DA in Iron County Drops Crazy Charge Against Clean Water Activist

Katie Krow Kloth was targeted by the now defunct Mining
Co., GTAC, and Corrupt Wisconsin DA, Martin Lipske

The capricious charge of preference for a corrupt Wisconsin District Attorney—Felony Bailjumping—was dropped last week against clean water and environmentalist, Katie Krow Kloth in Iron County court in northern Wisconsin.

Before being rebuffed in January by Judge Fox of Price County for an array of contrived charges against Kloth, Lipske instituted the new felony charge of Bail Jumping, a Class H Felony hours before Fox refused a prison term and instead sentenced Kloth to nine months in Iron County jail for actions at a protest against the proposed GTAC mine two years earlier. (Mal Contends)

Reached by phone, Lipske said there is a forbidden area in the forest of Iron County on which Ms. Kloth set foot in January, and this constituted felony bailjumping.

The Bail Jumping charge was without merit, and had Ms. Kloth been convicted of this malicious prosecution, she faced years in prison. The felony charge was dropped.

Instead last week, Lipske on May 27 stipulated at a hearing to a civil infraction, trespassing, under which Kloth will have to pay the Court: $263.50.

Why would Lipske launch this crazy felony charge in the first place?

Lipske is a corrupt, out-of-control District Attorney who should have his license to practice law revoked, again. (Mal Contends) (Mal Contends)

GTAC Mining Protestor Gets New Civil Rights Attorney

Katie Krow Kloth targeted by Mining
Co. and Corrupt Wisconsin DA

A woman protesting the siting of a proposed massive open pit mine in Iron County Wisconsin (since effectively withdrawn) is serving a nine-month jail sentence after Iron County's notorious District Attorney Martin Lipske insisted on filing numerous criminal charges associated with a protest in 2013.

Today, conservationist Katie Krow Kloth was granted a change of attorney, and now local Iron County attorney Anthony Stella will be representing Kloth against another criminal charge, felony bailjumping.

Attorney Anthony 'Tony' Stella is well-known throughout Wisconsin and is regarded highly in civil rights circles and the Wisconsin legal community.

The felony bailjumping charge was tacked on against Ms. Kloth by Lipske, in keeping with Lipske's penchant for employing this charge as a means of maliciously inflicting stress onto disfavored criminal and civil defendants.

This state of affairs in which a sitting district attorney runs his office in a capricious and often volatile manner is virtually unknown outside of isolated Iron County in far-northern Wisconsin.

Local residents describe Lipske, whose law license was suspended for discipline involving "dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misconduct" in 1990, as "terrorizing" the county with a sparse population of some 6,000 residents.

Lipske has been practicing in good standing since January 19, 1994, according to the State Bar of Wisconsin.

Lipske was criticized by local residents of Ashland and Iron County, (speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation by Lipske), for stipulating last year to a deferred prosecution of a local politically connected man, Dennis D. Braun, involved in a child sex trafficking crime involving a 14-year-old girl who ran screaming out of hotel after being transported some 600 miles from Milwaukee to a hotel in the town of Mercer in Iron County. (Mal Contends)

Lipske minimized the incident saying, "the man only engaged in kissing the 14-year-old and providing wine." (KBJR News, Oct. 2, 2013), before agreeing to not prosecute Braun.

Braun was granted a liquor license in 2003 by the City of Hurley for an exotic establishment on Silver Street.

Mining Protester Motion to Dismiss Denied, Faces Trumped-up Charge by Iron County's Corrupt DA

Katie Krow Kloth targeted by Mining Co. and
Corrupt Wisconsin DA, Martin Lipske

Gogebic Taconite mining company (GTAC) opponent, Katie Krow Kloth, appeared at an initial hearing today on Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske's charge of felony bailjumping.

Kloth's motion to dismiss was denied.

An evidentiary hearing [Preliminary hearing] is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2015 at 2:p.m.] to determine whether probable cause exists for the criminal process on this charge to continue.

The case is State of Wisconsin vs. Katie M Kloth (Iron County Case Number 2015CF000001).

Kloth appeared in orange jail attire and hand cuffs, an observer said.

The case is manufactured by GTAC and Idea Drilling company working with Iron County officials to throw Kloth behind bars for as many years as it can get a judge to agree.

Not content to front for Gogebic Taconite mining company (GTAC), Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske is pursuing felony bail jumping charges against Kloth, a mining protester whom Lipske threw the book at for a rowdy political demonstration.

Felony bail jumping charges are the go-to charge for Lipske who is volatile and has a shady history as district attorney; and before that position was suspended for discipline in 1990 for deceit.

After Lipske filed four criminal charges against Kloth for a June 2013 demonstration, Kloth appeared before Price County Judge Douglas T. Fox on January 21, 2015 and received a nine-month jail sentence with seven years probation.

Lipske had asked for a $80,000-plus restitution from Kloth for claimed damages against GTAC, a ludicrous request that was denied was Judge Fox.

Lipske wants the seven-year probation revoked.

Lipske refused to prosecute GTAC's "security" company, Bulletproof Security though Bulletproof acted in contravention of Wisconsin law, after Bulletproof Security's president, Tom Parrella, consulted with Scott Walker's administration in 2013.

Lipske had asked for a $80,000-plus restitution from Kloth for claimed damages against GTAC, a ludicrous request that was denied was Judge Fox.

Lipske wants the seven-year probation revoked.

In 1990, Lipske's license in practice was suspended for two years for professional misconduct.

Mine Protestor Gets Light Jail Sentence, Corrupt Iron County DA Sought Long Prison Term

Katie Krow Kloth targeted by Mining
Co. and Corrupt Wisconsin DA

Updated - Nine-month Jail Term and Small Restitution for Mine Protester and Environmental Activist - DA Martin Lipske's 15-year prison sentence rejected by judge; GTAC's $80,000-plus restitution request rejected by judge [It was originally reported that the sentence is six months, but as the two counts' sentences are running consecutively and not concurrently, the jail term is nine months].

Update: A source in Iron County Wisconsin says Iron County DA Lipske, after being rebuffed today by Judge Fox, is now working on new charges against Ms. Kloth.

Lipske will not be satisfied until he has inflicted as much pain as possible on Ms. Kloth and will contrive virtually any charge in his ongoing abuse of process and malicious prosecution of Ms. Kloth.

The new charge is now Bail Jumping, a Class H Felony, though Ms. Kloth has never missed an appearance.

Reached today by phone, Lipske said there is a forbidden area in the forest of Iron County on which Ms. Kloth set foot.

The case is State of Wisconsin vs. Katie M. Kloth, Iron County Case Number 2015CF000001. Lipske said he is touch with Kloth's attorney, John C. Bachman of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Lipske claims that entering the forbidden zone in the Penokee Hills last Sunday constitutes "Bail Jumping."

 "On Sunday, at least 45 people snowshoed into the 'forbidden zone,' an off-limits mining zone in the Penokees established by Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) through the Wisconsin DNR, to peacefully protest the proposed mining in the region," reports Amber Mullen, Ashland Daily Press.

Objectively, Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske is a despicable human being who should be investigated for misconduct again, and have his license suspended again by the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation.

Lipske said he had no choice but to pursue another felony charge though the political protest case is effectively closed. 

