Black Lives Matter Protesters Claim Innocence of Touching Racist State Sen; D.A. Bows to Lack of Evidence, Makes No-Jail Offer

No Deal, Say Black Lives Matter Workers, as D.A.'s Office Wants Beyond Reasonable Doubt Charging Standard Changed to Reasonable Inference for This Case
 
Updated - Madison, Wisconsin — There is no evidence that two Dane County women ever laid a finger on State Sen Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) at a late-night June 23, 2020 confrontation at a Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Still, a criminal case against Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer remains at the behest of the anti-Black Lives Matter (BLM) state legislator who has championed prisons and police and the drug war, before confronting a BLM demonstration, then launching a media-political blitz that included accosting a black state Senate candidate in a tirade for which Carpenter apologized and admitted he was "rash and reactionary." [See, for example, news coverage SpectrumNews1, WTMJ, Fox News.]

There is no video showing the women —  Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer, well-regarded  community activists and Black Lives Matter supporters — ever laid a finger on Carpenter.

Both civil rights workers are being prosecuted for the felony crime of Substantial Battery with Intent to Cause Bodily Harm and Party to a Crime, a galling and even more disingenuous charge. 

Hypothetically, the D.A. could charge anyone near the confrontation that Carpenter began with being Party to a Crime.

Bowing to the ridiculous lack of evidence, "The two people charged with the beating of a state senator have been offered a deal by prosecutors that would include no jail time and deferred prosecution," WKOW-TV (Galli, Madison) reports this weekend.

No Deal, Say Black Lives Matter Workers

Reports Tony Galli:

'My client rejected the proposed plea offer because it would have required an admission of guilt, and my client, quite simply, is not guilty,' O'Reilly's attorney Jessa Nicholson Goetz says. 'We will not be resolving this matter for anything short of a dismissal because that is what we believe justice requires.'

The deferred prosecution program would technically lead to a dismissal of O'Reilly's charge if program requirements were met.

'Due to ethical rules, I can’t comment on the specifics of any negotiation at this point,' says Hamer's attorney, Adam Welch. 'However, it has always been our position that Ms. Hamer is innocent of the charge that has been brought against her, so she has no intention of pleading guilty to something she didn’t do.'

No eyewitness has identified the accused as laying a finger on Carpenter.

Madison police detective Linda Trevarthen, who headed the investigation, also swore under oath no witness interviewed saw the two women touch Carpenter, in a hearing last Summer (Rickert,  Wisconsin State Journal).

Tim Carpenter says he cannot identify Mses. O’Reilly and Hamer as ever having touched him.

It's not surprising noone can identify anyone else, because according to Carpenter and another witness, the confrontation that Carpenter incited included some eight to 10 people during a chaotic melee around Midnight.

No matter. Carpenter and the Dane County District Attorney's office continue their criminal pursuit of the Black Lives Matter protesters, two socially conscious women in their 20s with no criminal records, who nevertheless stand accused of the felony crime at the Black Lives Matter protest held last Summer in reaction to the police torture and killing of George Floyd.

Dane County District Attorney Office Changes Its Charging Standard for This Case

Mses. O’Reilly and Hamer have maintained their innocence since the June 2020 protests.

The Dane County District Attorney’s Office say it only charges defendants when its office can prove charges to a trial jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

This oft-made proclamation that the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt is used to determine charging decision is demonstrably untrue in the O’Reilly and Hamer cases.

See, for example, for the announcement, "Ismael R. Ozanne said that the Dane County District Attorney’s Office is declining to prosecute [xx] because there is not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty" (WISC-TV. 2018).

Beyond a reasonable doubt.

Even Asst District Attorney William Brown, known for over-the-top prosecutions and Manichean posturing in court, admitted in August 2020 that, "We don’t know exactly what happens after that other than we have a witness that says various people began kicking and punching. There is a reasonable inference that those two people who are aggressively running at him are the ones involved in the exact same incident" (Rickert, Wisconsin State Journal).

Notice what Brown did at the August hearing?

Brown replaced the finding of criminal guilt beyond a reasonable doubt as the standard used by the District Attorney's office to determine charging with a reasonable inference.

The District Attorney need not use such a high burden of proof — guilt beyond a reasonable doubt — as the basis to determine whether to bring criminal charges, but the Dane County District Attorney office claims it does.

However, guilt beyond a reasonable doubt as the standard of proof that a jury must reach to find a criminal defendant guilty is a bedrock principle ensuring the presumption of innocence, as guaranteed by Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Consider two points.

One. The Dane County District Attorney’s Office is proceeding on a case that nowhere approaches guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Two. The two Black Lives Matter protesters could agree to a deferred prosecution agreement, never set a foot in jail and have the charge stricken from their records.

Both women refused the offer because no reasonable jury can ever find these women guilty of any crime, and because they are innocent.

Why the change of charging standards for this case?

Because Ozanne's conduct in his elected office of public trust is an example of a civil servant working under the color of law, substituting his perceived political expediency to displace the community, the Constitution and his duties.

The Dane County District Attorney’s Office should be ashamed.

But shame in law enforcement is difficult to locate.

I wrote the District Attorney an email last Summer. 

The email is reproduced below:
--
Ismael,

As a member of our community, I have followed with grave concern the cases of Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer.

