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/

Democrat Party to Black Lives Matter: Drop Dead

Statues Outweigh People in Democrat Party

Madison, Wisconsin — In police-state America, police are just as destructive, and just as deadly as before the moment Minneapolis Police killed George Floyd in May.

The Spring-Summer seems a long time ago, doesn't it? Not to Jacob Blake.

Republicans and Democrats are unified in their defense of police as an institutional and violent check on black and brown people asserting their humanity.

Take Wisconsin. Not one Democratic legislator has introduced legislation on decarceration, decriminalization, police violence and police defunding. And there are no calls for these protections against police.

I can't think of another state more sorely in need of a police cleansing than Wisconsin. 

To be clear, police will kill you, will terrorize you, will ruin you financially, imprison you, and defame you. There are no limits, and Democrats will do nothing. 

Not even a letter to the local daily calling for defense of people against police.

A Milwaukee State Senator — the drug warrior and anti-Black Lives Matter Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) — traveled to Madison in June to confront Black Lives Matter liberation protestors, worked to record and virtually deliver the liberation workers to rightwing doxxers, was confronted by marchers and after a melee, embarked on a mission to imprison as many Black Lives Matter workers as possible.

White supremacists have doxxed, (publish private or identifying information about a particular individual on the Internet, typically with malicious intent), and endangered liberation protesters across the country, so folks were nervous that late June night, perfect prey for Carpenter looking for attention.

The racist Carpenter then went on a political rampage against people of color.

He accosted and maligned a black candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for State Senate District 26 in Dane County, before being forced to issue a public apology in July.

Carpenter, a cop lover, co-sponsored a bill to expand the Wisconsin Criminal Code to criminalize any damage to statues, statues!, (not black people, open season remains).

The black candidate maligned by Carpenter, Nada Elmikashfi, objected to the proposed legislation and an enraged Carpenter became unhinged and went on a rant that Carpenter later described as "rash and reactionary."

Writes Elmikashfi on July 16, commenting on Carpenter's co-authorship of his Senate statue bill initiative:

"Get me in the senate so I can block this absolute bullshit. You shouldn’t have been assaulted Senator Carpenter; but that doesn’t mean you get to block our civil rights movement. If this is passed on a bipartisan basis; @GovEvers needs to veto it. #BlackLivesMatter."

Carpenter is known around the capitol for his dislike of women, especially women of color. 

Carpenter went apoplectic, resulting in a multi-day rant that concluded with the intercession of the state Party Chair and the Senate Minority Leader criticizing Carpenter who eventually apologized, (The Capital Times).

At the June Black Lives Matter march, Carpenter faked a collapse in front of WKOW-TV at the capitol, and began his major media campaign demonizing Black Lives Matter. Not defending.

This fake collapse was preceded by Carpenter's hollered conversation, as the state senator spoke with several protests medics and peacekeepers in an eight-minute conversation captured on audio, (Pittman/WORT News), that shows Carpenter declining medical attention before faking his collapse.

Carpenter, who takes his antipathy towards black people to extremes, is nevertheless emblematic of the Democrat Party nationally.

Writes AOC yesterday:

.@AOC tells @jaketapper that "not a single member of Congress that I'm aware of campaigned on socialism or defunding the police in this general election."

She says Dems' problem is a weak party operation that needs to become "stronger and more resilient to Republican attacks."

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 9, 2020

Meanwhile, Carpenter and Dane County continue their ridiculous criminal pursuit of the Black Lives Matter protesters Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer, two socially conscious area women in their 20s with no criminal records, stand accused of the felony crime of Substantial Battery with Intent to Cause Bodily Harm against State Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) for not-even-alleged action at a June 23-24 Black Lives Matter protest.

That's right. Carpenter says in Court he never saw the two women never even touch him at the June Black Lives Matter protest and yet he claims he knows they're guilty of Battery and wants them charged (they are charged), and convicted.

Hey, the two women are Black Lives Matter supporters so no evidence needed to convict, say Carpenter and his Democrat Party allies.

Legally, the cases of Black Lives Matter protesters Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer will blow up in the faces of the Democrat Party.

Politically and morally, we as a community have already lost because we did not do enough to stand up for these two brave women.

So, faced with a corrupt district attorney's office, a racist State Senator Tim Carpenter, and a supine Democrat Party, we as a community can protest, write, and alert the community that two more civil rights workers are about to suffer another injustice through the continuation of this ludicrous prosecution.

Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer attended a routine hearing last week. The cases have not been yet dismissed yet.

Folks can contact State Sen Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) to ask why he rejects decarceration, decriminalization, police defunding. As we work with our historic movement, Carpenter instead sponsors a bill expanding criminal code to protect statues and works to persecute two innocent Black Lives Matter workers.
(608) 266-8535
Sen.Carpenter@legis.wisconsin.gov
--

I wrote District Attorney Ismael Ozanne an email on July 31. 

We cannot stay silent, no matter how many District Attorney 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/

Wisconsin Democrats Work Against Two Innocent Women; 'Shockingly Thin' Case Against Black Lives Matter Protesters Moves Forward

Black Lives Matter? Not in Wisconsin, and Not in the Democratic Party

Madison, Wisconsin — This is Wisconsin, folks. 