Lipske does have a choice, it's called prosecutorial discretion, but this human garbage is on a vendetta.
 ---
Katie Krow Kloth was sentenced to serve nine months in Iron County jail before a packed courtroom in Hurley, Wisconsin, and was described by the presiding judge as committing an offense on the low end of the spectrum at a political protest in 2013.

Two sentences of six and three months are ordered to be served consecutively by Ms. Kloth who is eligible for work release and has two weeks to report to jail. "Kloth will have five years of probation with the felony charge and two years with the misdemeanor," notes the Ashland Daily Press.

The presiding judge, Price County Judge Douglas T. Fox, said a prison sentence was not "appropriate," and withheld requested prison sentences, rejecting Iron County DA Martin Lipske's appeals.

Lipske is notoriously corrupt and known for fronting for Gogebic Taconite (GTAC).

GTAC's $80,000 request for restitution was rejected in full.

A different company employee, Stacy Saari, was ordered to receive a small restitution from Kloth.

Ms. Kloth, a 27-year-old woman who had no criminal record prior, is an environmental and Native American activist who faced four criminal charges for actions at a 2013 political protest at the proposed GTAC mine site in northern Wisconsin, (see Kaufman, New York Times).

Ms. Kloth had pleaded No Contest to two charges last September.

Kloth's attorney, John C. Bachman of Eau Claire, Wisconsin said he had never seen so many letters of support in a criminal case today as at this hearing.

The Department of Corrections filed a presentencing report with the Court on November 13, 2014, ordered by Price County Judge Douglas T. Fox on September 23, 2014.

"Katie is an intelligent and skilled botanist who has much to teach about the natural world," said environmental activist Rob Ganson of Citizens Concerned about the Proposed Penokee Mine in a letter to  Judge Fox.

Ms. Kloth made a motion for a new judge in March 2014, as is her right (unique among the 50 states) to move for substitution in Wisconsin for no stated cause, though the case stays in the jurisdiction of Iron County.

Good move.

The District Attorney, Iron County's Martin Lipske, is a corrupt jurist, suspended for discipline in 1990, and like Iron County Judge Patrick Madden is not a jurist with whom you want to be dealing when you are protesting the proposed giant open pit GTAC mine in Iron County.

Lipske, incredibly (but not for Lipske), had charged Kloth on four criminal counts two of which could have resulted in a 15-year prison sentence for an incident during which the alleged victims were seen laughing on tape.

Judge Fox handed down the sentence—some 11 months after Kloth's motion for a substitution of judge—this morning after DA Lipske threw the book at Kloth in typical Lipske-abuse-of-discretion fashion.

The charges stem from a criminal complaint of June 21, 2013.

Kloth had reached a plea deal in September, facing DA Martin Lipske throwing the book at her.

Krow was described as "looking well" yesterday by a long-time resident of Ashland County who spoke with Krow at the produce aisle at Chequamegon Food Coop on Tuesday, January 20th in the city of Ashland.

The same source said, Krow told him, "she has a good feeling about tomorrow's trial and claims to be ready for whatever happens."

Today at the sentencing hearing, Krow was described as "emotional but composed, and remorseful," by an attendee of the hearing.

Kloth is also the victim of a PR campaign against her by Wisconsin GOP-front journals, the Wisconsin Reporter and Media Trackers, among GOP groups.

"[T]he Gogebic Taconite company contributed $700,000 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth during the recall races in 2011 and 2012. According to the John Doe prosecutors, that contribution was coordinated by agents of Gov. Scott Walker. Around the same time, Walker and the Republicans were promoting a bill that was partially written by Gogebic Taconite. That bill eventually passed, giving the company what it wanted for its controversial mine in Iron County." (Rothschild, The Capital Times)

Said Krow in July 2014: "Those who fight against the destruction of the water, land, plants, and human and non-human animals of the Penokee Hills and Bad River Watershed are not ‘terrorists.’ The only terrorists are those who plot to blow up the hills with ammonium nitrate and use the power of the state’s policing apparatus to repress and send fear and division through the communities that oppose them. Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) and Chris Cline have millions of dollars and the support of the state to destroy the Penokees [Hills]," (Bergquist, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

A support group of Krow's notes:

On June 11th, 2013, Kroft was cited by the Iron County Sherriff for theft due to her alleged involvement in a rowdy protest earlier that day that disrupted bore-hole drilling on the Penokee Range. She was neither arrested nor detained that day.

Ten days later, Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske increased the charges to robbery with use of force (a class E felony), two counts of criminal damage to property and one charge of theft of movable property.

It is apparent that the prosecutor gave into outside political pressure and that the charges were trumped up. The state legislature and powerful mining corporations seek to make an example out of anyone who dares to step out of line

A letter to Judge Fox by Rob Ganson of Citizens Concerned about the Proposed Penokee Mine (Facebook) is reproduced below:

Judge Fox,

Katie Kloth, in my opinion, is guilty of a crime, one like Bill Williams committed in the courthouse in Ashland, when he too, snatched a cell phone against resistance of the owner.

Small crimes like these, like the one perpetrated on 80-year-old Bruce Noble (no charges) occur on the streets of Hurley on a regular basis with no charges forthcoming. Please ask yourself why this particular case was so blatantly over-charged in Iron County.

It is clear on the video that a very minor assault was committed, while the victim’s co-workers, (a burly drilling crew) stood by laughing at the ill considered and rude antics. It is also clear that GTac responded by breaking the law; sending unlicensed mercenaries with military weapons, mercenaries in camo gear and masks, to confront hikers, including my wife. THIS was another sort of assault altogether! This assault was one including the brandishing of military rifles by masked men who seemed like some sort of terrorist cell and NOBODY was charged! The disposition of this case should be the same as it would be absent the political environment responsible for the elevated charges.

Katie is an intelligent and skilled botanist who has much to teach about the natural world, (if little about manners) and not some troublemaker with a record of crime or violence of any kind. I ask that you act in the spirit of justice and impose the slap on the wrist wake up call it would end in were it not for the politics that have so greatly exaggerated it.

Rob Ganson,
Washburn, Wisconsin
---

Bulletproof Securities, Inc, Photo by Rob Ganson

Read as well the refusal of DA Martin Lipske to prosecute the rightwing Bulletproof Securities, Inc. which tried to provoke natives of northern Wisconsin by unlawfully carrying semi-automatic weapons captured in a shot by Rob Ganson that was picked up nationwide.

July 17, 2013

Martin Lipske District Attorney
300 Taconite Street
Hurley, WI 54534

Re: Bulletproof Securities, Inc.

Dear Mr. Lipske:

This is a follow-up to my letter of July 11, calling your attention to several violations committed by Bulletproof Securities, Inc. while their armed personnel were unlawfully present in Wisconsin at the GTAC mine site. Apparently Bulletproof’s application for a Wisconsin license is still under consideration.

In my previous letter I did not specifically point to Wisconsin Statutes Section 134.58, which suggests that some officials and employees of both Bulletproof Securities and GTAC may have committed felonies. Section 134.58 states:

“Any person who, individually, in concert with another or as agent or officer of any firm, joint-stock company or corporation, uses, employs, aids or assists in employing any body of armed persons to act as militia, police or peace officers for the protection of persons or property or for the suppression of strikes, not being authorized by the laws of this state to so act, is guilty of a Class I felony.”