I am aware that you do not know how, and by whom and with what force violence was inflicted in the confrontation among Tim Carpenter and depending on whom you believe — the police quote a journalist saying some ten people, you say two people — and those who may be criminally responsible.

Did these two women use their elbows, fists, feet, head, or blunt instruments? You have no idea, yet you are charging them with being party to substantial battery by undetermined persons, a "group," as Carpenter told police.

Are you satisfied with Carpenter's credibility?

Did you know Mr Carpenter did not request medical assistance after speaking with protest medic and peacekeepers, as indicated in audio published by WORT News.

Did you know that after a WKOW-TV crew member phoned 911, Carpenter declined to go to the hospital?

Have you checked out Carpenter's story and timeline of the evening of June 23 and early morning of June 24?

Have you viewed video of Carpenter's 'collapse' performed right in front of WKOW-TV?

Do you ascribe responsibility to Mses. O’Reilly and Hamer because they are convenient faces on a video?

Carpenter said he was attacked by a "group." Yet, you divine O’Reilly and Hamer?

I ask you to drop these bogus cases, and issue a public apology to Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer, and Black Lives Matter.

Mike

Michael Leon
Marketing and Public Relations Consultant
http://malcontends.blogspot.com/

District Attorney Ozanne's Decision to Prosecute Black Lives Matters Workers Is Disgrace

Madison, Wisconsin — The Dane County District Attorney’s Office concluded charges against John Doe cannot be proven to a trial jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Variations of this generic statement explaining a decision to prosecute or not, routinely emanate from the district attorney.

The problem is our current district attorney sometimes engages in a political process to arrive at a legal determination rather than take an honest look at findings applied to the evidentiary standard of beyond a reasonable doubt that Ozanne claims guides his decisions.

Ozanne's, and not just Ozanne's, corruption is an example of a civil servant working under the color of law, substituting his perceived political expediency to displace the community, the Constitution and his duties.

Corruption and political prosecution define the current cases of Black Lives Matter protesters Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer.

Both civil rights workers are being unjustly prosecuted for the felony crime of Substantial Battery with Intent to Cause Bodily Harm.

Funny thing is there is no specific allegation detailing how Mses O’Reilly and Hamer battered the alleged victim, State Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee), a rightwing, self-admitted "rash" drug warrior who has worked against black folks to build the carceral state over three decades.

No allegation of fists being thrown, nor elbows, feet, blunt instrument, nothing. 

The alleged victim, Carpenter, has not identified the defendants as touching him.

No eyewitness has identified Mses O’Reilly and Hamer as laying a hand on Carpenter.

No video exists showing Mses O’Reilly and Hamer as laying a hand on Carpenter.

In fact, according to Carpenter and another witness, the confrontation that Carpenter incited included some eight to 10 people during a chaotic melee. 

Did Carpenter, with a racist past and a proven hostility to the protesters, throw a punch first, and others then interceded to defend a victim?

No evidence has been made public that indicts Carpenter or any other single person. Yet, Ozanne says he has concluded charges against Mses O’Reilly and Hamer can be proven to a trial jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Reports Chris Rickert in the Wisconsin State Journal on the decision of Judge Circuit Court Judge Stephen Ehlke at a probable cause hearing to allow these cases to go to trial:

Despite vigorous arguments from the attorneys for Samantha Hamer, 26, and Kerida O’Reilly, 33, both of Madison, Circuit Court Judge Stephen Ehlke found there was enough probable cause to continue with the case against the women, both of whom are charged with substantial battery in the June 24 attack.

Hamer’s attorney, Adam Welch, and O’Reilly’s attorney, Nathan Otis, argued that testimony from the lead Madison police detective in the case did not point to evidence that their clients had been the ones to punch or kick state Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee. ...

'(Carpenter) has not been able to say whether Ms. Hamer specifically touched him in any way. Is that right?' Welch asked Madison police detective Linda Trevarthen.

'Correct,' Trevarthen said.

Good enough for the cops. Good enough for Ehlke, and for Ozanne fronting for Carpenter because they share the same Party affiliation.

So, faced with a corrupt district attorney's office, we as a community can protest, write, and alert the community that two more civil rights workers are about to suffer another injustice.

I wrote Ozanne an email on July 31. We cannot stay silent, no matter how many Ismael Ozannes and Derek Chauvines stain an office of public trust.

The email is reproduced below:
--
Ismael,

As a member of our community, I have followed with grave concern the cases of Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer.

I am aware that you do not know how, and by whom and with what force violence was inflicted in the confrontation among Tim Carpenter and depending on whom you believe — the police quote a journalist saying some ten people, you say two people — and those who may be criminally responsible.

Did these two women use their elbows, fists, feet, head, or blunt instruments? You have no idea, yet you are charging them with being party to substantial battery by undetermined persons, a "group," as Carpenter told police.

Are you satisfied with Carpenter's credibility?

Did you know Mr Carpenter did not request medical assistance after speaking with protest medic and peacekeepers, as indicated in audio published by WORT News.

Did you know that after a WKOW-TV crew member phoned 911, Carpenter declined to go to the hospital?

Have you checked out Carpenter's story and timeline of the evening of June 23 and early morning of June 24.

Have you viewed video of Carpenter's 'collapse' performed right in front of WKOW-TV?

Do you ascribe responsibility to Mses. O’Reilly and Hamer because they are convenient faces on a video?