We'll soon let off a white Kenosha cop who shot a black man point-blank seven times in the back, but two innocent Black Lives Matter protesters are violent felons and must be prosecuted without evidence, say a corrupt Democratic Party district attorney and a reactionary Milwaukee Democratic Party state senator.

The cause of truth and simple decency is lost.

Two criminal cases will at some point be tossed out of out court, if Circuit Court Judge Stephen Ehlke (D) grows a spine, or end with a verdict and an exoneration.

It's the way it is in Wisconsin; life is cheap, and the judiciary is corrupt in favor of the police and prosecutors — two institutions irretrievably undeserving of public regard.

Black Lives Matter protesters Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer, two socially conscious area women in their 20s with no criminal records, stand accused of the felony crime of Substantial Battery with Intent to Cause Bodily Harm against State Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) for not-even-alleged action at a June 23-24 Black Lives Matter protest.

That's right. There is no specific allegation detailing how Mses O’Reilly and Hamer battered Carpenter, a rightwing Dem who calls himself "rash."

There is no video evidence showing Mses O’Reilly and Hamer laying a finger on Carpenter.

Carpenter admitted in a court hearing he cannot identify the defendants as touching him.

Carpenter, who has worked his entire career mobilizing the war on drugs against people of color, admits he has no idea who may have hit him, and you can bet he would implicate the two liberation workers, if he could.

Madison police detective Linda Trevarthen who led the investigation similarly acknowledged that there is no evidence, none, the women specifically touched Carpenter in any way, (Rickert, Wisconsin State Journal).

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

Everyone agrees the scene was chaotic.

Tim Carpenter stayed true to form in using police to take the side of white supremacists as an agent provocateur this time, as the legislator took it to the streets to work to imprison the wrong kind of Wisconsinite.

White supremacis have doxxed and induced the arrest of liberation protesters across the country, so folks were nervous that night, perfect prey for Carpenter.

Tim Carpenter also performed a fall on the Capitol grounds in front of a WKOW-TV crew; went on a public relations spree in the Summer to demonize Black Lives Matter; sponsored a bill to criminalize damaging statutes out of Carpenter's petty spite; and accosted and harassed a black candidate for the State Senate.

Did Carpenter, with a racist past in holding his elected office of public trust and a proven hostility to those working for people of color in Wisconsin, 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, District Atty Ozanne moves the cases forward using his office standard of evidentiary proof that he has concluded charges against Mses O’Reilly and Hamer can be proven to a trial jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

It's absurd.

Not one elected representative of any municipal, County or State office has challenged the prosecutions of these two women, though Carpenter is known around the Capitol for his delusional self-regard and pettiness, qualities acknowledged by Carpenter.

The district attorney, Carpenter and no video evidence tell us when, where, how and by whom Carpenter was allegedly battered after Carpenter managed to incite some eight to 10 people during a chaotic melee.

Consider that.

But a simple parking ticket informs you when, where, how and which vehicle was involved in a parking offense.

But the Democratic Party's district attorney, state senator and judge want to chuck these requirements away for a felony crime that could irretrievably harm two innocent women, who as demanded by their conscience, marched with Black Lives Matter workers in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd.

We have a problem in Wisconsin, and this problem will not go away through inattention.

Both women are scheduled for a pre-trial conference the day after Election Day on Nov. 4.

Folks can contact State Sen Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) to ask why he rejects decarceration, decriminalization, police defunding. As we work with our historic movement, Carpenter instead authors bill expanding criminal code to protect statues and works to persecute two innocent Black Lives Matter workers.
(608) 266-8535
Sen.Carpenter@legis.wisconsin.gov

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/

Black Lives Matter Prosecution — One Bogus Charge Dropped; Atty Calls Remaining Charge "Shockingly Thin"

State Sen Tim Carpenter performs his collapse in front of a
WKOW-TV crew to dramatize a confrontation with
Black Lives Matter protesters.

Updated - Madison, Wisconsin — "Kerida O’Reilly and Samantha Hamer were arrested on charges of substantial battery and robbery with use of force," reported The Hill this week.

The arrest was a rush to judgement by Madison Police working against a political movement held in disdain by law enforcement.

Police and one rash, drug-warrior, state senator want these and other Black Lives Matter protesters behind bars.

One problem, though not for police, is the two young women are innocent. The case is a political prosecution.

Exemplifying a widely held view among local police, in 2017, Police Chief Mike Koval (ret) said he canceled his NFL subscription amid "taking a knee" protests because this protest is "self-absorbed ... diatribe."

And the police are not too hot on mass protests this Summer, much less taking a knee.

The Madison Police Union this week issued a vote of "no confidence" in the new progressive mayor for her temerity to publicly acclaim the First Amendment and express admiration for the protesters.

Wisconsin media and rightwing political operations have already found the two Black Lives Matter protesters guilty.

But facts can be stubborn things.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael R. Ozanne dropped the robbery with use of force charge yesterday, raising questions why this canard was included in the arrest warrant. But you won't find such questions in the local corporate media.

The two defendants' attorneys — Ms. O’Reilly's attorney, Nathan Otis, and Ms. Hamer's attorney, Adam Welch — made a motion to dismiss the remaining charge — substantial battery.

