 L to R: Equal Rights Commission Chair Tony Snell, Equal Rights Complaints Liaison Ramona Ramos, new commission members Elle Halo Hill and Alexandria Staubach, and Equal Rights Specialist Omar Barberena, on May 8, 2025, at Milwaukee City Hall. Wisconsin Justice Initiative Policy Analyst Alexandria Staubach joined the city of Milwaukee's Equal Rights Commission yesterday when the Milwaukee Common Council’s Judiciary and Legislation Committee formally approved her membership and that of Elle Halo Hill, a Milwaukee community organizer and trans rights activist.
Staubach and Hill were nominated to the commission by Mayor Cavalier Johnson earlier this year. Ald. Mark Chambers Jr. moved Hill’s nomination for approval, while Ald. Robert Bauman moved Staubach’s nomination approval. Both nominees were confirmed by the committee without comment. The commission begins a period of regrowth following the COVID-19 pandemic, when its membership and capacity shrank, as discussed by commission Chair Tony Snell at the hearing. Staubach and Hill bring the commission’s membership to nine individuals, with room for two more members by city ordinance. The commission’s website describes the entity as a group of “diverse and invested city residents who advocate and celebrate Milwaukee’s diversity – while also working to eliminate all forms of bias and discrimination.” The commission began in 1944 as the Mayor’s Committee on Inter-Racial Relations. Per the commission’s website, the committee was charged with examining community issues to recommend and support polices that included all Milwaukeeans. The commission evolved over time and now has “the latitude to develop policy recommendations related to equal opportunities in housing and employment beyond race and including gender, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disabilities, lawful sources of income, martial status, sexual orientation, or familial status.” The governing ordinance charges the commission with monitoring the employment, contracting and program activities of the city; preparing and providing reports to the mayor and common council on efforts to promote equal rights and opportunities; promoting positive community relations; and eliminating discrimination and inequities in city government and the city as a whole. Currently, the commission’s scope of authority falls within three major areas: creating internal accountability within city departments, enforcing the Housing and Employment Discrimination Ordinance, and working with neighborhoods to improve community relations and address equal rights issues. The commission generally has investigative and enforcement powers over discriminatory employment and housing practices that do not otherwise fall within the jurisdiction of federal and state agencies. Commissioners are city officers under the Milwaukee code of ordinances.
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By Alexandria Staubach
Milwaukee Municipal Court continues to dodge its obligation to record hearings by proposing an insufficient new policy in response to a court order. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski rejected the municipal court’s proffered new policy but clarified some of the municipal court’s responsibilities. Borowski held in December 2024 that the municipal court and its judges had consistently failed to comply with statutorily imposed recording requirements for hearings on motions to reopen as well as hearings addressing a defendant’s ability to pay. Such hearings must be recorded so an appellate court can review them. Borowski placed the municipal court under his supervision and ordered the municipal court to comply within 90 days. He reserved the right to hold hearings every three to six months to monitor compliance. Over the years, Milwaukee Municipal Court developed several different categories of hearings and limited recordings to only what it called “indigency hearings,” even though judges regularly took up a defendant’s ability to pay in other hearings as well. Borowski found in December that names of court proceedings are an invention of Milwaukee Municipal Court and the court could not avoid recording requirements through its naming system. He ordered the municipal court to “fully implement” policies and procedures to electronically record every hearing in which “(1) a decision is made as to a motion to reopen a case (regardless of whether said motion is made orally or in writing, regardless of the label or category assigned to said hearing, and regardless of the ultimate result of the hearing) and (2) a determination is made as to the defendant’s ability to pay a judgment due to poverty (regardless of the ultimate result of the hearing).” In March 2025, Milwaukee Municipal Court submitted to Borowski a plan that purported to bring it into compliance but failed to address key components of his December order. The policy Milwaukee Municipal Court submitted again only applied to “indigency hearings.” Further, it shifted the burden of recording from the municipal court to the court’s bailiffs and said the municipal court would no longer grant “motions to reopen based on pleadings alone but rather schedule a hearing,” as a result of Borowski’s decision. Milwaukee Municipal Court sought clarification from Borowski because it thought his December decision was “reasonably susceptible to more than one interpretation,” asking Borowski to point out the “specific circumstances requiring a hearing in open court” that would trigger the recording requirement. Last week, Borowski found that the proposed policy Milwaukee Municipal Court presented “lacks sufficient clarity to ensure compliance with the Court’s Decision and Order.” He directed the municipal court to develop a new policy that “must explicitly require electronic recording of ALL of the following”:
