it defrauded the federal government’s “Buy American” rules for contractors.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Novum Structures repackaged steel and other construction materials from foreign countries to appear as if it were sourced in the United States. The firm used the materials on government projects around the country, like a courthouse in Illinois, a transit center in Miami and street car expansion in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina….

A year ago, a former executive at Novum was charged in state court with embezzling more than $168,000 from the company, money prosecutors said he used to buy a horse and airplane. That case is set for trial in April.

A spokesman for the company said that case had no connection to the federal claims.

Via Falls firm to pay $3 million for violating ‘Buy American’ rules @ JSOnline.

Crime, Police, Police brutality, Police Misconduct

Mayor of Some of the People

(Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images)

(Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images)

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel is facing mounting criticism from activists and allies of the black community who say he should be held accountable for delaying justice in the case of Laquan McDonald, a teenager who died 13 months ago after being shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer.

A court order forced Chicago city officials to release squad car video of the gruesome death, which they did on Tuesday, hours after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office charged Officer Jason Van Dyke with first-degree murder in the teen’s killing. Viewers were outraged by how much the footage conflicted with the police department’s initial account of the shooting, which claimed that McDonald was acting strangely and lunged at police before shots were fired.

The video, which Emanuel’s administration and the state’s attorney’s office have long fought to keep from being publicly released, instead shows 17-year-old McDonald carrying a small knife and walking away from officers before Van Dyke opens fire from about 10 feet away. After McDonald falls, Van Dyke continues to shoot for at least 15 seconds….

Via Rahm Emanuel’s Learning What Happens When You Ignore Half Of The City @ Milwaukee Community Journal.

Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, Misconduct, Official Indifference, UW System

Sex assault survivor files federal complaint against UW-Whitewater

Second federal complaint against UW-Whitewater in eighteen months:

Raechel-liska-650-jpg
Raechel Liska, aged 22.  Photo from Channel 3000.

“I got assaulted twice,” Liska said. “Once by my attacker, which was the traumatic, horrific part, but again by the school, which was the betrayal.”

Liska said UWW Dean of Students Mary Beth Mackin violated her civil rights by refusing to interview two witnesses and by not accepting either the police report or her medical records stemming from the incident. She also asserts Mackin did not issue a no-contact order against her alleged attacker, even as he retaliated and intimidated her after she spoke to authorities. Further, it was the Army that stepped in and removed her assailant from her classes three months after the incident in question, even after she’d asked the university to do the same multiple times, only to be rebuffed.

“The reason I filed my complaint is because something here needs to change,” she said. “I thought the dean of students would be protecting the students, protecting me. She’s the dean of students. I thought I’d be her priority, but I walked out feeling like protecting the school was her top priority.”

Via Sex assault survivor claims discrimination by university @ Channel 3000.

Crime, Government Spending

Wanting more for doing less

Given the smaller number of juveniles being arrested and the increased funding to counties, the amount of money that counties receive per juvenile arrest has increased 47 percent since 2009.

The counties argue that they deserve more state aid to deal with this change, but the data does not support their argument. Despite a precipitous drop in juvenile arrests, youth aid funding from the state has actually increased in recent years.

Via Fact Check: Wisconsin Counties Association Memo on Criminal Justice Reform @ MacIver Institute.

Crime, Schools

Pewaukee District Closed

Pewaukee School District Superintendent JoAnn Sternke informed parents of the closure in a letter released by the station Thursday evening.

“This decision is being made because we are committed to the safety of all our students and staff,” Sternke wrote.

According to Sternke, a hand-written message reading “There will be a school shooting on Friday, October 2nd” was found at Pewaukee High School sometime on Thursday.

Via Wis. school district cancels Friday classes after threatening message found @ Fox News.

Crime, Law, Schools, Weird Tales

Just not right

Email sent to everyone:

“If you let my lunch bag go now that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill yell at you. To the low life who literally stole my lunch and dinner, please have the decency to at least return my WLC lunch bag to the kitchen. I just want Ruthey to get home safely.”

Via Somebody at Cornell Law School stole a law student’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg lunch bag @ Althouse.

Crime, Education

Ahmed Mohamed’s Clock

1. The question whether the clock was an “invention” should be recognized as a debate about the meaning of a word. It’s ridiculous to badger a 14-year-old about a linguistic point.

2. The annoyance at calling the clock an “invention” should be recognized as a dispute with the adults who overplayed their enthusiasm over the child’s brilliance and technological prowess. A child whose self-esteem is not perfectly aligned with the level of his accomplishments might have a problem, but, if so, it’s nothing for strangers to be sticking their nose into.

Via Should there be any discussion of whether Ahmed Mohamed actually “invented” his clock and what his true motives might have been? @ Althouse.

Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, UW Madison

27.6%

Rate higher than national average –

More than one in every four undergraduate women (27.6 percent) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison report being a victim of sexual assault, according to a new survey released Monday morning by the Association of American Universities (AAU). That’s a higher rate than the 23.1 percent of female undergraduates who reported being victims in the survey conducted by 27 universities nationwide.

The data comes from a questionnaire that was sent by email to UW students in April and May. Roughly 22 percent of the undergraduate population answered the questions in the survey. It also found that of those students who were sexually assaulted, only 26.1 percent reported the incident to authorities.

Via Survey: More than 1 in 4 UW women sexually assaulted @ Channel 3000.

Crime, Misconduct

Lawyer Accused of Sexual Assault at Country Club Drafted Club’s Settlement Agreement 

image

According to a probable cause statement written by Mequon police, the woman told police that she drove up to Hale and his two golfing partners to see if anyone needed a beverage. 
Hale told the others to play ahead, she said, and asked the woman for a hug. She told police she agreed to the hug, which she termed a normal request by Hale.

But this time, she said, Hale slid his hands to her buttocks, underneath her shorts, and grabbed her breasts over her clothing, before putting his hand inside the front of her shorts and touching her genitals.

Via Lawyer accused of molesting cart attendant crafted club’s settlement offer @ JSOnline.