Reports the Associated Press:

O’Reilly’s attorney, Nathan Otis, said in an email to The Associated Press that it will become clear that she didn’t commit any crime, and that the lack of evidence will become clear as the case progresses.

In a separate email to the AP, Hamer’s attorney, Adam Welch, said his client is 'absolutely not guilty' and that prosecutors’ case against her 'is shockingly thin.'

District Attorney Ozanne can't tell you when, where, how and by whom Carpenter was allegedly battered. Neither can Carpenter. According to reports, Carpenter manage to incite some eight to 10 people during the chaotic melee.

No matter, Ozanne refused to drop the remaining charge. Court Commissioner Brian Asmus refused to dismiss it.

The alleged victim, Wisconsin State Sen Tim Carpenter (D), is a Milwaukee legislator who has worked to build the carceral state for decades, always busily working to imprisoning and demonizing black and brown folk.

Just this month Carpenter was reprimanded by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and the State Senate Minority leader for online bullying and harassment of a black legislative candidate who dared criticize Carpenter's proposed expansion of the Wisconsin Criminal Code.

The Wisconsin Criminal Code. As a local Madison jurist is fond of saying, "Read the [fracking] statutes."

I did. The crime of which two women stand accused are not sustained by the weakest standard of evidence, (WKOW-TV, Pittman/WORT News).

Available audio and video of the confrontation that Carpenter began show a deceitful man who feigned a collapse in front of a WKOW-TV crew.

Carpenter wants blood. He wants as many Black Lives Matter protesters behind bars, and is not choosy who that is.

Two women protesters supporting Black Lives Matter are out on signature bonds.

This case should not see the light of a courtroom. But facts are not the only stubborn things in Dane County.

I'm a Fitchburg, Wisconsin Election Inspector, Was Stopped from Voting for 35 Minutes and Harassed

Voter Obstruction and Harassment Has to Stop Now

Update II: White Fitchburg election inspector leaves comment at Mal Contends, corroborating in part allegations below. MC would publish comment, (it is saved), however it is this site's policy not to run the words of racists, as I hate those fuckers.
--
Updated - I have voted at Fitchburg Fire Station, Number 2, for some 15 years, working as a sworn election inspector, (contract employee), for some nine years.

This morning I walked-jogged to my polling place to vote.

I walked into the fire station, said 'hi' to the greeter, said hi to Hertis at the Ballots table, hi to Lynette Rasmusson, a retied teacher, friend and neighbor down our street, at the M-Z voting books.

I walk over to the A-L table to state my name and address, as I do in every election.

I gave the Republican Election Inspector on the A-L books my Wisconsin-issued voter-photo ID who proceeded to take about two minutes time, apparently pretending to inspect attributes.

'Get to work, boys. Leon, Michael, Monticello Way, 5767,' I said jokingly.

But something was up. I worked the voting rolls inspecting IDs in before, and it does not take this long to examine an ID.

Election inspectors typically are not adversarial and hostile except maybe to black folks, but I'm waiting for my voting number to get my ballot.

I take my ID and I place it back in my wallet.

'I need to see your ID again, I have to check, ahh, the expiration date," said the Republican.

—You just saw it and inspected my ID. You don't need to see it again, I say.

This guy is screwing with me, with my vote. I'm pissed.

'I need you to state your address, Mike,' using my name.

—You're screwing with me. I gave you my ID, and my address. You know fully well who I am. Where's my [voting] number. I'm voting today.

I can't believe this Republican is screwing with me, with my vote. He has my name and address, and after examining my ID, now he's preventing me from voting.

I'm going to settle this with the election authorities, I say. I'm being denied my right to vote, I said, glancing at Lynette Rasmusson at the M-Z table.

I call up the US Atty's office, the Wisconsin DoJ, the Fitchburg City Clerk, the Dane County DA and then the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC, formerly GAB).

Should have started with Elections Commission, but my guard is down, I was ambushed. Hey, I'm voting; it's social, civic and political.

So, after being on with the Elections Commission for several minutes, I gave her the name of Dale Z., the Republican Chief Election Inspector seated behind and to the right of the voting rolls.

I hold the phone in the air, and she hears the chatter from the A-L table. 'We need your name and address,' says the Republican.

Okay, they are screwing with me still, and I cannot believe it, but I'll try this again with the Elections Commission on. I give my name and address again. This time, the two Republicans and Ron Johnson, (also working the A-L table), all yell, cheer and say, about time.

The Elections Commission says, what was that? Those are the Republican election inspectors, I reply.

It sounded like a gasp, but I don't know.

I call a Fitchburg Alder, Tony Hartman, and the Fitchburg Star and a bunch of local politcos and elected officeholders.

This harassment and voter obstruction has to stop now.

Tony Hartman says he'll talk to Patty and Tracy at City Hall. I'm on with Mike Haas at the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and tell him in no uncertain words, this harassment has to stop.

I call City Hall, the election inspector dismisses my complaint out-of-hand with no investigation.

By not taking my complaint seriously, she was giving tacit approval to the violators and condoning their action.

City Hall doesn't like my writing, doesn't like my sticking up for voters. I'm still on with Haas.


Jackie, my life partner who is in ill health, calls from the living room and said, there is Fitchburg Police squadron stopping at our home, and two armed FPD officers walk up our drive-way and pound at the door.

