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By: Wisconsin Justice Initiative

Latest from Wisconsin Justice Initiative Blog - Page 2

Courtroom And Gavel
Interior of an empty courtroom with gavel and sounding block on the desk.

WJI received a report in late June from controversial nonprofit Enough is Enough about reckless driving cases in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, highlighting significant differences in judges’ sentencing patterns.The court watch group, which was the subject of an open letter to the Milwaukee County judiciary last year, advocates against reckless driving and for “stronger measures to protect our communities,” according to its website.

“ENE” was founded after the death of Erin Morgensen, who was killed while a bystander to

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Continue Reading Opinion: New Report Shows Concerning Contrast in Reckless Driving Sentences Among Milwaukee Judiciary

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​”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: Samuel T. Berg

Appointed to: Walworth County Circuit Court

Appointment date: Nov. 7, 2025, to term ending July 31, 2027

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Continue Reading Evers’ Judges: Samuel T. Berg

​”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: Whitney A. Healy

Appointed to: Outagamie County Circuit Court

Appointment date: Nov. 7, 2025, to term ending July 31, 2027

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Continue Reading Evers’ Judges: Whitney A. Healy

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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 citations from the opinion for ease of reading but have linked to important cases cited or information about them. Italics indicate WJI insertions except

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Continue Reading The SCOW docket: Court strikes down education grant program for minority students

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has revoked the licenses of three attorneys this year, and in each case Justice Annette Ziegler wrote identical short concurrences highlighting that when the high court revokes a license, it may not have the effect the public thinks.

“I write separately to point out that in Wisconsin the ‘revocation’ of an attorney’s law license is not truly revocation because the attorney may petition for reinstatement after a period of five years,” said Ziegler in each

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Continue Reading Has Supreme Court Signaled an Upcoming Change to Attorney Discipline?

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James Grandberry’s criminal case has been filled with delays.

Nearly one year ago, Grandberry filed a motion for interlocutory appeal to District III of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, challenging the decision of the Brown County Circuit Court to not dismiss his case.

The appeal comes nearly two years after Grandberry’s initial arrest and concerns the 468 days he sat in jail waiting for a preliminary hearing before counsel could be appointed.

During that period, the trial court made

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Continue Reading Slow Justice

A Dane County judge heard arguments in early June in a case that could expand absentee voting options for thousands of Wisconsin voters with print disabilities.

At the heart of the dispute is whether voters who cannot independently read or mark a paper ballot must reveal their choices to another person to vote absentee.

Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, and four Wisconsin voters brought the case against the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The case, assigned

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Continue Reading Judge Hears Arguments in Disabled Voters’ Challenge to Wisconsin’s Absentee Voting System

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill Karofsky last week made good on a November 2025 promise to hold a public hearing regarding judicial recusal rules.

The hearing on June 4 addressed a rule change petition filed by five retired judges regarding recusals related to campaign donations. Sarah B. O’Brien, John W. Markson, Richard G. Niess, J. David Rice, and Richard J. Sankovitz filed the petition in January.

Karofsky opened the public hearing by quoting comments submitted by Wisconsin Justice

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Continue Reading Lengthy Hearing on Proposed Recusal Rule Revision Includes Concerns of Court Transparency and Free Speech

​By Erik Reinthaler
WJI Intern
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A federal judge recently dismissed the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit to force Wisconsin election officials to produce the state’s unredacted voter registration list.
In a narrow and technical ruling on May 21, Western District of Wisconsin Chief Judge James D. Peterson found that the unredacted list is not subject to disclosure under the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The judge did not address issues of voter privacy.

“While the judge didn’t rule

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Continue Reading Wisconsin’s Voter List Protected by Federal Judge: Decision Explained

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The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission’s recent report on 2025 Milwaukee police vehicle pursuits confirms that chases, crashes, and fatalities all increased from 2024 numbers.

FPC Executive Director Leon Todd presented the annual vehicle pursuit report at a meeting in late May.

Total pursuits by the Milwaukee Police Department, up from 957 in 2024 to 970 in 2025, were described as “a slight increase” by Todd.

The number of police pursuits culminating in a dangerous outcome rose. In 2024,

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Continue Reading The Numbers Don’t Lie – Police Pursuits Are Getting More Dangerous

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​”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.

Picture of Diane Meulemans

Name: Diane L. Meulemans

Appointed to: Waupaca County Circuit Court

Appointment date: Feb. 5, 2026, to a term ending July 31,

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Continue Reading Evers’ Judges: Diane L. Meulemans

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Felicity Rose, vice president of criminal justice research and policy at FWD.us, joined WJI and more than 80 guests on May 14 to share her research on the staggering economic costs of incarceration for the family members of imprisoned individuals.The incarceration crisis extends far beyond prison and jail walls. Families with incarcerated loved ones face lost income, housing instability, and expenses that prevent them from climbing the economic ladder. Each year, those families lose or spend almost $350 billion

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Continue Reading Video: Felicity Rose of FWD.us talks about the extensive costs of mass incarceration at WJI's May 14 speaker event

By Alexandria Staubach

Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order last month restoring a formal commutations process for the first time since Wisconsin enacted its Truth in Sentencing law in 1999, but the order’s effect is presently unclear.

Critics of Evers’ order have been vocal, with Wisconsin Right Now claiming the order has “ended truth-in-sentencing in Wisconsin as we know it.”  Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) said in an interview that Evers’ “goal is to reduce the prison population by

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Continue Reading Gov. Evers’ commutations order has potential, but questions exist on what can be accomplished in less than a year

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed the conviction of Kimberly Zapata, who unsuccessfully urged the court to overturn her convictions for voter fraud and public-office misconduct, arguing she was a whistleblower.

A unanimous jury convicted Zapata in March 2024. The charges included one count of felony misconduct in public office and three misdemeanor counts of making a false statement to obtain or vote an absentee ballot.

Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Kori Ashley sentenced Zapata to nine months in

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals Upholds Convictions of Voting Official Who Argued She was a Private Citizen Whistleblower

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​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

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Continue Reading Book Review: Joan Biskupic looks at John Roberts’ drive to the top and his aim to shift both law and country to the right

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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

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