Carpenter said he was attacked by a "group." Yet, you divine O’Reilly and Hamer?

I ask you to drop these bogus cases, and issue a public apology to Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer, and Black Lives Matter.

Mike

Michael Leon
Marketing and Public Relations Consultant
http://malcontends.blogspot.com/

Madison, Wisconsin Turnout Rises Past 50 Percent — State Casualty Numbers Expected in Weeks

Wisconsin elections thrust on the people in the middle
of a deadly pandemic may have solved the Milwaukee
turnout problem for a generation. Republicans
don't care how people die as a result of their reckless acts.
Photo: Patricia McKnight of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Update: "It was just absurd," Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said, referring to the April 7 elections Republicans imposed upon an outraged Wisconsin public. "I mean, first of all, why would you think it's appropriate to hold an election when you have to dress that way as a poll worker? But two, the haves and the have-nots. I guess, if you're the speaker (dressed in personal protective equipment), [Rep Robin Vos (R-Rochester, Wisconsin)] that's what you get. If you're everyone else, you get what you get."(WKOW-TV, (Madison))

Madison, Wisconsin — The Madison city clerk reports turnout surpassed 50 percent at 4:00 Wednesday morning.

That figure is expected to climb.

Considering the risk and massive voter suppression work of the Republicans Party at multiple levels and branches of government, 50-some percent is a miracle.

Local officials expressed outrage at state leaders for not postponing the dangerous elections.

An election casualty list is not expected until two weeks.

Unofficial @CityofMadison turnout numbers (with additional absentees pending until 4/13): 87,552 ballots. 50.3%

Absentees counted today: 61,279

April 2016 turnout: 66%#MadisonVotes2020 #MadisonWI

— Madison WI Clerk (@MadisonWIClerk) April 8, 2020

Outrage at Republicans who thrust Wisconsin citizens into the coronavirus COVID 19 storm may have created a "Vos effect," a determination to vote against Republicans.

Rep Robin Vos (R-Rochester, Wisconsin) is the Speaker of the gerrymandered state assembly who successfully worked to kill efforts to postpone the April 7 elections.

Wisconsin Goes to Polls amid Pandemic; 'Lives at Risk for No Reason,' Says Dane County Clerk

Gov Evers Admin Refuses Stay-at-Home Order to Halt Elections

Long and dangerous lines of people at
Marshall High School in Milwaukee.
Photo: Kristen Clarke

Updated - Madison, Wisconsin — Wisconsin is conducting its presidential primary and other elections today to outrage across the state in the middle of a deadly public health crisis, (Schmidt, Vetterkind, Wisconsin State Journal).

Public health professionals, local officials and the public are in a word, incensed.

"Health officials have said in-person voting presents a large risk to public health and creates a situation where the virus will spread."

Across Wisconsin, more than 2,400 cases of coronavirus have been reported as of Monday, with 1,300 in Milwaukee County alone," writes Molly Beck in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Just heard from voter who just voted at Hamilton in Milwaukee that the wait was 1 hour and 40 minutes to vote https://t.co/55K8WbpAnc

— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) April 7, 2020

Wisconsin Republicans have maneuvered in the Republican-controlled, state and federal courts and the legislature to move the elections forward, no matter the costs.

What a disgrace. Requiring that your residents compromise their health or forego what they see as the most significant act of civic participation available to them is deranged. https://t.co/PkEriZd5R8

— Berny Belvedere (@bernybelvedere) April 7, 2020

Gerrymandering has resulted in a Republican Party so malicious towards the public, the Party is unrecognizable from its predecessors 20 years ago.

In the 2016 Wisconsin presidential primary, 2,976,150 voters cast their ballots.

Fearing for their lives today, many voters will stay home, and will depress turnout numbers far-below 2016.

Absentee ballots have been requested in record numbers, but 1,282,762 absentee applications will see likely 10,000s of ballots never counted, due to staff shortages and poor voter education during the crisis.

The state that pioneered public health systems and zoonotic (virus creation and animal-to human) research 60 years now sees academic and medical professionals' work dismissed.

Protestors driving in cars gathered at the City-County building driving around the block early this morning as a rebuke to legislative Republicans and Gov. Tony Evers (D).

Evers has contorted himself in his evolving positions on halting the elections the last week.

First, Evers claimed there is nothing he can do; then he issued an 11th-hour executive order banning elections, and finally refused a stay-at-home order to halt perhaps the most reckless gamble in this state's history.

In late April, as deaths and infections continue across the state, Wisconsin is likely to pay for Republican malice and the criminal weakness of its Democratic governor.

Republican judges on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are credibly refred to as killers.

This is Wisconsin today.

What Republicans and Gov Evers have accomplished today is unforgivable.

In Milwaukee, amid a #CoronavirusPandemic, only 5 of 180 polling places are open for today.

In Waukesha, only 1 polling place is open.

The lines are already overwhelming.

Wear safety gear. Bring your own ✏️.

Protect yourself. Protect democracy.pic.twitter.com/S0DnbMGMmO

— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) April 7, 2020

Hello from Madison, Wisconsin. It's Election Day. pic.twitter.com/U7X7AmPzTm

— Shawn Johnson (@SJohnsonWPR) April 7, 2020

From Alex Larson and Amy Thomas in Milwaukee, (Facebook)

An update from the front lines in Milwaukee from my friend Alex Larson: These shots below and right were just shared to a neighborhood group I am in. This is my polling place today at Riverside High School. Polls open at 7 and there’s already huge lines. So now I’m a disenfranchised voter, because no way am I going out there with this much potential exposure, IN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC.