Jackie is scared is her own home, and she cannot afford stress.

This is voting today, this has to stop. Right now.
--
Email to Fitchburg, Wisconsin Common Council members sent Aug. 9

This needs to stop right now.

I had multiple conversations with District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, the GAB's Mike Haas, and State Rep. Robb Kahl's office, among many other parties.

I related this morning's events about being obstructed to vote for 35 minutes, followed by two visits of Fitchburg

Police banging on our home, and upsetting Jackie to tears. Her health is not good, and she need a stress-free environment. I will file a civil rights complaint and a civil suit if personal injury results.

These events are chronicled here.

The voter obstruction and police harassment comes as a partisan tactical voter suppression campaign is clear, and secondly my status as an ethic minority is met with hostility by Republicans including but not limited to three Republican Fitchburg election inspectors and Tracy Oldenburg.

There will be an investigation conducted by the District Attorney's office as well as the Elections Commission, I have been assured.

Prior to these investigations, it is incumbent that we realize Tracy is not capable of addressing complaints, as evinced by her behavior in which she summarily dismissed my complaint with no investigation.

More insidious is the fact Republican election inspectors felt entitled and empowered to engage in this clearly hostile voter obstruction. Tracy Oldenburg is incapable of administering elections and an inquiry should be addressed with an eye towards removing her.

I would ask for a thorough consideration of the facts of harassment against my family and me, and voter obstruction conducted with the assent of Tracy Oldenburg.

Mike Leon

Brooklyn, NY Woman’s Conviction Overturned after DA Revisits Old Homicide Cases

Penny Brummer - Wrongfully convicted in 1994
because she is a lesbian

New York — Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced that he will move to vacate a second-degree manslaughter conviction from a 1998 jury trial, PIX11 has exclusively learned.

District Attorney Thompson said, "In the interest of justice, I will ask the Court today to vacate the manslaughter conviction of Vanessa Gathers. After a thorough and fair review of the case by my Conviction Review Unit and the Independent Review Panel, I have concluded that this conviction should not stand," Nicole Johnson of PIX-11 reports.

In the interest of justice.

This is a compelling reason to impose truth upon a miscarriage of justice.

Penny Brummer in Madison, Wisconsin

Locally, in Madison, Wisconsin if you have not signed the petition begun in January calling for a new trial for Penny Brummer, wrongfully convicted in 1994, please consider doing so now.

Ms. Brummer is an innocent woman railroaded by police tunnel vision, bigotry and a retrograde conception of lesbianism.

No evidence, no criminal record of Ms. Brummer who joined the U.S. Air Force straight out of high school, no motive, no connection to an unknown crime scene and an unknown murder weapon,  Brummer was nevertheless arrested, prosecuted and convicted of first degree intentional homicide of Sarah Gonstead.

Brummer reportedly wrote a letter earlier this month to Dane County (Wisconsin) District Attorney Ismael Ozanne asking for a new trial.

"Unless something does happen, Penny will die in a Wisconsin prison, damned for a relationship once forbidden in an era of intolerance," noted David Protess, President, Chicago Innocence Project, (Huffington Post).

DA Ozanne could call for a new trial today ... in the interest of justice.

To borrow from Robert H. Jackson's address 75 years ago, "While the prosecutor at his best is one of the most beneficent forces in our society, when he acts from malice or other base motives, he is one of the worst," (U.S. DoJ).

'Making a Murderer' Shines Light on Wrongful Convictions

Simon Booker at the Huntington Post notes the success of Making a Murderer has focused attention on the police-prosecutor-prison complex defining the American justice system.

The nearly daily reports of exonerations have seen 2015 record the most exonerations in American history.

But make no mistake the Blue Wall of Silence and careerism make wrongful convictions in America common and difficult to overcome, no matter how glaring the errors and injustice.

Readers here know this legal-political journal has worked locally in Madison, Wisconsin for a new trial for Penny Brummer, wrongfully convicted of first degree intentional homicide in 1994.

A petition for a new trial has begun quickly gathering 100s of signatures in the saturated social justice petition realm of the Internet.

The current District Attorney Ismael Ozanne (Dane County Wisconsin) knows fully well a new trial would result in a exoneration by Penny Brummer, yet refuses to stipulate to a new trial. Advocates await a response, an opportunity for Ozanne to stand up for truth and justice over convictions.

This will require moral courage, and decency.

Twenty years after Brummer's arrest and conviction no longer does being an out lesbian render an individual suspect, and garner dehumanization by prosecutors at trial.

Still, advocates expect this obstinate refusal of prosecutors and police to speak out against injustice.

A retired Madison Police Chief, David Couper writes me in response to a question about Brummer he is in "no position" to do anything, apparently forgetting that in America citizens are free to sign petitions, write letters, columns, contact their elected officials for a redress of grievances, and work with like-minded citizens to persuade the local District Attorney's office to stare truth in its face.

A growing number of advocates are looking askance at this I-don't-know, nothing-I-can-do posturing by retired police and active prosecutors as an innocent woman, whom reportedly even the prison guards have come to regard as wrongfully convicted, sees Year 21 behind bars.

Advocates await a champion to stand up for truth and are optimistic this year, for reasons I cannot explain here without breaking a confidence.