It is difficult to argue that this provision was not violated by the hiring of unlicensed personnel carrying AR-15’s, engaged to conduct surveillance and to protect the employees and property of GTAC.

Given this and the numerous previously listed violations, it is incumbent on your office and state regulatory authorities to insure that Bulletproof Securities, Inc. is not allowed to operate in Wisconsin. In the event Bulletproof officials were to be convicted of these charges, they would lose the right to operate in Arizona as well as Wisconsin. GTAC is presently utilizing Wisconsin personnel, and the tension has de-escalated. It would be counterproductive to reintroduce this firm into Wisconsin, as GTAC has promised. While Governor Walker and others have insisted that you prosecute law-breaking protesters to the fullest extent possible, I am looking for some semblance of an attempt to enforce the laws against out-of-state corporations responsible for criminal activity within our state.

Your defense of GTAC’s right to hire Bulletproof’s guards at Katie Kloth’s hearing was troublesome.

It was unrelated to her guilt or innocence, and only served to conflate the issues. No one has ever suggested GTAC has no right to hire private security -- they have every right to hire licensed personnel. Don’t confuse that with utilizing unlicensed, armed security forces in violation of Wisconsin’s criminal laws. Your vigorous stance in support of the hiring appears inappropriate for one charged with the duty to decide whether that hiring led to multiple violations of the law.

Unlike Governor Walker, I am not requesting that you use every weapon at your disposal. I am merely seeking assurances that Bulletproof Securities, Inc. will not be granted a license to operate in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is better served by the continued use of local companies that have demonstrated knowledge of and compliance with the law.

Sincerely,

Anthony J. Stella, Jr.
Copy: Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services

Motion Granted for New Judge in Gtac Protester Case

Katie Krow Kloth

Update: Per order, assigning judge/judicial assignment order, Price County Circuit Court Judge Douglas T. Fox will preside.

Katie Kloth, an environmental and Native American activist who is facing four criminal charges for alleged actions at a 2013 political protest, made a motion for a new judge today, approved by Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden.

The proposed Gogebic Taconite (Gtac) mine site is the source of widespread political opposition in Wisconsin, that in turn has seen the Koch brothers getting involved in local Iron County races over the mine.

Kloth's motion for substitution follows repeated public assertions made by citizen environmentalists and activists that Kloth would have trouble getting a fair trial in Judge Madden's courtroom because he is biased in favor of the proposed mine, (GTac), longtime Iron County residents note.

No rationale for the motion by Kloth has been made public, and the source for this development is the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access system.

A perception of bias is often the basis for seeking motions for judicial substitutions in criminal cases, and in itself implies nothing about the presiding judge.

The Iron County Circuit Court is located in the Ninth Judicial District, Wisconsin.

A friend of the Kloth family reports that the family is not returning media calls.

The Iron County DA, Martin Lipske, has a disturbing history of corruption, including overcharging politically disfavored defendants.

- Piece is updated to reflect the fact that seeking judicial substitutions in criminal cases does not in itself imply bias on the part of the presiding judge. There is a multiplicity of reasons for a defendant to move for a judicial substitution. In this case Judge Madden is in the tank for the mining company. -

All Charges Dismissed Against Iron County Man in Bizarre, Fabricated Bomb Scare Charge

Farm Defender Accused of Terrorism - By Rebecca Kemble with
Citizens Concerned about the proposed Penokee Mine
- We paid a visit to the Gollubske family in Kimball, Iron County,
Wisconsin. Their buildings, land and underground springs have been
affected by blasting from an asphalt company nearby. Their surface water
and air quality has been affected by the air pollution coming
from the asphalt cooking facility. Bob Gollubske was
arrested last May for terrorism because in his attempts to
seek justice and protect his farm,
he called the FBI and after describing his situation to no
apparent effect he asked the person on the phone,
"How would they like it if I blew up the
Iron County Courthouse?" He was
jailed for 4 days and released on a $10,000 bond.
Now he face(ed) penalties of 10 years in prison.
Bob reports that there are no more trout in the creeks
on the north side of Hwy 2 due to the air pollution and the
shifting granite bedrock from the explosions that has
diverted the artesian spring water to different locations.
He says the only place he fishes for trout anymore is
up in the Penokee Hills, and now they are under threat of
explosives from Gogebic Taconite's GTac bulk sampling
activities. Video of his testimony at the DNR hearing on
GTac's bulk sampling permit.

Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden defamed 76-year-old Robert Gollubske as causing  "a public furor," terrorizing and threatening to blow up the Iron County Courthouse in Hurley.

These statements are not facts. These statements are lies. Hence, the charges were dismissed by another judge.

Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske wanted to throw the book at the mild-mannered farmer, Gollubske, because Gollubske last spring and summer had engaged in a campaign against the GTac proposed mine, saying it will result in environmental damage similar to that Gollubske blames dynamiting and controlled explosives inflicted to his farm and home's structural damage and poisoning.

Gollubske spoke about his concerns at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources held a public hearing on Gogebic Taconite's Bulk Sampling Permit application and Gtac's pre-application notice on August 15, 2013 on video.

A request for a new judge was granted in State of Wisconsin v. Robert R. Gollubske, known locally as "Barrel Bob" Gollubske, a 76-year-old farmer from Hurley because of his four wheeler.

Price County Circuit Court Judge Douglas T. Fox presided over this morning's hearing.

Gollubske says the same type of damage he attributes to construction and road building companies would be wrought by GTac in Ashland and Iron counties.

Gollubske called the FBI, an assistant at the Iron County Courthouse, among other authorities to warn the community that the mine's explosions could poison and cause unforeseen damage. He is not alone in this assessment.

For his trouble, pro-mining Iron County DA Lipske tried to paint the farmer Gollubske as a "terrorist."

The WCCO list felony "Bomb Scares" in State of Wisconsin v. Robert R. Gollubske (Case Number 2013CF000027).

Gollubske retained attorneys, Jeff Scott Olson and Peter Bear of Madison.

This morning all charges were dismissed. But Gollubske has been through an ordeal, a trauma.

"I feel happy, I feel good. But I gotta tell you after the Iron County Sheriff or whoever arrested me, I now have bad dreams of him holding his gun over me, shaking his hand and waving like he's going to shoot me. I will never forget this for as long a I live. He was shaking and then asked, 'are you Mr. Gollubske?'" said Gollubske.

"I feel happy, I fell relieved, but my wife you know, she had a heart attack over this, a quadruple bypass, and thanks to Marshfield (Clinic). Being called a terrorist, how it felt. I still can't believe I was accused of being a terrorist."

Another thing I want to say is you will never now how it felt when charges were dismissed; you will never know. My thanks comes from my heart, (attorneys) Peter Bear and Jeff Scott Olson, and you know my heart is with them."

I have my health, my wife is struggling, you look at our barns and garages, the rattled windows; it looks like an earthquake if you see it."

"So, I'm the terrorist, but not after this morning," said Gollubske.

Gollubske said he can be reached at the following address in Hurley in Iron County:

Robert Gollubske
Kimball Drive West
Hurley, Wisconsin 54534

Wrongfully Convicted: Words from Don Miller, innocent freed after 16 years behind bars

Miller with son, Kirk; Kirk became
distraught later and took his life.