Not only that, but as someone with cerebral palsy, standing on my feet for that long

just isn’t feasible. This wouldn’t have occurred if the election had been delayed and we could have the 180 polling places in Milwaukee like we normally do. Now we just have five! My other option is to drop off my absentee ballot at city hall. The ride there, the ride back, and getting a witness means I’m exposed to 3 people, at the very least. Again, this is IN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC.

Watch for the surge in COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks. It’s going to occur. Any flattening of the curve, which Wisconsin was doing a great job of, is going to go out the window. The inaction of our Governor and the complete disregard for health and safety by the Republican Party are responsible for this, and any deaths that come as a result. This is fucking outrageous.

Dane County, Wisconsin County Clerk Wants April 7 Elections Delayed for Safety and Fair Vote

Madison, Wisconsin — The Dane County, (Wisconsin) County Clerk is calling on Gov Tony Evers (D) to halt Wisconsin's April 7 elections.

Scott McDonell has been reportedly been hearing complaints from Dane County citizens and public officials, former public official, and evaluating public health data on the transmission of coronavirus COIVD 19 from public health professionals, (Public Health, Madison and Dane County).

McDonnell wrote last night on Facebook:

I am convinced this election can not be run in a fair and safe manner on April 7. I have asked the County Board to authorize an amicus brief asking for a delay of the April 7 election.

The safety risk of voters and election workers is too great to risk. The chance of errors due to confusion, crowding and over work is great. The likelihood of thousands of ballots being returned after statutory deadline through no fault of the voter or clerk is very high calling into question the legitimacy of the election.

I am grateful that County Executive Parisi agrees with this assessment and that the County Board has scheduled this for Thursday's County Board meeting. I urge voters who agree to share this post and to email the County Board that you support Resolution 582 at county_board_recipients@countyofdane.com 

Gov Evers has the authority to effectively ban Election Day, in-person voting by virtue of his power during this public safety emergency.

Janel Heinrich, Director, Public Health Madison and Dane County sent a memo to the Madison City Attorney and Mayor dated March 30, entitled, "April 7th election and COVID-19: Urgent need to postpone and move to mail-in ballots only, " (Appendix. Public Health, Madison and Dane County memo).

Evers can issue a new, superseding Emergency Order through Health Sec.-designate Palm that bans public-planned, state-sanctioned gatherings that would preclude holding in-person voting on Election Day, as empowered by the Heath Emergency of March 12.

Evers is close to banning such polling place gatherings as will be heal on Election Day, in Palm's subsequent March 17 Emergency Order 5 - Prohibiting Mass Gatherings of Ten People or More.

Wisconsin is in a public health state of emergency, per Executive Order 72, Relating to Declaring a Health Emergency in Response to the COVID-19 Coronavirus​ ​— ​March 12, 2020.

But Evers has been reluctant to buck the Democratic National Committee in a year that sees Wisconsin hosting the Democratic National Convention in July.

Democratic-leaning sources say Evers has come under mounting pressure from the public health community, and is jeopardizing the political support of his base.

Wisconsin citizens on social media have been excoriating Gov Evers:

Christine Headson He should stand up for his constituents and to the citizens of Wisconsin for whom he took an oath to protect ! Have courage Governor Evers ‼️

Li-Lin Cheng

Maybe Governor Evers believes that the best cheese and microbrewery beer have made us Wisconsinites immune to Coronavirus pandemic?

Check out the blog of Mayor of Madison Satya Rhodes-Conway. Never mind what I said about Wisconsin cheese and beer. As someone who was a virologist, I find this unique approach of our Governor Evers very strange and concerning. BTW, nearly 60% of the polling stations do not have enough work force come next Tuesday on Election Day.

Tony C. Saladino You cannot self-quarantine and go to the polls.

Success from Dane County

Don't think of mourning; start organizing, analyzing, acting and preparing for victory

In 2006 the state of Wisconsin passed a referendum enshrining bigotry into the Wisconsin Constitution.

One county objected: Dane County. Typical.

Eight years later, a group of brilliant activists, attorneys and allies (led by the youth) celebrates same-sex marriage. Public opinion follows.

The day before Election Day, a young black man at a southwest Madison neighborhood center was asked about his thoughts on the governor's race.

"I'm not going to vote; they're all crooks," he replied. He is wrong, but I listened.

If we speak to this young man's concerns, and recognize his humanity, we win.

Dane County rejected Scott Walker on the order of 70 percent for Mary Burke yesterday.

The determination of artists, writers, activists, scholars, scientists, information tech specialists and myriad other humans to listen-up, analyze and do something contributing to the common wealth is what makes Dane County the vanguard in Wisconsin.

There are numerous other elements of Dane County that make Dane County a Mecca.

This is a community effort, ranging from fighting racism to recognizing that yea, maybe DNR wardens are heavy-handed on people who fish, drink beer and hunt deer. And those guys in Adams, Wood and Kewaunee County are right about polluting our waters.

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." --Winston Churchill

A friend signs off her emails this way.

So, whatever you do, we don't have the time or anybody to waste.