Dante Alighier wrote, the "hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."

Norman Cohn termed neutrality, "passive compliance."

The consequences of passive compliance are catastrophic. Ask Penny Brummer.

Notable Quotes from a Malicious Prosecution

Please sign Petition to demand new trial for wrongfully convicted Penny Brummer, convicted out of 1990s animus against lesbians by Dane County law enforcement, and tunnel vision.

"You are not judging a human being. [Sarah Gonstead] was killed by somebody who had an interest in seeing her dead. An interest that none of us can understand or fathom. An interest that none of us understand because we've never experienced anything like that. Tell the world what Penny Brummer did and find her guilty," said the (late) assistant D.A. Judy Schwaemle at trial in Brummer v.  Wisconsin (1994) (Dane County Case Number 1994CF000617), (Protess, Huffington Post).
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"One of the questions on the jury sheet was, 'Do you believe that lesbianism is morally wrong?' And I would say a good 75 % of the people we interviewed said yes. But then the district attorneys, [prosecuting attorneys], would ask if they thought they could set aside their opinion of lesbians and judge the case just on the evidence, and they would say yes," said Penny Brummer, (Ingrid Ricks, The Advocate (1995)].
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"Something's got to happen. God's not going to let me sit here for something I didn't do. I feel he's guiding somebody out there to help me," said Penny Brummer, (Lueders, (Isthmus, (2005)).
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"We must make the system more responsive to post-conviction claims of injustice and less bound by blind obedience to finality," (Wisconsin Innocence Project, Keith Findley, Washington Post (2016)).
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Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne

Dear Mr. Ozanne,

"I am writing this pro se (for the moment) and would like to respectfully request that you stipulate to a new trial in light of the paucity of the circumstantial case in Brummer v.  Wisconsin, (Dane County Case Number 1994CF000617)."

This request comes from the commonality we share that justice must guide the actions of the district attorney's office."
—Letter (Jan. 2016) from Penny Brummer asking for new trial

Wisconsin Innocents Remain Incarcerated, Two L.A. Men to Get $24 million for Wrongful Convictions

Brummer v. Wisconsin

Updated - See also piece at CounterPunch.

"Los Angeles will pay more than $24 million to two men wrongfully imprisoned for decades, settling lawsuits by the men that accused police detectives of ignoring key evidence or witness testimony in the separate murderer cases," reports Dakota Smith in Los Angeles Daily News.

The headlines reporting new exonerations across the nation are almost daily. And the reactions from prosecutors across the country are uniform: Nothing to see here, no systemic problems, nothing we could have done, good faith, all systems green in the American criminal justice system.

With respect to the 1994 wrongful conviction of Penny Brummer in Dane County Wisconsin, I'm starting to believe the obstacles behind the district attorney's refusal to stipulate to a new trial is not a combination of institutional arrogance, obstinance and careerism.

No, Dane County District Attorney Ismael R. Ozanne has to this point refused a new trial in the Brummer case because he is protecting a wrongful conviction begun with an animus towards lesbians, and the case at trial was virtually a string of defamations, character assassinations and suppositions made in open court by the two prosecutors, the retired Ann Sayles, (27 years as a prosecutor in the DA's Office) and the late Deputy District Attorney Judy Schwaemle. See Who Killed Sarah.

Ozanne must believe he owes his allegiance to his former colleagues whose names are of more importance than the life of Penny Brummer.

There is no chance Brummer would be convicted today at trial, so Ozanne, one speculates, made a calculation that an innocent woman's life is not worth the black eye the DA's office would incur and the substantial monies that would be paid out by the state of Wisconsin.

There is a darker more sinister explanation: Brady violations, that would constitute prosecutorial misconduct.

I asked Ozanne a series of questions when he was running for Wisconsin attorney general in 2014, One question in part is "how much does the imprisonment of an innocent weigh on you?"

The relevant portion of Ozanne's response (via email) is below:

No prosecutor should want to have innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted stay in prison.  If evidence is brought to the attention of the authorities demonstrating that a mistake has been made, the interests of justice demand that the evidence is carefully reviewed and the individual should be released if exonerated. As Dane County District Attorney, I have worked with lawyers from the Innocence Project, and will do so in the future.  While these decisions are largely at the discretion of the DAs around the state, I would work with them as attorney general, providing resources and advice in these situations. The ultimate goal of the system is not simply to secure convictions, it is to do justice, (Mal Contends, April 2104) (emphasis added)

If Ozanne really believes his reference to "justice," I fully expect a review of Brummer v. Wisconsin (1994) (Dane County Case Number 1994CF000617) and a new trial.

Because the feeble, circumstantial case against Brummer should have been laughed out of court by former Judge Patrick Fiedler in 1994, Ozanne would be subjecting his office to ridicule, contingent on his position.

Notes attorney Sheila Berry:

All of the Signs of Innocence, criteria developed by David Protess, Director of the Chicago Innocence Project, apply to Penny.

Physical Evidence?
No physical evidence tied Penny to the crime; the murder weapon was never found.

Credible eye witnesses?
Key witnesses included James Foseid, who changed his story several times (and continues to change it).