Love, forgiveness and peace from Don Miller of Iron County Wisconsin

"I have to be free of hate, no hate in my heart. The judge, Judge Madden [Patrick J. Madden] and DA [Iron County DA Martin Lipske], well, they're people too. I wish them well, may they go in peace. We have to forgive and move on with our lives. There is power in that."

Just off the phone with Don Miller of Hurley Wisconsin in Iron County.

Didn't know what to expect, I just phoned to say 'Hi, and wanted to say 'good luck, dude.'

I spoke with Don Miller from his Hurley kitchen early this afternoon from his parents' home where he'll be spending his first Christmas in 17 years—arrested with no investigation, a prosecutorial abuse of process and, what I believe to a judicial abuse of office handing down a 42-year sentence, after he asked his live-in girlfriend, Connie Vargovich, to move out out after she slept around town in the sexual playground known as Hurley, Wisconsin in 1990s.

Vargovich had a relationship with the presiding judge and the DA.

Miller has served some 5,913 days in prison and jail.

"I have to be free of hate, no hate in my heart. The judge, Judge Madden and DA [Iron County DA Martin Lipske], well they're people too. I wish them well, may they go in peace," said Miller. "I spoke at the hearing and wished Madden, 'good luck' and thanked him," said Miller. "I don't think they were expecting that."

I'm afraid to go to a grocery store, everything scares me, but I know I'm surrounded by love. A lot of people are feeling safe now, and I would like them come forward with what they know. I want to single out the Innocence Project for what they did."

Miller says, in the mean time, "Merry Christmas, I'm home at last."

[Note: This conversation took place by phone and I did not expect Miller to be so talkative. Wasn't even taking notes into a few minutes, so quotes may not be perfect.]

Two things I want to do.

One: Here a link to Chief Judge for the Court of Appeals or the Ninth Circuit Calling his jurisdiction an 'Epidemic' of Prosecutor Misconduct and,

Two: Play Don Miller some SRV. Out to you, man:

Life Without You-Stevie Ray Vaughan

... And the guy that's standing on the ground, that needs some help. You don't walk up and kick him, if you gonna do this, You better wear his shoes for awhile. Because you know what? Trade places with him and he'll pick you up. It's the truth. You better pass around as much love as you can in your lifetime. It's all we really have to give or accept. Are you with me?

Wrongfully Convicted: Don Miller of Iron County, Wisconsin Is Ordered Freed on Parole

Don Miller of Hurley, Wisconsin appears at hearing in Iron County Courthouse on
Monday. Seated with Miller is John Pray, director of University
of Wisconsin Law School Innocence Project.
Seated behind in the crowd are Innocence Project staff and supporters
of Don Miller. (Photo: Ralph Ansami/Daily Globe)

Update: Don Miller freed from prison after 16 years (Ralph Ansami. Ironwood Daily Globe).
 ---
This site has received word that Don Miller of Hurley, Wisconsin in Iron County has been ordered released on five-years parole today at a hearing this afternoon in the Iron County (Wisconsin) Courthouse.

Thank you Judge Patrick Madden is one meme floating around Iron County today, out of appreciation for his partially correcting an injustice, what this site and national network of advocates see as an abuse of prosecutorial power, and a malicious prosecution of an innocent man.

Wisconsin Court System - Circuit Court Access

Wisconsin Innocence Project attorneys are inaccessible for comment.

Family and supporters are nervous, afraid to talk, and won't be quoted. But Don Miller is going home to the Hurley, Wisconsin home of his parents to be home for Christmas for the first time in 17 years.

Miller has been in prison for some 16 years serving a 42-year sentence since 1997 that this innocent man's advocates have asserted credibly is a "miscarriage of justice," and "malicious prosecution," speaking on condition of background out of fear for retaliation by sitting Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske.

This development came after Miller's live-in girlfriend was asked to move out of Miller's house after sleeping around the sexual playground known as Hurley, Wisconsin. She lied amid widespread beliefs in the county she and Judge Madden were having an affair before, during the trial and with alleged victim.

Today's hearing was attended by a reporter from the Ironwood Daily Globe newspaper.

Federal corruption statute - 18 USC § 201

Some 25 supporters and family members along with several members of the Wisconsin-Madison Law School's Innocence Project were in attendance.

This site will keep the reader advised, and act and report, as developments warrant.

I will go further, if I am advised of unethical and malicious action, I will dedicate this site to rigorously launch grievances against all parties acting corruptly against this innocent man.

An Innocent Man Jailed by Corrupt Iron County; We Are the Bystanders

Don Miller and son, Kirk, before he grew up;
tried to free his father, and facing life with
his father in prison committed suicide

Don Miller is serving a 42-year sentence for a crime his live-in girlfriend fabricated after Miller asked her to move out in 1997.

If I had never written a piece about the Wisconsin State Journal playing stenographer for Iron County DA Martin Lipske, presenting Lipske as a credible source for the proposed Gogebic Taconite mine, I never would have heard about Don Miller.

But the free Don Miller people have built up an impressive national group of advocates, and noticing Martin Lipske in my piece wrote a comment about Don Miller's case prosecuted by Lipske, with URLs to Free Don Miller sites.

The Miller case was preceded over by Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden, about whom the advocates have evidence Madden had an affair with Miller's alleged "victim," while presiding over the trial.

The site, Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction, is quite a read. If an innocent man sentenced to 42 years is wrong, check out the site because you will not believe what takes place in Iron County, and it's not just Don Miller.

The University of Wisconsin Innocence Project is working on the case, but won't talk with the Don Miller advocates while they are in contact with the Iron County DA's office.

Did Wisconsin District Attorney Indict Himself under Own Letterhead

Title 18 USC § 201

District Attorney Martin Lipske appears to be in violation of a federal corruption statute

Updated - When Iron County (Wisconsin) DA Martin Lipske sent a letter earlier this year to the man he unjustly prosecuted in 1997, Donald Miller, after destroying DNA evidence it appears Lipske conditioned the performance of a specific act of his public office upon Don Miller's parents' not complaining about Lipske's shady law practice to the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR).

A letter written by Lipske to Don Miller, dated July 11, 2013, reads in part: "My intentions were to send a copy of the stipulation in which I agreed to your release. However, between the time that I received the form and the due date, I received another letter through the actions of your parents challenging my license to practice law. Therefore, nothing was sent as I intended." (Copy of letter is below.)

The Millers, Norm and Patricia, say they received a Feb 21, 2013 response letter from the OLR, and word from up north is that Lipske was not happy about the OLR complaint.

Reached by phone, Norm Miller does not remember sending the OLR a complaint to begin with, but in any event retaliation by a sitting District Attorney, and the performance of an official action should not be conditioned upon what the Miller parents do, as they attempt to prove their son's innocence in their retirement as they live in Hurley, Wisconsin.

Put another way, Lipske's seeking to clear his name (he was suspended for almost four years for professional misconduct before Judge Patrick Madden recruited him to run for DA in 1994) by withholding a promised action of his office is a corrupt use of public office, and a violation of federal law.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project has taken up this case, and has not returned phone calls.