Dane County Self-Correcting Optec Scanners Alert Voters to Multi-Party Voting

At least in Dane County, voters who cast votes on more than one party line (negating the ballot) are alerted audibly and immediately by the Optec machine.

Voters then can re-cast another ballot and correct their mistake.

Typically, Dane County is among the highest turn-out counties in the state, leaning significance to those who would make the mistake on Primary Day of casting votes in more than one political party.

Reports from the county indicate that the correctable errors of multi-party primary voting are occurring infrequently, but are definitely occurring and being corrected by voters on the spot.

Falk Sees Mandate for Police Roadblocks

The race between Democrat Kathleen Falk and Republican Nancy Mistele for Dane County Executive was in many ways business as usual.

The Madison second and sixth aldermanic districts (comprising proud and traditionally progressive populations) went overwhelmingly for Falk, giving her 83 percent and 91 percent of the vote respectively.

Madison Alder District 2 - Votes for Mistele - Falk

0111 C MADISON WD 37 ----------------94-------- 492
0112 C MADISON WD 38 ---------------54--------- 454
0113 C MADISON WD 39 ---------------114 --------431
0114 C MADISON WD 40 ---------------40--------- 183


*Total Votes-------------------------- 302-------- 1,560

Madison Alder District 6 - Votes for Mistele - Falk

0107 C MADISON WD 33---------------108 --------1,084
0108 C MADISON WD 34 ---------------97 --------1,110
0109 C MADISON WD 35 ---------------42--------- 578
0110 C MADISON WD 36 ---------------27--------- 124

*Total Votes -------------------------274--------- 2,896

* Unofficial results

As Matthew DeFour notes in the State Journal, rural Dane County went for Mistele who "won in Sun Prairie, Waunakee and the vast majority of the rural towns and villages, but not by as much as she needed to keep the race close" when the Madison isthmus wards began reporting.

What is not traditional here is Falk's acclaiming a mandate from a pro-civil liberties electorate for installing police roadblocks to catch drunk drivers [see Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz (1988); Rehnquist says police roadblocks are fine; Brennan, Marshall and Stevens dissent].

Citizens calling for police roadblocks? Not the Dane County I know.

Yet Falk spent a lot of television time on election night talking about how the victory means no more "alcohol misuse" in the name of "public safety." And this means it's time to install police roadblocks, says Falk, without mentioning police roadblocks by name in her victory interviews. One has to read the fine print in her "alcohol initiative" in which she refers to "checkpoints".

Makes search and seizure seem so much more palatable, though, again, where is the outcry for eviscerating the Fourth Amendment from Madison and rural Dane County?

Does Falk really believe police roadblocks are what Madison and Dane County want?

I'm betting that Falk might actually get around to reading the late authoritarian jurist William Rehnquist's opinion on roadblocks and back off. But who knows?

Let's hope that the necessary state legislation, already floated by Gov. Jim Doyle, dies fast.

Terrorists in Fitchburg Says Mayoral Candidate

Update: Bill Lueders of Isthmus broke this story at 9:58 this morning.

Mayoral candidate Jay Allen [at right] supports policies facilitating terrorists living in Fitchburg, says Allen’s opponent, former Fitchburg mayor Mark Vivian.

Mark Vivian is a hard worker; I respect him.

But Vivian has reportedly teamed up with GOP political operative (and occasional radio personality) Brian A. Schimming of the Midwest Strategy Group, a lobbying and consulting group in Wisconsin, in Vivian’s bid to defeat Allen on April 7 in this non-partisan mayoral race.

And the results are deplorable.

In a fund-raising letter dated March 9, Vivian writes:

My opponent, Jay Allen, has introduced legislative action to use the City’s police powers to condemn land owned by the Novation Campus, and threaten 2.5 million dollars of your tax money to interfere in what should be a private matter between current tenants living illegally on Novation property and its owners. The illegal tenants have known ties to an organization identified on the U.S. Federal Government list of domestic terrorist groups.

Honestly, this silly fear mongering employed by Vivian is sad, but I doubt Vivian came up with this nonsense by himself.

Writes Isthmus' Lueders: "The (alleged terrorist) group is called Food Not Bombs (a peace group)," Vivian says, when asked what domestic terrorist outfit he was referencing. "They’ve been working with the people [at Drumlin Farms] to organize protests."

Fear mongering is standard GOP fare that fortunately will not play any longer no matter how often Dick Cheney, Mark Vivian, or anyone tries it.

"This is funny," said Allen this morning. "Really, I just don't know what to say."

The John McCain-Sarah Palin-GOP fear mongering presidential campaign of 2008 generated some 37 percent of the vote in Fitchburg last November against Obama-Biden's 72 percent.

Look for similar results on April 7.

As for Mark Vivian, he's a better man than this silliness would lead you to believe.

Below is the picture of political desperation from Isthmus written by someone whose quest for political power has transformed him into a political golem.

Falk Is Shameless Now

Dane County dispatcher Nathan Waite is a hero.

In the Capital Times we read that Waite is being recognized for some superlative work.

From Mike Miller:

Dane County officials were happy Friday for something positive to celebrate at the 911 Center when they honored dispatcher Nathan Waite for the key role he played in the safe premature birth of a girl on Jan. 12.

Waite was on duty in the 911 Center when Brent and Kimberly Lodewyk of McFarland were rushing to a Madison hospital because Kimberly was facing the imminent birth of their child.