Alibis?
Penny was home in Spring Green in time to see a TV show that started at 1:37 a.m. Sarah, forensic evidence suggests, may not have died until several hours later.

Any credible confession?
Penny maintains her innocence, although a police detective claimed she nodded slightly when he stated, "I think you were involved in Sarah's death."

Background of defendant?
No prior criminal record.

Enough pussyfooting around, Ismael Ozanne. Is your stated dedication to justice straight-up?

On Feb. 21, 2014 Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter (1937-2014), facing his imminent death, published his dying wish: That David McCallum of Brooklyn be granted a full hearing by the Brooklyn conviction integrity unit, (Carter, New York Daily News).

"I ask [District Attorney Ken] Thompson to look straight in the eye of truth, a tougher customer than death, and not back down either," wrote Carter. McCallum's 1986 conviction for murder and kidnapping was vacated in October 2014, (Moynihan, NYT), some six months after Rubin Carter died on April 20.

One hopes a similar legal result awaits Penny Brummer so that this woman who has over 20 years taken away from her can live out her life in peace.

Petition Begun to Free Penny Brummer of Madison, Wisconsin

Penny Brummer - Wrongfully Convicted

A petition has begun by advocates to free the wrongfully convicted Penny Brummer of Madison, Wisconsin.

Penny Brummer was convicted in the 1994 murder of Sarah Gonstead despite no weapon, no forensic evidence, no motive, and literally no evidence of any kind tying Brummer to the undetermined crime scene. It has long been asserted that bigotry against lesbians in law enforcement investigators and among the jurors played a big part in Ms. Brummer's prosecution and conviction.

The petition follows the announcement in December of a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer of Ms. Gonstead.

The petition at Change.org reads:

From Friends of Penny Brummer:

New Trial for Penny Brummer, Wrongfully Convicted
Friends of Penny Brummer

Penny Brummer of Madison, Wisconsin was wrongfully convicted of first degree intentional homicide in the 1994 murder of Sarah Gonstead.

Whereas the last 20 years have seen a sea change in public attitudes with respect to sexual orientation; criminal justice findings on eyewitness testimony have shown its diminished reliability; tunnel vision defined the police investigation; and 20 years have passed highlighting the frail circumstantial case resulting in the wrongful conviction of Penny Brummer, showing a reasonable person cannot find the presented trial evidence strong enough to exclude to a moral certainty every reasonable hypothesis of the defendant's innocence, we the undersigned request:

1. Dane County District Attorney Ismael R. Ozanne move to vacate the 1995 wrongful conviction of Ms. Brummer and stipulate to a new trial.

2. A declarative statement from the Dane County District Attorney that Ms. Brummer's wrongful conviction be vacated in the name of justice, administering justice being an element of the oath of office that all Wisconsin district attorneys take upon assuming their duties.

The law can afford to be and must be just.

Wrongful Conviction—$10,000 Reward Offered in Sarah Gonstead Killing; Innocent Penny Brummer Still in Prison

Wrongful Conviction for Reasons of Careerism and Bigotry Against Lesbians 
"They didn't look at (Penny), they just looked at it as let's get another gay person off the street," said Nancy Brummer, Penny's mother (Pabich, WMTV-TV) -

Updated - As Penny Brummer remains in prison, convicted for the 1994 killing of Sarah Gonstead, a $10,000 reward is now being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for 1994 death of Gonstead and Kelly Nolan.

Tipsters may remain anonymous. Email sheila0326@gmail.com, or call toll-free at 800 407-1178.

Penny Brummer's 1994 conviction remains an outrage perpetrated by the Madison Police Dept, the Dane County Sheriff's Dept., and the Dane County District Attorney's office still protecting the wrongful conviction to this day.

Penny Brummer

Here in Dane County, an innocent woman, Penny Brummer, remains behind bars (in Fond du Lac county), a 1994 prosecution presided over by District Attorney Brian Blanchard's office (2001-2010), and an injustice District Attorney Ismael Ozanne (2010-present) has refused to revisit, though the case lacks evidence of any kind—forensic evidence, crime scene eyewitness accounts, murder weapons, nothing but bigotry and what attorneys call "confirmation bias."

So what happened in 1994? The D.A.'s office says: There's no case?

Brummer was a lesbian and veteran so she likely murdered someone, and police had a theory, who needs evidence?

The judge was former Dane County (Wisconsin) Judge Patrick Fiedler, now a partner with Hurley, Burish & Stanton, S.C., after several decades of prosecutorial work in service to the Republican Party and his career. Fiedler, a rightwinger and typical bigot, agreed with the D.A's office.

A decent judge would have dismissed the case.

It is incomprehensible to me why current DA Ismael Ozanne lets this injustice stand.

"Police clearly had 'tunnel vision' in building a case against Penny, another common feature in wrongful convictions. Witness David Zoromski, who reported seeing a suspicious man standing by the open passenger door of a parked pickup truck exactly where Sarah's body was later found, was told by a Dane County Sheriff's Deputy, 'What you saw is all very interesting, but we have a suspect and it doesn't fit.' The man seen by Mr. Zoromski matched the description of the person Penny said she saw Sarah talking to near the Taco Bell at East Washington Avenue and North Oak Street in Madison, after she dropped her off that night. Police identified him and knew he was a convicted felon with a long history of violence toward women -- but they never followed up on this lead."
- From Who Killed Sarah

To support this innocent woman, see Penny Brummer.