What appear to be clear, however, is that Lipske is using the power of his office to stop people from challenging his misconduct in public office, and this appears to be a violation of a federal corruption statute.

Title 18 USC § 201 reads in part:

Whoever being a public official or person selected to be a public official, directly or indirectly, corruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept anything of value personally or for any other person or entity, in return for:

 

(A) being influenced in the performance of any official act;

So Lipske on his own Office of Iron County (Wisconsin) District Attorney letterhead delivered his message to the Millers: Stop reminding people of my professional misconduct (as is your right), or I won't help release an innocent man, your son, from prison by stipulating to his release.

Lipske's letter is below:

Innocent Man Behind Bars Mines for Heart of Gold

Don Miller with his son in happier times
(Photo from Miller family)

Nasty, brutal and long, the terror campaign of District Attorney Martin Lipske

Updated - Say, you run into an unscrupulous attorney with anti-social, criminal habits.

Citizens do have a recourse.

In Wisconsin lawyers are regulated (not as heavily as some would like), animated from both a concern for the general public and a related concern for the best practices of the legal profession.

This quality-control mechanism in Wisconsin is the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR), an office with theoretical teeth to rid the legal profession of bad actors.

The OLR is an agency of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Since 2000, this regulatory "system assists the Court in supervising the practice of law and protecting the public from misconduct by lawyers."

Norm and Patricia Miller of Hurley, Wisconsin have a grandson who committed suicide, distraught over the unjust incarceration of his father who was given a 42-year sentence by an Iron County (Wisconsin) judge who was romantically involved with the alleged victim before, during and after their son's criminal trial.

And the unscrupulous attorney with anti-social, criminal habits is the sitting Iron County (Wisconsin) District Attorney, Martin Lipske.

A dead grandson, a wrongfully imprisoned son, Norm and Patricia Miller are looking for justice, freedom for their son, Don, and the clearing of their son's name.

Virtually everyone who looked into this case - outside of Iron County DA Martin Lipske and Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden - believes Don Miller should not be prison.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project has taken up the case.

Their hearts broken, Norm and Patricia Miller keep working for their son's freedom, noting in an early 2013 complaint to the OLR about Lipske that Lipske misplaced exculpatory evidence that would have certainly exonerated their son in the infamous case—State of Wisconsin v. Donald R. Miller [Case Number: 97 CF 60], (1997).

Miller has asked his live-in girlfriend to move out of his home after it became clear one Connie Vargovich after Ms. Vargovich sleeping around town made it clear their relationship had ended.

Vargocich disagreed. She proceeded to make a host of accusations and the rest is tragedy.

Early this year, the parents filed an Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) grievance against Iron County DA Lipske.

Lipske then sent Don Miller a letter (at bottom of this page) conditioning action of his office stipulating Don Miller's immediate release from prison on the Miller's stopping sending letters to the OLR.

Lipske's letter, dated July 11, 2013, reads in part: "My intentions were to send a copy of the stipulation in which I agreed to your release. However, between the time that I received the form and the due date, I received another letter through the actions of your parents challenging my license to practice law. Therefore, nothing was sent as I intended."

Federal corruption statute - 18 USC § 201

So Wisconsin citizens can file a grievance with the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR), but they have to expect retaliation from the attorney, and coercion to not utilize this OLR check on the legal profession, or the sitting district attorney will use the power of this public office for the performance of a specific act (the release stipulation in Don Miller's case) for Lipske's corrupt purposes (perceived public clearing of his law practice history with no more future challenges made to the OLR)?

Screw that, I filed my own OLR grievance against Lipske August 29, 2014, and received an OLR response September 4, 2013. This matter is pending.

Lipske has worse than a checkered history of his practice of law in Wisconsin

Reached by phone today, the Millers say their Feb 21, 2013 response letter from the OLR found no issues in its "investigative jurisdiction."

The OLR letter also noted that more than ten years have passed since Lipske allegedly lost/destroyed DNA evidence.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project has not returned phone calls regarding this case.

Martin Lipske is quite a piece of work.

Lipske has jumped into bed with the Gogebic Taconite (GTac) mine company, tossing out the rule of law and impartiality with the fervor of a zealot.

We noted earlier at this site, this is the same District Attorney who has charged a 20-something mining protester, Katie Kloth, with multiple-felony robbery and other criminal violations for protesting the proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTac) mine, raising her voice and allegedly grabbing a cell phone from a mining company official.

And Lipske wants to criminally prosecute another man, a 76-year-old farmer, for attempting to bring in federal involvement that he believes is needed in Iron County.

This call for federal involvement in this den of corruption up north was recently echoed by six Native American tribes in northern Wisconsin to halt the environmental destruction that this proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTac) mine would wreak upon the whole region.

The farmer is concerned about the same proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTac) mine and other developers.

Citizens in Iron County are looking for evidence the armed militia, Bulletproof, operated in neighboring Ashland County, in the face of Lipske's refusal to prosecute Bulletproof for repeated violations of the law on behalf of the mining company.

I can't believe this county of 5,900 is part of the United States of America.

I can't believe Martin Lipske is allowed to practice law, and actually is a sitting district attorney.

As for Millers. Norm said, reached by phone in early September: "Don spent 16 innocent years in jail; 16 years of your life wiped away. I just want my son back; I want what is right."

Iron County Judge Steps Aside in Anti-mining Barrel Bob Gollubske Case

Penokee Range

A request for a new judge has been granted for Robert Gollubske, known locally as "Barrel Bob" Gollubske, a 76-year-old farmer from Kimball.

Iron County Judge Patrick Madden, known as a pro-mining judge, and notorious as the corrupt jurist who presided over the 1997 trial and 2012 hearing of Donald Miller, has agreed to step aside in this matter in a rare recusal for Madden.

Gollubske, a farmer in the Town of Kimball, Wisconsin, in Iron County, has drawn the enmity of Iron County officials for complaining about explosions near his farm.

He warns about the dangers of the proposed Gogebic Taconite Mine, blasting and dynamiting and ruining an environment.

For his complaints, Iron County officials have accused Gollubske of  (threatening) words, and causing "a public furor," as Madden has said publicly.

Few believe in this sparsely populated county that Judge Madden possesses the ethics to preside over the Gollubske trial, which ought to be dismissed with prejudice very quickly if anything like justice exists in Iron County.

Gollubske has also retained the services of renown civil rights attorney, Jeff Scott Olson, in addition to Peter Bear of Madison.

Gollubske did not endear himself to Madden (aka Madman) and DA Lipske at the DNR Public Hearing on G-Tac Bulk Sampling and pre-Application Notice held on August 15th in Hurley, Wisconsin (see below).

Gollubske also spoke against Mathy Construction company and the Northwoods Paving company that he blames for damaging his farm and home by their use of dynamite in the area. Mathy Construction is doing blacktopping work.

Gollubske says the same type of damage he attributes to Mathy will be wrought by Gogebic.

In 2009, Gollubske sued Mathy Construction Company of Onalaska, Wisconsin, and Northwoods Paving Co. (a division of Mathy Construction) of Ashland for damage to his home and farm, fearing his family is getting poisoned, an assertion he repeated at the Aug. 15 DNR hearing.