The Lodewyks were forced to pull off the road when the birth was about to occur. A call to the 911 Center was taken by Waite, who calmly instructed Brent Lodewyk on how to help with the birth and baby Katarina before medical help would arrive.

Nice work, Mr. Waite.

But don't forget what's really important here: Kathleen Falk's political career.

Falk jumped right into the picture of-course.

"This is just one of the countless stories of the heroic work our well-trained and dedicated dispatchers do everyday," Falk said.

C'mon. This man's first-rate work does not lessen Falk's failure on the Zimmermann case. Nor does it in anyway excuse Falk's covering up her failures.
And we know perfectly well that the Zimmermann murder is not the end of the story in the defects in the 911 Center that continued under Falk's administration. Madison writer Emily Mills catalogued numerous screw-ups and she hardly looked.

As Falk's likely opponent, Nancy Mistele, notes in a press release:

“I want to congratulate the 911 operator on a job well done, and the story of the 911 Center working as it should is heartwarming. But if Kathleen Falk is going to take credit for the achievements of the 911 center, then she is also going to have to shoulder the blame for its failures.

Since 2004, Kathleen Falk has ignored the advice of experts on how to fix the 911 center.

If Kathleen Falk had heeded those warnings, we’d have a lot more success stories like today’s, and a lot fewer headlines about the center’s failures.

Sadly, Friday’s news conference by Kathleen Falk is more about politics than public pride. It’s taken an election to make our public safety a priority for our current County Executive.

Dane County deserves someone who will put the safety of the community ahead of her political career.”

This never-have-I-ever-voted-Republican elector agrees. I have been asked in so many words, 'why are you trashing Falk, for *&#^ sakes'? [Just got a phone call.]

The short answer is Falk fell down on a critical aspect of the job: The 911 Center. A woman was murdered. And Falk treats the media in the manner of Dick Cheney.

And her latest ploy in pissing on the Fourth Amendment is nothing short of repulsive.

Let's not forget that Falk was all too happy to dump our former incumbent Democratic Attorney General for a far lesser offence.

Hey Guys, you can talk to Nancy Mistele. Check it out.

Falk-Mistele Debate
Jan. 28, Wednesday in Fitchburg
Fitchburg City Hall, 5520 Lacy Road
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Does Wisconsin Still Like the Fourth Amendment?

Update: On the federal level, US SC dilutes the 4th

One repulsive feature in the liberal arguments for routine police roadblocks [advocates call them “sobriety checkpoints”] is one of omission: The absolute refusal to address why roadblocks are offensive to liberty and specifically Fourth Amendment concerns.

Instead, we are treated to 38 other states do it; the Supreme Court’s 4th amendment doctrine of the Roberts Court says it’s okay, and so on.

Whatever happened to the libertarian ethos that we must be suspicious of claims demanding that we hand over our liberty for safety and security?

And when did we start taking our cues on liberty from Chief Justice John Roberts?

From Kathleen Falk, Jim Rowan, and other liberals, there is not so much as lip service paid to Fourth Amendment concerns.

Personally, I’m voting against Kathleen Falk in her reelection bid for Dane County Executive precisely because of her disregard of Fourth Amendment liberties [and her handling of the 911 Center-Zimmermann scandal].

A comment I received on a recent piece on the topic is instructive: Oh, you just must like to smoke pot and drive and you must like drinking and driving.

Apparently, the idea that citizens just like their Fourth Amendment whole and unharmed is incomprehensible to some, to many.

You would think that those who value liberty would begin their advocacy of roadblocks by prefacing how invidious police roadblocks are to the Fourth Amendment, but .... .

But there is not so much as a rhetorical struggle when it comes to proposing roadblocks.

The pro-roadblock crowd doesn’t grabble with such concerns because liberty is no longer a worry as they drunkenly veer into the old lock-them-up, criminalize, get-tough-on-crime nostrums of the last four decades that have resulted in America leading the world in its citizens incarcerated.

“The U.S. has less than 5 percent of the world's population but almost 25 percent of the world's prisoners. The U.S. leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment.” (NYT, Liptak, 04/27/08)

Iran? Saudi Arabia? Get in line, we’re number one in taking away our fellow citizens’ liberty but Rowen and Falk and company want a bigger lead.

But hey, what do James Madison (he’s that Bill of Rights guy after whom we named our capital) and the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College London know anyway?

I say they knew and know a lot about liberty, and as for the liberals who have gone along with (and now lead the way on) this tough-on-crime, war-against-drugs, more-people-in-jail foolishness: YOU'RE THE PROBLEM!

Fourth Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Contact author at: maleon64@yahoo.com
- via mal contends

Bush and Falk

Listening to Bush last night [Bush's goodbye is a festival of self-pity and delusion] is
like listening to Kathleen Falk defend her administration' 911 center work during the murder of Brittany Zimmermann.

Bush and Falk both did well on their own scorecards.

Dane County Exec Kathleen Falk’s Tenure Should End

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has joined the let’s-set-up-police-roadblocks-(sobriety checkpoints) bandwagon.

See, Falk—she of the let’s-cover-our-asses-fast reaction to the Dane County 911 Center’s widely reported screw-ups leading to the murder of Brittany Zimmermann—says she wants to change the attitudes towards and culture of Wisconsin drinking.