Scott Walker Hit Probe of Jobs Agency as "Witchhunt," Warrants Sworn Out and More Coming

Scott Walker hates audits, investigations and probes of government operations for which he is responsible.

In May 2015 Walker—the former chair who resigned/was fired from his own flagship and embattled 'jobs' agency—through a spokesperson blasted Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne's decision to review a recent audit of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to determine whether to open a criminal investigation.

Walker called the probe of WEDC a "political witchunt." (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal) (Mal Contends)

Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said, "This is clearly political gamesmanship by legislative Democrats and others more interested in playing politics than in helping improve economic development in Wisconsin," (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal) (Mal Contends).

Don't look, nothing to see here. This is the tip of the iceberg (Oneida Eye).

Today, Matthew DeFour reports in the Wisconsin State Journal that:

A Green Bay businessman is under criminal investigation for allegedly defrauding the state’s job creation agency of more than $1 million, according to search warrants obtained by the State Journal.

Ron Van Den Heuvel has not been charged with a crime, but he is suspected of committing theft and securities fraud against several parties, including the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., according to six search warrants the Brown County Sheriff’s Office executed at Van Den Heuvel’s home and businesses in De Pere and Ashwaubenon in July.

Even clearer now why our hopelessly corrupt governor didn't want anyone looking too closely at what he does in office.

On Prosecutors Protecting Wrongful Convictions

"I’ve made the argument before that convicting an innocent person of murder ought to be treated like a doctor who amputates the wrong limb. If it wasn’t intentional, perhaps it shouldn’t be a criminal offense. But it should end that person’s career. Yet to actively work to preserve bad convictions, and to work to keep information about those cases from becoming public, is another matter entirely," writes Radley Balko today in the Washington Post.

With a hat tip to Mark Godsey at the Wrongful Convictions blog, I ask Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to read a book: Who Killed Sarah? A True Story of Injustice.

I would be happy to email Mr. Ozanne a copy, if you are reading this. Your office is protecting a wrongful prosecution, and I suspect a man of your intellect realizes this fact.

Your office can afford to be just.

Center for Prosecutor Integrity—Needed Here

An innocent woman, Penny Brummer, remains behind bars (in Fond du Lac county), a 1994 prosecution presided over by District Attorney Brian Blanchard's office (2001-2010) for reasons of careerism and bigotry against Lesbians

As the police continue to target black men and women in Dane County, the need for civil liberties checks on the police and the prosecutor is apparent.

One such check is the Center for Prosecutor Integrity (CPI).

When an innocent loses decades of his life, then is exonerated in Wisconsin, what happens? Does the press pound for an explanation? Do police self-evaluate? District Attorney's office?

Nothing happens, careerism and passive compliance remain the order of the day.

At CPR, the mission remains in part:

The Center for Prosecutor Integrity is the nation’s only organization with a sole focus on enhancing prosecutorial ethics.

Three major areas:Addressing Over-Criminalization, Ending Wrongful Convictions and Restoring Equal Treatment Under Law. ...

Our Prosecutor Integrity Registry help tell the story and address the very real problems in our Justice System today.

These are just some of the systemic problems.

Self-conscious malicious prosecutions and prosecutorial misconduct are common, common is Wisconsin.

Penny Brummer

Here in Dane County, for example, an innocent woman, Penny Brummer, remains behind bars (in Fond du Lac county), a 1994 prosecution presided over by District Attorney Brian Blanchard's office (2001-2010), and an injustice District Attorney Ismael R. Ozanne (2010-present) has refused to revisit, though the case lacks evidence of any kind—forensic evidence, eyewitness,  murder weapon, nothing but bigotry and what attorneys call "confirmation bias"—the rest of all call it bullshit.

So what happened in 1994? The D.A.'s office says: There's no case?

Of course not, Brummer was a lesbian so she likely murdered someone, so who needs evidence?

The judge was former Dane County (Wisconsin) Judge Patrick Fiedler, now a partner with Hurley, Burish & Stanton, S.C, after several decades of prosecutorial work in service to the Republican Party and his career. Fiedler, a rightwinger and typical bigot, agreed with the D.A's office.

A decent judge would have dismissed the case.

For the life of me it is incomprehensible to me why Ismael Ozanne lets this injustice stand.

"Police clearly had 'tunnel vision' in building a case against Penny, another common feature in wrongful convictions. Witness David Zoromski, who reported seeing a suspicious man standing by the open passenger door of a parked pickup truck exactly where Sarah's body was later found, was told by a Dane County Sheriff's Deputy, 'What you saw is all very interesting, but we have a suspect and it doesn't fit.' The man seen by Mr. Zoromski matched the description of the person Penny said she saw Sarah talking to near the Taco Bell at East Washington Avenue and North Oak Street in Madison, after she dropped her off that night. Police identified him and knew he was a convicted felon with a long history of violence toward women -- but they never followed up on this lead."
- From Who Killed Sarah-

To support this innocent woman, Penny Brummer.

"They didn't look at (Penny), they just looked at it as let's get another gay person off the street," said Nancy Brummer, Penny's mother (Pabich, WMTV-TV).

