Some police agencies across the country have used the voter-approved constitutional amendment that broadens victim privacy to shield officers who use force.
Category: Justice & Safety
Posted inJustice & Safety
Hot pursuit: Milwaukee police chases now top 1,000 per year. Some prove deadly.
Milwaukee sees a surge in police pursuits in years since loosening policy to target reckless drivers. Critics say the trend makes streets more dangerous.
Posted inGovernment, Justice & Safety
JusticePoint offers incarceration alternatives in Milwaukee. Two judges tried to cancel its contract.
This story is part of a collaboration between Wisconsin Watch, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and The Appeal. Four decades ago, a newspaper investigation described Milwaukee’s municipal legal system as “cash register justice.” Thousands of impoverished residents with mental health or substance use issues languished in county jails due to unpaid civil violation fines, costing taxpayers […]
Posted inJustice & Safety
Misinformation, Disinformation: A guide to sorting fiction from reality
Social media and deceptive actors are allowing falsehood to spread even faster than the truth, but there are ways to inoculate yourself from information disorder.
Posted inJustice & Safety
Following the death of an 8-year-old on a Wisconsin dairy farm, officials look to bridge law enforcement language gap
After ProPublica found that a police investigation into a child’s death was mishandled due to language barriers, officials hope to improve how police interact with non-English speakers. Meanwhile, the boy’s family has settled a suit against the farm.
Posted inJustice & Safety, News & Announcements
Scent like marijuana enough to warrant police search, Wisconsin Supreme Court rules
A car smelling like marijuana is enough for police in Wisconsin to justify searching a person in the vehicle, even though substances legal in the state can smell the same, the state Supreme Court said on Tuesday. The court’s conservative majority ruled 4-3 that Marshfield police had grounds to search the driver of a vehicle […]
Posted inJustice & Safety
Wisconsin law still refers to husband and wife, a reminder to LGBTQ+ families that their rights are at risk
The courts and Evers administration have stepped in, but bipartisan efforts to make state law neutral to reflect status of same-sex couples have stalled
Posted inJustice & Safety
A black teen who had tried to shoplift died from asphyxia. Why was no one ever charged?
Customers at a Wisconsin corner store subdued 16-year-old Corey Stingley, who died after allegedly being placed in a chokehold. A decade later, the youth’s father still fights for justice and awaits the findings from an unusual new inquiry.
Posted inGovernment, Justice & Safety
Free speech, racial equity battles are playing out on Wisconsin campuses
The fight over racial equity and free speech on Wisconsin college campuses is intensifying, mirroring a national battle as Republicans work to close campus diversity offices and demand that students and faculty treat conservative speakers with respect.
Posted inJustice & Safety
Why I investigated Milwaukee Tool work gloves — and what we learned
The tip came into Wisconsin Watch: Milwaukee Tool, an internationally recognized brand, was using forced prison labor in China to produce work gloves.
Posted inJustice & Safety
A former Wisconsin white supremacist helps extricate Americans from violent hate groups
Trauma, abuse and mental health problems can make people more vulnerable to violent extremism.
Posted inJustice & Safety
Chinese prisoners: We were forced to make Milwaukee Tool gloves for cents each day
Chishan prisoners report being forced to produce work gloves for the Brookfield, Wis.-based tool company, which did not answer specific questions.