Gee, changing the culture, that's an interesting if unenlightened, proposed role for politicians and elected officeholders.

Anyway, let’s set up “checkpoints,” she advises our governor.

After thinking you see, Falk “… quickly realized that steps must be taken on the level of state policy to help curb the tide of alcohol abuse," Falk writes to Gov. Doyle, it is reported in the State Journal (Matthew DeFour) this morning.

A “tide” in the culture that we must address by draconian measures like "checkpoints" and criminalization?

Is this the precise, sober analysis that we can expect if we reelect Falk?

How about some checkpoints between Kathleen's Falk's administration, Dane County citizens and the 911 Center; you know that emergency thing that is supposed to work during, like, emergencies?

What I see from Falk is a tide of incompetence and bad judgement that led to a young woman’s murder, and now proposed opportunistic police measures better suited to the roadblock-loving folks of Indiana and the Fourth Amendment-hating Bush Department of Justice.

Maybe she’s hoping her tough-on-drinking stands will cover her incompetence and that of her lackey, Joe Norwick, her political appointment, whom she handpicked to run the 911 center in the first place. But Falk says her opponents should not make "political hay" of the Zimmermann tragedy.

Falk, a liberal with whom I generally agree on policy stands, is displaying either an ignorance or apathy of the propriety of checkpoints and criminalization (we need more people in jail), but I think her long screw-up on the Zimmermann case alone earns her the boot.

And I wish the Zimmermann family well in its wrongful death lawsuit against Falk, which I'm sure Falk will go to considerable lengths to dispute. It's Falk political career that's really important, don't you know?

In any event, much as I despise Nancy Mistele’s (Falk's likely opponent this spring) policy stands and am appalled at the thought of at seeing Mistile for four years in the Exec's seat, it’s time to dump Kathleen Falk, because what's really important is the death of a young woman and the liberties and safety our community exists to defend.

On that score, Falk has fallen down on the job.

Dane County Expects Record 90%-plus Turnout, Unofficial Estimate Says

A veteran elections official said today that Dane County is preparing for a record-breaking, 90-percent-plus turnout in the Nov. 4 presidential election.

The official said that the unofficial estimate is based on the number of absentee ballots requested and already cast, among other signs of high voter interest.

Election officials in Dane County are telling poll workers (election inspectors) working the second of two shifts on election day to expect a late night because absentee ballots cannot be counted until after the polls have closed, per Wisconsin law.

Poll workers can work a 6:00 AM-1:00 PM shift, a 1:00 PM-till close shift, or an all-day shift.

It's doubtful, the official said, that absentee ballots could be counted before 11:00 PM in some Dane County municipalities.

Dane County Cushion for Obama

Dane County supplied a 90,000-plus, winning margin for John Kerry, the Democratic nominee in 2004, and is expected to provide an even higher vote margin for Barack Obama this election cycle.

An analysis of the national electoral college states conducted here shows that if Virginia or North Carolina goes for Obama, Wisconsin will become a must-win state for McCain, based on current state polling numbers.

The record-breaking turnout may make a relatively early election night impossible if Dane County, usually at or among the highest in voter turnout of Wisconsin's 72 counties, has numerous wards reporting in around midnight.

The network exit polling, however, could show a Wisconsin victory for Obama shortly after the polls close, if current pro-Obama trends continue in the state.

Feedback for Dane County Dems

Update: Writes an alert reader, "Yep, that's what we called 'Potomac Fever,'" referring to the late political writer, Fletcher Knebel, and his nationally syndicated column (1951- 1964).

A couple of items arise from numerous conversations with Dane County residents just beginning to get a bit miffed at some Dane County Democrats.

Tammy Baldwin is getting a bit Washingtonized

A long-time Dane County resident (a voter who has lived decades longer than Baldwin) recounts encountering an officious, non-responsive Baldwin D.C. staff. "She drank the DC Koolaid," said the frustrated small business owner with excellent relationships with both Democrats and Republicans.

Baldwin's listening sessions seem more a granting of her audience than a listening session.

Baldwin, who has a political lock on the Second Congressional District, has just begun, in the view of many activists, to have adopted the MO of the ambitious politico. Some area of concern needs a voice, and the cautious Baldwin is there after the terrain is made safe and apparently after she checks to make sure that it's okay.

Baldwin's no Bob Kastenmier in 1986 who became too isolated from the district, far from it, but her act has people talking.

Obama's Madison-area Field Operation Seems in Neutral

For many questioners of the Barack Obama field operation for Dane County (that gave John Kerry a 90,000-vote cushion in 2004) the answer to the questions When do I get an Obama-Biden yardsign, and When will we start knock-and-drops yields an effective answer of "later" some 45 days out from the election in this critical swing state.

Utilizing eager grunts is crucial to operating a successful field operation, and representing the grunts is sort of why we send someone to Washington is the first place.

Let's hope we see some pivoting fast.

Judge Hearing DOJ Voter Suppression Case Is No GOP Tool

Update: Observers fear Van Hollen’s election lawsuit will cause problems

We have a corrupt Attorney General Van Hollen fronting for the national GOP against Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board (GAB) that is sticking up for Wisconsin voters.

Van Hollen's DOJ Complaint was filed with Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi's office.

So who is Maryann Sumi?

Sumi is listed as a supporter of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge Louis Butler on his website for his unsuccessful reelection bid.