What is Ozanne's excuse?

Ozanne has made public statements that his office will cooperate with the Innocence Project.

This is an unusual commitment by district attorneys in wrongful conviction cases.

In light of the growing prison-industrial complex of American society and case after case of innocents behind bars, I asked Ozanne point blank when he was running for Attorney General, "how much does the imprisonment of an innocent weigh on you?"

Ozanne's response is a source of hope for Penny Brummer: "No prosecutor should want to have innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted stay in prison. If evidence is brought to the attention of the authorities demonstrating that a mistake has been made, the interests of justice demand that the evidence is carefully reviewed and the individual should be released if exonerated. As Dane County District Attorney, I have worked with lawyers from the Innocence Project, and will do so in the future. While these decisions are largely at the discretion of the DAs around the state, I would work with them as attorney general, providing resources and advice in these situations. The ultimate goal of the system is not simply to secure convictions, it is to do justice."

These words do not square with Ozanne's inaciton.

As with all the other innocents whose lives were effectively murdered, Ms. Brummer's case calls for enactment of a Conviction Integrity Unit in Dane, Iron and Milwaukee counties, independent of the District Attorney's offices, for starters. (Conviction Integrity Unit, Wrongful Convictions)
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[A version of this piece was published in 2014.]

GOP Court Halts Law Enforcement Probe of Scott Walker and Criminal Scheme

Republican justices stepped up aggressively for Scott Walker today, and stomped on the rule of law

Update: Alice Ollstein notes the four GOP justices ordered that those working on the case "permanently destroy all copies of information and other materials obtained through the investigation." (ThinkProgress)

See also Wisconsin Supreme Court Ends Walker Investigation, Eviscerating State’s Campaign Finance Limits and Raising Questions about Judicial Impartiality (Brennen Center for Justice) and Corrupt Wisconsin Supreme Court kills John Doe Investigation. As well the Capital Times John Doe ruling dangerous for democracy and the Center for Media and Democracy's analysis.
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How about those not working on the case? This information belongs in the public record. One can hope for a leak in the tradition of Ellsberg to hold up Walker's illegal actions to a public light.
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court is a corrupt institution on which state Republicans and Scott Walker rely to give a judicial imprimatur to unconstitutional and lawless action.

Today, as expected the Supreme Court halted a law enforcement probe of Scott Walker and rightwingers through numerous consolidated cases (Beck, Wisconsin State Journal).

The latest and long-predicted decision by the Court halts the bipartisan John Doe probe investigating what court documents have shown to be a criminal scheme by Scott Walker and an array of rightwing groups to illegally coordinate fundraising (Marley, Bice and Bill Glauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

"The expected decision in the case, ... before the state's highest court, [took] a blowtorch to what remains of Wisconsin's post-Watergate campaign finance rules," writes Mary Bottari in PRWatch in a piece run the day before today's decisions were announced.

Wisconsin Republicans are nothing if not consistent in protecting each other, no matter that an entire branch of government—the judiciary branch—has lost credibility as an impartial institution and now reaches "pre-determined conclusion(s) not based on the facts and the law," as noted by former Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson in Ozanne v. Jeff Fitzgerald, Scott Fitzgerald, Ellis and Suder (2011) that gutted Wisconsin's Open Meetings law. (Mal Contends)

There are other law enforcement bodies that can still investigate Walker's clear criminal behavior, and the John Doe judge can release court documents at his discretion under the John Doe statute. Perhaps Scott Walker will call for the release of the probe's records if Scott Walker has nothing to hide

No surprises, just corruption

In recent years, the four GOP justices have voted against rule-of-law justices to enact Court rules favorable to the Republican Party and to outright promote corruption.

In July 2010, the four GOP justices enacted a rule reading in part, "a judge shall not be required to recuse himself or herself in a proceeding based solely on any endorsement or the judge’s campaign committee’s receipt of a lawful campaign contribution, including a campaign contribution from an individual or entity involved in the proceeding." (p.2)

Republican special interest groups petitioned the Court to change the recusal rule.

"In 2010, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's four-justice conservative majority voted to adopt new rules stating that the fact of a campaign contribution alone would not require recusal -- but the rules were literally written by none other than (Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce) WMC, as well as the Wisconsin Realtors Association, which gave over $1 million to Wisconsin Club for Growth in its 2010-2011 fiscal year. In other words, WMC wrote the rules requiring that the justices WMC has elected not recuse in a case involving WMC's election activities." (PRWatch)

Each of the four Republican justices on the Court—Justice David Prosser, Justice Michael Gableman, Justice Annette Ziegler and Justice Patience Roggensack—were elected with money by the same groups now appearing before the Court.

"Wisconsin Club for Growth (WiCFG) and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) played a key role in electing the four justices in the majority, in most cases spending more than the candidates themselves."

A bipartisan group of prosecutors allege that the Walker campaign illegally coordinated fundraising and expenditures with WiCFG and WMC (and perhaps other groups) during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections. Representatives of the Walker campaign, WiCFG, and WMC could face criminal liability if prosecutors find that they conspired to evade campaign finance disclosure requirements and contribution limits." (PRWatch)

Republican justices stepped up aggressively for Scott Walker today, and stomped on the rule of law.