Gollubske called the FBI in May and made a rhetorical comment about blowing up the courthouse as an analogy (if not well-formulated) to the damages the Mathy Construction Northwoods Paving blacktop plant has caused at his farm.

At least Madden has stepped aside from this case, though even a perusal of the Don Miller case should cast doubt over, and taint any case over which Madden has presided.

Barrel Bob Gollubske is just a townie, a nice 76-year-old man about to find out how what a corrupt DA Lipske is.

Gollubske's friends in the community a few weeks before he was arrested said he is a just a harmless, gentle farmer who is upset about developers and now the proposed Gogebic Taconite Mine destroying the Penokee Range.

Gogebic has secured the mineral rights for a "22-mile, 22,000-acre stretch of the Penokee Range from southwest of Hurley to about six miles west of Mellen," notes The Nature Conservancy.

Said one neighbor, "He (Gollubske) was really angry with the blacktop company, and he claims they and the Iron County cops blew up his barns. When I looked in the news archive there was two articles about Kimball residents complaining of big explosions shuddering their houses. And ya know what the cops tried to tell the paper? We had reports some kids were shooting a cannon off. Cops said they told the kids to knock it off. I'm not kidding. Imagine cops going to a house full of kids that had a cannon big enough to fire something off to shudder houses for a few miles around and just telling them to knock it off?!"

No wonder Gollubske called the FBI.

Does even DA Martin Lipske, replete with incompetence and corruption, believe Gollubske is a terrorist?

Here's video of Robert (Barrel Bob) Gollubske at the DNR Public Hearing on August 15th held in Hurley.

- A version of this piece appeared August 18, 2013 -

Iron County Judge Patrick 'Madman' Madden—A Cornered Animal

Madden faces accusations he had an affair
with an alleged crime victim, Connie Vargovich,
before, during and after presiding over the 1997
trial of a defendant, the former live-in boyfriend
of the same alleged crime victim, Connie Vargovich.
Madden's legal career is on the line.
A supporter of a victim of Madden's
said of Madden, "the little prick's time is up soon,"
referring to Madden's 27-year reign as Judge.

Update II: "A free society can exist only to the extent that those charged with enforcing the law respect it themselves. 'There is no more cruel tyranny than that which is exercised under cover of the law, and with the colors of justice.'" 

- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Appellant in No. 81-1020 v. JANNOTTI, HARRY P. (D.C. Crim. No. 80-00166-02); UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellant in No. 81-1021 v. SCHWARTZ, GEORGE X. (D.C. Crim. No. 80-00166-04)
Nos. 81-1020, 81-1021
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
673 F.2d 578; 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 21883
June 10, 1981, Argued
Decided February 11, 1982

Put succinctly, the reign of Iron County DA Martin Lipske, and Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden is coming to an end. The rule of law will return to Iron County Wisconsin. 

Update: Note to Judge Madden and District Attorney Lipske, Ira Robins sends his regards and will be working on the reporting of this case, Wisconsin v. Miller. One Wisconsin attorney, speaking on background, said of Judge Madden and District Attorney Lipske: "They're human garbage."

If Wisconsin citizens were told a circuit court judge were to preside over the trial of an innocent man, and that the trial judge had an multi-year affair with the alleged victim before, during and after the trial, most Wisconsin citizens would respond this doesn't seem fair and proper.

It's not.

Jurists would cite the Wisconsin code of judicial ethics which is specific about the demands placed upon a judge to avoid the appearance of impropriety:

A judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all of the judge's activities.  ... A judge may not allow family, social, political or other relationships to influence the judge's judicial conduct or judgment.

So, that's on paper in the books, how about real life?

One real-life relationship that would be a clear violation of judicial ethics is a presiding judge, Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden, having an affair with an alleged victim, Connie Vargovich, before, during and after the trial of a defendant who was the live-in boyfriend of the alleged victim.

And this is precisely what happened, and has been so stated in several legal documents.

Connie Vargovich

Madden should have recused himself from the trial of Donald Miller, State of Wisconsin v. Donald R. Miller [Case Number: 97 CF 60], and the September 2012 hearing (over which he presided) at which both the District Attorney and defense stipulated an agreement to finally get this innocent man out of prison. Madden rejected the stipulation.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Innocence Project is representing Donald Miller, and was in Iron County again last week gathering affidavits not unlike this one below—by a brave woman standing up for truth against corruption, Michele L. Aspinwall.

Many other decent and courageous people in Iron County are standing up to the corruption in this small, isolated county of some 5,900 people.

This is not good news for Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden and Iron County DA Martin Lipske, Madden's political protege who moved from Douglas County Wisconsin to run for District Attorney in Iron County in 1994 at Madden's urging after Lipske's three-year suspension for professional misconduct was lifted in 1993.

Three Affidavits

Ms. Aspinwall's affidavit is among the more tame descriptions of Judge Patrick J. 'Madman' Madden's socializing and liaisons before the trial of Donald Miller. Much more to come about the during and after phases of the trial.

Below are two affidavits of Iron County citizens who witnessed Patrick Madden intimately comforting the alleged victim, Connie Vargovich, during a break in the trial of Vargovich's former live-in boyfriend on trial because of Vargovich's allegations. Madden's presiding over the trial while having an affair with Vargovich is cause for permanent disbarment of his license to practice law in Wisconsin.

Are Iron County Lipske-Madden Team Railroading Another Man —Robert Gollubske

Gogebic Iron Range in Green

Update: A request for a new judge has been granted for Robert Gollubske. Patrick Madden is known locally as a pro-mining judge, and is notorious as the corrupt jurist who presided over the 1997 trial and 2012 hearing of Donald Miller, having an affair with the alleged victim, Miller's live-in girlfriend whom Miller had asked to leave his home, before, during and after the 1997 trial. Gollubske has also retained the services of renown civil rights attorney, Jeff Scott Olson, in addition to Peter Bear of Madison.

Robert Gollubske, a farmer in the Town of Kimball, Wisconsin in Iron County, is right about at least one thing, the government of Iron County doesn't like him.

Specifically, Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden and Iron County DA Martin Lipske don't like him because Gollubske is warning about the dangers of the proposed Gogebic Taconite Mine, blasting and dynamiting and ruining an environment.

Gollubske did not endear himself to Madden (aka Madman) and Lipske at the DNR Public Hearing on G-Tac Bulk Sampling and pre-Application Notice held August 15th at Hurley, Wisconsin.

Gollubske spoke against Mathy Construction company and the Northwoods Paving company that he blames for damaging his farm and home by their use of dynamite in the area.

He says the same type of damage he attributes to Mathy will be wrought by Gogebic.

In 2009, Gollubske sued Mathy Construction Company of Onalaska, Wisconsin and Northwoods Paving Co. (a division of Mathy Construction) of Ashland for damage to his home and farm, fearing his family is getting poisoned. He said this shows the dangers of explosions used in mining.

Penokee Range

Lipske wants to prosecute the 75-year-old man arrested in May for saying he wanted to blow up the courthouse to get FBI agents to his farm property to show them what he says are damages caused by Mathy Construction dynamiting for blacktop road-building.

Judge Patrick Madden said, "The (threatening) words are out there and in people’s minds." He said the public doesn’t feel safe and the case has caused "a public furor."

Typical Madden, typical BS.