Butler was defeated by the GOP political machine on April 1 by former Burnett County Circuit Judge Michael Gableman.

Sumi has been on the bench since 1998 and enjoys a reputation as a fine jurist and political liberal, informed observers say.

US Secret Service and Dane County's 911 Center

by globalgirl and mal contends

Madison, WI - We have heard numerous comments in conversation from friends and family fearful that there are just too many bigoted idiots in America to let Barack Obama live to be president.

Our common response is that: Though I do not know it for a fact, the United States Secret Service, created after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, is surely a dynamic, continuously improving organization. A would-be assassin's shot like that taken at Ronald Reagan in 1981 is undoubtedly nearly impossible today. It would take a military assault to get to Obama, I bet, I hope.

Dane County 911 Center

Closer to home another public service and protection agency, the Dane County 911 Center apparently doesn't have a lessons-learned, dynamic approach to quality improvement.

Matthew Defour's piece in Sunday's Wisconsin State Journal reveals that:

Dane County's emergency dispatch center has kept incomplete and disorganized records of police complaints about its shortcomings, limiting its ability to prevent potentially life-and-death mistakes such as those that happened at the 911 center the day Brittany Zimmermann was killed.

Local police, fire and emergency medical workers are part of the problem -- many do not file formal complaints about 911 mistakes, instead relying on casual communication with center officials to correct shortcomings.
But even problems that are communicated in writing are not systematically being recorded, which experts say would allow dispatch center managers to spot troubling patterns and intercede with training.

No one expects the 911 center to have the sophisication of the Secret Service, but Jesus H., the only apparent dyanmic, lessons-learned phase in place has been the reporting of Bill Lueders and Jason Shepard at Isthmus and the Wisconsin State Journal.

Constitutional Incompetence

Dane County's response to the lawsuit filed by the parents of the murdered UW-Madison student, Brittany Zimmermann, is mystifying: the U.S. Constitution "does not require municipalities to rescue persons in distress."

The suit will likely get tossed, but so what?

A young woman was killed, and Dane County failed her.

Settle the suit, and help put this tragedy behind the grieving family. There may not be a constitutional right mandating that our community protects our citizens, but there is an uncontroversial public policy imperative.

Ed Treleven in the Wisconsin State Journal reports:

A federal civil rights lawsuit filed against Dane County and a former 911 dispatcher by the parents of homicide victim Brittany Zimmermann should be dismissed because the county has no constitutional obligation to protect individuals from the acts of others, a response to the lawsuit states.

The response, written as a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, was filed late last month by private attorneys representing Dane County and former dispatcher Rita Gahagan. They were sued last month by Kevin and Jean Zimmermann in U.S. District Court over the response of the 911 center to a call made from their daughter's cell phone around the time of her death on April 2.

For more information, see:

- Falk apologizes to Zimmermann's family, fiance (Capital Times, May 6)
- County Board chair wants answers on 911 problems (Cap Times, May 6)

- Falk apologizes to Zimmermann's family, fiance (Capital Times, May 6)

- Soglin: We all failed Brittany Zimmerman.

***Note*** Contributions in memory of Ms. Zimmermann may be sent to:
The “Dollars for Brittany” scholarship fund
Care of the Brittany Zimmermann Memorial Fund
Marshfield Medical Center Credit Union
P.O. Box 279
Marshfield, WI 54449

Dane County 911 Center Much, Much Better than Nashville's

Nashville, Tennessee 911 operator: "I really just don't give a shit what happens to you."

From David Edwards and Mike Sheehan at Raw Story:

A Nashville woman who waited hours for someone to respond to her call to 911 emergency services didn't hear the worst part of the call.

After Sheila Jones hung up the phone, a local news reporter found that one 911 operator said, "I really just don't give a shit what happens to you."

"I think I'm more hurt than I am mad that my life didn't mean a damn thing to them," said Jones, after hearing the tape played back to her for the first time. Jones had called for help after an ex-boyfriend assaulted and threatened her.

Citizens Leading, Dane County Officials Flailing

Update: Dane County Board spins wheels on Zimmermann 911 call controversy
Madison, WI - "The County Board's mood didn't mirror the public outrage," in questioning "embattled" 911 Center Director Joe Norwick yesterday, reads the Capital Times.

That's likely because the public is of the mind that 911 operators reached ought to err on the side of credulity over disbelief, and callers tend to view defects of these best and needed 911 practices with derision.

There is, the Zimmerman tragedy reveals, a culture of skepticism towards the public at the Dane County 911 Communications Center.

The truth of the matter is Kathleen Falk and her supporters seem interested in political damage control more than anything else.

Reports Nathan J. Comp from yesterday's Norwick appearance:

... Supervisor Eileen Bruskewitz (District 25) did criticize Kathleen Falk for attending a conference in New York rather than the meeting. This looks more to me like a cover up,' Bruskowitz exclaimed, before Board Chairman Scott McDonell (District 1) scolded her comment as inappropriate. ... Supervisor Kurt Schlicht (District 28) said he has been unimpressed with how Norwick, but particularly Falk, has handled the controversy. 'It does seem funny that the leader isn't here when her 911 director is testifying before two committees,' he said after the meeting. 'She isn't genuine and lacks direction. She is in panic mode, not directional mode.'

That seems about right to me. By the way, why in the hell does Joe Norwick still have a job?