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.