The only people who don't feel safe are those who fear the mining company blowing open a huge open pit mine in the Penokee Range, and the heavily armed corporate militia operating illegally at test drilling sites for whom both Lipske and Madden front.

Robert (Barrel Bob) Gollubske is just a townie, a nice 75-year-old man about to find out how what pricks Madden and Lipske are.

Gollubske has expressed his fear about the Gogebic Taconite Mine around town, and Lipske and Madden think they have found a way to shut him up.

Gollubske's friends in the community a few weeks before he was arrested said he is a just a harmless, gentle farmer who is upset about developers and now the proposed Gogebic Taconite Mine destroying the Penokee Range.

Gogegic has secured the mineral rights for a "22-mile, 22,000-acre stretch of the Penokee Range from southwest of Hurley to about six miles west of Mellen," notes The Nature Conservancy.

Said one neighbor, "He (Gollubske) was really angry with the blacktop company and he claims they and the Iron County cops blew up his barns. When I looked in the news archive there was two articles about Kimball residents complaining of big explosions shuddering their houses. And ya know what the cops tried to tell the paper? We had reports some kids were shooting a cannon off. Cops said they told the kids to knock it off. I'm not kidding. Imagine cops going to a house full of kids that had a cannon big enough to fire something off to shudder houses for a few miles around and just telling them to knock it off?!"

No wonder Gollubske wants to call in the FBI.

Gollubske is just a farmer who has seen too many explosions near his home and he thinks Gogegic blowing open the proposed open pit mine is nothing but trouble; he wanted to call in the FBI for help because he doesn't trust the local police.

Gollubske' instincts are right.

Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden and Iron County DA Martin Lipske are not known for being impartial, and certainly not prosecutorial discretion. What they are known for is being corrupt. And the local police just follow along, no questions.

Here's video of Robert (Barrel Bob) Gollubske at the DNR Public Hearing on August 15th held in Hurley.

Three Wisconsin Movements Converge to Fight Fascism

Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske protects corporate
militia from prosecution though it illegally acted without a
license in two Wisconsin counties

"This flavor of Dairyland fascism comes with heaping helpings of stupidity, arrogance, and insult."
- Blue Cheddar 

Pollution, bullets and jail have become the defining features of Wisconsin.

A confluence of movements is flowering in Wisconsin, spreading fast as police overkill and Scott Walker stand ready to call out the national guard to quell lawful, anti-GOP political activity.

How I wish this were an exaggeration.

One citizen movement calls for the rule of law to be observed for the preservation of the habitat and environment that would be contaminated by the proposed open-pit Gogebic Taconite mine.

The Gogebic Taconite mine's private and illegal militia is protected by Scott Walker and Iron County DA Martin Lipske, amid anti-Native American racism among Republicans in northern Wisconsin, some of whom are part of a greater anti-Native American movement nationally such as the hate groups, the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA) and Citizen's Equal Rights Foundation (CERF).

Such groups as CERA and CERF make common cause with Wisconsin Republicans.

Said Barbara With at this week's public hearing on the Gogebic Taconite’s bulk sampling permit application in Hurley, Wisconsin, as reported by Rebecca Kemble and Blue Cheddar: 

"When corporations collude with legislators by paying them and legislators vote for the corporations and abandon the people of this state it’s called 'fascism' and that’s what happened to this state. And even as we speak right now, 12:15 in the capitol of Wisconsin there are jack boot capitol policemen arresting innocent protesters who are singing because this administration wants to quash dissent. They want to quash the voice of the people."

- Video from Rebecca Kemble

Scott Walker, mining companies and their corrupt public officials such as DA Martin Lipske may be itching for a military-police solution, but the rule of law demand these forces contend with settled federal law such as United States v State of Washington (Case No. 03-35145 (1974)) and its progeny cases; United States v State of Washington. (Case NO. CV 70-9213. Suproceeding 01-01. Memorandum and Decision. March 29, 2013) protecting the habitats upon which Native Americans have, by federal law, the guaranteed right to hunt and fish.

As Professor Charles Wilkinson wrote:

"This iron mine complex cannot go ahead without a full analysis of the treaty rights of the Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) band. More than a century and a half ago, the LCO negotiated treaties that guaranteed tribal members the right to hunt and fish on their former lands. The transfer of those lands by the tribes has been of great benefit to the non-Indians of northern Wisconsin but the courts have squarely recognized that, in return, those promises must be honored. Earlier this year a federal judge in Washington State ruled, under similar circumstances, that the treaties require more than just allowing tribal members to hunt and fish—the treaties also require healthy habitat so that the species can thrive. And, so, the question is: 'Will this mining complex adversely affect the habitat of treaty-protected species?' If so, the proposed mining project will have to be revised or abandoned."

That Native Americans are human beings, protected by the rule of law—including of course federal Indian Treaty law—presents a problem for the energy extraction industry.

No matter that Wisconsin Republicans such as Wisconsin State Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, said, "The (mining) bill reflects the reality of mining. There are going to be some impacts to the environment above the iron ore body. If the law is challenged and ends up in court, the judge needs to know it was the Legislature's intent to allow adverse (environmental) impacts. That way, a judge can't find fault if the environment is impact." (Pierce. Esquire; March 8. 2013)

Actually, a federal judge will find much fault. Because one Tom Tiffany, and one political party, declares Wisconsin free from the obligations of federal law to despoil the environment does not make it so.

State law in Wisconsin, even under Republican Party rule, can also force the Gogebic (G-Tec) mine to stop the toxic effect from sulfuric acid and asbestos of its operations, as the mining company and GOP brand conservationist as "terrorists."

Said Bob Gollubske, a farmer in the Town of Kimball in Iron County at a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources public hearing on G-Tac's bulk sampling on August 15, 2013: "I'm that terrorist that's going to save your life, your life from a mining company. ... Government here doesn't like me. They don't like men that protect their home and family; they put you in jail."

Mr. Gollubske's right, the corrupt people in government like Scott Walker and Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske want to protect blasting asbestos particles into the atmosphere, the water, the forests and farms like Gollubske's.

---

---

A second movement also springs from Iron County and is the sought-after affirmation of the rule of law so far denied: The movement to free an innocent man, Don Miller, a cause with support across the nation and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School's Innocence Project staff, also in Hurley, Wisconsin this week gathering depositions, affidavits and other exculpatory evidence.

 DA Martin Lipske taunts an innocent man in prison in letter

Miller was railroaded 16 years ago and remains in prison through the efforts of the corrupt Iron County Judge, Patrick J. Madden, and Madden's political ally, the same corrupt and inept Iron County District Attorney, Martin Lipske who fronts for the mining company and Walker.

The innocent Miller was accused of all manner of crimes after he decided to leave his live-in girlfriend and serial liar, Connie Vargovich.

Material now being gathered by the Innocence Project will prove Vargoich lied in an vulgar act of vengeance against Miller while Vargovich was engaged in a secret affair with Judge Patrick J. Madden before, during and after Miller's trial over which Madden presided.

This multi-year liaison is an egregious career-ending, conflict-of-interest move by Madden.

As recently as 2012 Madden ordered Miller to remain in prison despite the District Attorney and the Innocence Project's joint agreement to immediately free Miller.

