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​By Alexandria Staubach A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report highlights problems in Wisconsin’s criminal justice system ranging from the state’s continued place as a national leader in the disproportionate incarceration of people of color to expected increases in costs associated with the state’s prison population. The April report, entitled Cross Examination: A comprehensive view of Wisconsin’s criminal justice system, shows persistent troubling trends and hopes to be a “baseline assessment of Wisconsin’s criminal justice landscape.” Much in the report will not

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Continue Reading New report assesses Wisconsin's criminal justice system, finds persistent troubling trends

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PictureLloyd Barbee at the Wisconsin Capitol in August 1964. Photograph courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHS Image 26539.

By Amy Rabideau Silvers

Three words—long used as the sign-off before his signature—sum up Lloyd Barbee’s goal throughout his life.

Justice for All.

Best known for his efforts to desegregate Milwaukee’s public schools, Barbee fought for justice on other fronts, too. He was an activist, attorney and state legislator, pushing for equal rights as human rights, arguing for fair housing

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Continue Reading Unsung Hero: In Pursuit of Justice, the Life and Activism of Lloyd Barbee

​”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: David O. Hughes

Appointed to: Kenosha County Circuit Court

Appointment date: Dec. 23, 2025, to term ending July 31,

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Continue Reading Evers’ judges: David O. Hughes

Note: We are crunching Supreme Court of Wisconsin decisions down to size. The rule for this is that no justice gets more than 10 paragraphs as written in the actual decision. The “upshot” and “background” sections do not count as part of the 10 paragraphs because of their summary and necessary nature. We’ve also removed headings, citations and footnotes from the opinion for ease of reading but have linked to important cases cited or information about them. Italics indicate

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Continue Reading The SCOW docket: Court splits on whether interrogation of student violated Miranda, but either way the student loses in the end

Among the nearly three dozen new laws Gov. Tony Evers signed recently is one generating hope within the prison reentry community because it allows expansion of Medicaid coverage for those nearing the end of incarceration and returning home.

While the impact of the new law, Act 233, will not be felt immediately, there is nevertheless cause for excitement for those involved in reentry services.

“We don’t know how this is going to pan out,” said The Community’s Shannon

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Continue Reading Promising New Law Allows Medicaid Expansion to Those Leaving Prison

​”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.

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Name: Owen Piotrowski

Appointed to: Milwaukee County Circuit Court

Appointment date: Jan. 7, 2026, (effective Feb. 1, 2026) to term ending

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Continue Reading Evers’ judges: Owen Piotrowski

Just seven judicial races across Wisconsin were contested in yesterday’s elections. You’ve likely already heard about Judge Chris Taylor winning the open Supreme Court seat over Judge Maria Lazar.

No Wisconsin Court of Appeals races were contested, so Judges Joe Donald and Rachel Graham were reelected to Districts 1 and 4 respectively, and newcomer Anthony LoCoco will join the appeals court in District 2.

What happened in the six contested circuit court races? Here are results from the unofficial

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Continue Reading Judicial Elections Roundup: Results from Around the State

In last week’s Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate debate, Wisconsin Justice Initiative’s legal challenge to the spring 2020 ballot question underlay one of the final questions.

WISN 12 in Milwaukee held and broadcast the debate between Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judges Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar on Thursday, Apr. 2.

About 10 minutes before the end, WISN moderator Matt Smith asked Taylor why she had voted against the constitutional amendment known as Marsy’s Law when she was a state legislator.

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Continue Reading Supreme Court debate includes reference to WJI’s lawsuit challenging the 2020 Marsy’s Law constitutional amendment

A Milwaukee County ordinance makes discrimination against housing voucher holders illegal, but enforcement is essentially nonexistent. A City of Milwaukee agency is now looking at the issue.

In 2018, then-Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevec sponsored and helped pass the county ordinance that made discrimination against housing voucher holders illegal.

But the county failed to develop a serious enforcement mechanism and has never litigated a complaint, says Stefanie Ebbens, senior administrator of the Inclusive Communities Program at Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair

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Continue Reading City of Milwaukee commission to study lack of enforcement of housing voucher antidiscrimination laws

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A Brown County man recently won the right to withdraw his guilty plea after the Court of Appeals held that drug task force investigators used impermissible coercion to gain entry to his home.

“This case is a classic example of law enforcement tactics that deeply undermine individual rights and ultimately undercut the state’s interest in investigating and prosecuting crimes,” said defense attorney and Wisconsin Justice Initiative President Craig Johnson.

The District 3 per curiam (nonprecedential) opinion issued from the

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Continue Reading Officers’ Coercive Tactics Rendered Search of Residence Invalid

District 4 of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled ruled that in a preliminary hearing in a criminal case there is no requirement that any witness have firsthand knowledge of facts of the alleged crime; instead, a mere reading of the criminal complaint may suffice to bind a defendant over for trial if the complaint is thorough and detailed enough.

While the court said it would be “difficult to establish generally applicable rules,” it rubber-stamped a prosecution in Rock

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals Reduces Preliminary Hearing to Mere Reading of Criminal Complaint

Candidates Aaron Marcoux and Angeline Winton-Roe vie for the seat on the Washburn County Circuit Court currently held by Winton-Roe. The election is April 7.

Marcoux is the Washburn County district attorney, having been appointed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2019 and elected to four-year terms in 2020 and 2024. Before then he was an assistant district attorney, and before that an assistant state public defender. He graduated from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 2010. A

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Continue Reading Meet the Candidates for Washburn County Circuit Court

In Washington County, incumbent Branch 2 Judge Gordon Leech is challenged by Grant Scaife. The election is April 7.Leech was appointed to Washington County Circuit Court by Gov. Tony Evers in July 2025 and took his seat in August. He previously was a prosecutor in the Fond du Lac County District Attorney’s Office. Before that he was in private practice and served as an attorney in the U.S. Marine Corps. He graduated from University of Pittsburgh School of Law

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Continue Reading Meet the candidates for Washington County Circuit Court

If you’re reading this blog, you are very likely concerned about justice in Wisconsin, the country, and across the world. But you’re probably also pretty busy. How do you choose which books about the justice system to read during your limited free time?

In a new series of posts, Wisconsin Justice Initiative founder and former executive director, Gretchen Schuldt, will help you out. An avid reader, she returns to the blog with book reviews so you can decide what’s

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Continue Reading Book review: "Shielded" is an "engaging and enraging" examination of police immunity from suit

As Wisconsin prepares for a Supreme Court election between two appellate judges, examining judicial track records is helpful for understanding a candidate’s potential impact on the high-court bench.

Past rulings can provide insight on how the candidates approach the cases before them, reason and interpret law to get to their decisions, and explain those decisions to lower courts and the public.

Court of Appeals Judges Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor vie for an open seat on the Supreme Court.

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Continue Reading Sample Opinions from this Year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidates

Candidates Huma Ahsan and Ben Jones vie for the Branch 1 seat on the Dane County Circuit Court. The election is April 7.

Ahsan is an immigration law attorney and owner of Madison Immigration Law. She graduated from Stetson College of Law (Florida) in 1999. A copy of her resume/CV is here.

Jones is the incumbent, having been appointed to the seat by Gov. Tony Evers in 2025. WJI’s “Evers’ judges” post about him is here. He

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Continue Reading Meet the Candidates for Dane County Circuit Court