Lipske in a spasm of conscience, or perhaps self preservation of his legal career had told Miller's attorneys Miller was to be freed with Lipske's stipulation.

Lipske had reported to the Court that exculpatory DNA evidence was inexplicably destroyed while in Lipske's custody, after assuring the Court he would preserve this very evidence. The evidence was destroyed with no explanation from Lipske.

Thr agreement to free Miller was shot down by Madden in a bizarre hearing before Madden (who still had not recused himself) in which Madden rejected the deal that would have freed Miller.

Last month, incredibly, Lipske upset over publication of the fact his license to practice law was suspended for misconduct for almost four years wrote Miller a letter last month taunting Miller who still is serving a 42-year sentence.

Lipske's letter reads in part: "My intentions were to send a copy of the stipulation in which I agreed to your release. However, between the time that I received the form and the due date, I received another letter through the actions of your parents challenging my license to practice law. Therefore, nothing was sent as I intended."

Lipske, in this bizarre letter sent by a sitting district attorney, says in his letter to Miller that because the State Bar of Wisconsin keeps publicly available information on attorneys licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and that such information was noted by Miller's parents, Lipske had to renege on his agreement to recommend immediate parole for Miller last month.

Yes, the text of the letter is incoherent. I have a copy of Lipske's letter dated July 11, 2013 at this link.

The case is State of Wisconsin v. Donald R. Miller [Case Number: 97 CF 60].

But no matter how isolated and corrupt notorious Iron County Wisconsin (population 5,900) is, it can not hide forever from the rule of law, or the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation.

Nor can Scott Walker's Capitol police, and nor can Gogebic Taconite’s mining operation which will face federal law.

From the Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction:

This is Part II which provides additional information, details and facts demonstrating the inconsistencies, false swearing, perjury, and many lies told by Don Miller's false-accuser, Connie Vargovich, and proves felony misconduct and an obstruction of justice by the officials involved in this case: Circuit court judge for Iron County, Patrick J. Madden; District Attorney for Iron County, Martin J. Lipske; Former Iron County Sheriff Robert Bruneau; Former Iron County sheriff’s deputy, Joe Robinson; and Current Iron County sheriff, Tony Furyk.

The facts provided here are also published on the Internet and have been provided to the above named persons and none of the following has ever been refuted, proven false, or in any way undermined as being anything but true. There are more than enough facts and evidence hereto cause the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of all named persons.

There is much documentation supporting all the following facts as true, which includes certified court transcripts, certified phone records, witness statements, police reports, sworn affidavits, professional investigator reports and tape recordings, court records, information provided by persons having firsthand knowledge, and admissions made by several of the above named persons. This comprises powerful and conclusive evidence of crimes having been committed by Connie Vargovich and the above named officials.

---

Officer Syphard and two new hires. What are they afraid of?
Officer Michael J. Syphard grabbed a photographer and threw
him to the ground this week. Syphard was not on duty shortly after.Sloey, reached by phone said he cannot
comment on Syphard or related matters. Photo by Craig Spaulding

Finally, another citizen movement is subject to  mass arrests, as they continue singing and  walking at the Wisconsin State Capitol, where Scott Walker's cops are arresting veterans, seniors, journalists, Madison alders and virtually anyone.

This week includes another surreal scene in which a Walker cop arrested The Progressive Magazine's Matt Rothschild for "obstructing," as Rothschild took notes and photographed some one of some 200 protesters who were participating in the Sing Along on the grounds of the capitol.

See Rothschild's Wis. Policeman Rebukes Walker’s Cops.

Said Tom Alisankus, a Wisconsin police officer, lawyer and a teacher of criminal justice at Rock Valley College in Rockford:

"I’m really angered at my brethren police officers who are arresting people who pose no threat to public safety. They swore to uphold the Constitution, and by arresting people here they are being more beholden to Scott Walker than to the Constitution, which is very distasteful for me as an officer of 31 years"

Scott Walker's cops arrest elderly women - Photo: Craig Spaulding

I’m trying to get my head around why this is a priority for law enforcement. There are so many accidents on I-90 (Highway). So why are the state troopers arresting 80-year-olds? That’s crazy for me as a cop."

All three movements advocate for the rule of law.

I have personally spoken with many of the 1,000s of citizen activists; all are dedicated to the good will and determination for freedom enshrined in the anthems, We Shall Overcome and Down By the Riverside.

Before the end of  World War II, the great jurist, Robert H. Jackson said, "Our Constitution and our philosophy of law have been characterized by a regard for the broadest possible liberty of the individual."

John Nichols writes in The Nation:

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is no John Adams (of the "Alien and Sedition Acts" infamy). But prospective Republican presidential candidate’s delusions of imperial grandeur have led him to cobble together a set of rules that he is using to have dozens of dissenters (including veterans, grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers with children and top teachers) arrested for assembling in the rotunda of the state capitol and singing labor songs.

Never mind that the “Solidarity Sing Alongs” were held peacefully, and without significant incident, before the governor’s crackdown began this summer.

The arrests escalated on Thursday. And, though Walker plays on a small stage, those familiar with the basic outlines of American constitutional history will note a certain historical irony in the drama the governor has scripted.

First, an elected official, Madison Alder Mark Clear, the former president of the city council, was arrested for joining in the singing of “This Land Is Your Land.”

Then, just a few minutes later, Progressive magazine editor Matt Rothschild was detained when he attempted to record what was happening. Rothschild informed the arresting officers that he was a journalist and that he had every right to cover the story.

Clear and his fellow singers can point to a US Constitution that guarantees that Americans may assemble and petition for the redress of grievances—and to a Wisconsin Constitution that is even more explicit, declaring, "The right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged."

Rothschild can point to a US Constitution that guards against any abridging of the freedom of the press—and to a Wisconsin Constitution that is even more explicit, declaring that “no laws shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press.”

Yet, both men were arrested. The governor and his allies argue that a federal court ruling that allows officials to establish permit requirements has cleared the way for a wholesale rejection of constitutional values.

As Wisconsin remains under siege by unlawful corporations, unthinking police, and corrupt prosecutors and politicians, the very conspiratorial underground movements Justice Robert Jackson feared in the United States after coming home from Nuremberg.

In form and effect, the corrupt and criminal have imprisoned the innocent Don Miller for 42 years, imperiling our constitutional liberties and only just beginning to transform Wisconsin into a state towards a future heretofore unknown, with most Wisconsin Democratic Party officeholders silent and content to be bystanders.

As Ros Nelson of Mellen, Wisconsin said:

We're living in a crazy time, and Wisconsin is a crazy governance. ... G-Tec's goons emerged out the forest with camouflage, automatic weapons, black bandannas over their faces. It surprised the hell out of some my friends, and I asked the question, and no one has answered it, 'who are those bullets for,' you what they're for, they're for us. If they don't kill us with bullets, they'll kill us with pollution. Any child would know that blowing up the Penokees (Hills) is insane. The details seem absurd to me because on the face of it, destroying our watershed, the cleanest water in the world. letting it flow into Lake Superior, ... letting it destroy our trout streams, it's insane. I hope you (the DNR) can do your work in the climate that is this fascist government that is Wisconsin.

An exaggeration?

Ask Don Miller. Ask Katie Kloth. Ask Bob Gollubske. Ask Barbara With.