The new order forbids the municipal court from placing the obligation of recording on bailiffs. “Court staff may be responsible for turning on the recorder, but the policy and procedure must clarify that any recording must be made at the direction of the judge,” Borowski wrote. Milwaukee Municipal Court has 14 days to develop a new policy, Borowski said. Borowski noted that nothing in his December order requires Milwaukee Municipal Court to hold a hearing on a written motion or when a judge would otherwise dispose of a matter by written order. “Judge Borowski’s April 21, 2025 order is very clear guidance to any municipal court that is still unsure which hearings must be electronically recorded,” said Susan Lund, attorney for the plaintiff who brought the case challenging Milwaukee Municipal Court’s recording procedures. Criminal justice reform activist moves closer to seat on Milwaukee's Fire and Police Commission2/3/2025  Krissie Fung, nominated for a seat on the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, speaking at a town hall meeting at Mitchell Library on Jan. 28, 2025. Photograph by Emilio De Torre. By Alexandria Staubach
The Milwaukee Common Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee last week unanimously recommended Krissie Fung for a seat on Milwaukee's Fire and Police Commission. Krissie Fung was nominated by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson to fill an FPC vacancy. Her nomination now proceeds to the Common Council for confirmation. Fung is associate director of the Milwaukee Turners, the city’s oldest civic group. She works on projects like Zero Youth Corrections, which supports work on system change to prevent youth from entering the criminal legal system. She recently spearheaded an FPC monitoring program that ran from June to December 2024. Fung made the rounds last week, participating in a town hall event at Mitchell Library on Tuesday and then testifying in front of the Public Safety and Health Committee at its Thursday meeting. FPC Executive Director Leon Todd introduced Fung at the town hall meeting. “I believe that Ms. Fung is extremely well qualified to represent the public in this role,” he said. Fung told town hall attendees that she was inspired to seek the seat in part by her work monitoring the FPC. She expressed concern over a lack of civic engagement with the FPC after state legislation took away its rule-making authority. She said she wants to increase the commission’s transparency and increase the public’s trust of and access to the commission. At the committee meeting, Alderwoman Sharlen Moore championed Fung as a unique pick, saying it was “so important that our commissions and our boards are diverse and represent an array of experiences.” Alderwoman Laressa Taylor asked Fung what unique contributions she would make on the FPC. Fung highlighted her work with many who are system impacted or formerly incarcerated and her own experiences with the justice system. She said she would give voice to those perspectives in civilian oversight. Alderman Scott Spiker asked Fung whether she would be able to demonstrate fairness in officer disciplinary hearings given the Turners’ history of advocacy regarding criminal justice reform and police. Fung said she desired to seek reform and that her ultimate goal of zero youth incarceration in Milwaukee will remain, but that she was committed “to work with the systems we have.” Alderperson Jose Perez asked Fung at the town hall meeting what she hoped people would say about her at the end of her term if confirmed. “I hope that folks would say I was fair in my careful consideration of everything that came before me,” Fung responded. By Alexandria Staubach A new Wisconsin Policy Forum report concludes that a dramatic decrease in arrests has not negatively impacted crime rates in Milwaukee. While the report does not provide a single explanation for the overall decrease in crime or arrests, it suggests that community-oriented solutions could be contributing to the decline. The report’s key findings were presented to Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission at a meeting last week. Milwaukee Police Department Chief of Staff Heather Hough suggested that instead of executing arrests, officers now have “more tools in their tool box for different outcomes.” She cited specifically the specialty task forces the department employs. Wisconsin Policy Forum’s Ari Brown highlighted at the same meeting that a decade ago among peer cities Milwaukee ranked number one in arrest rates and number seven in reported offenses. In 2023, though, the city ranked 10th among its 12 peers for both arrests and offenses, Brown said. Using Wisconsin Department of Justice data, the forum concluded in its report that MPD made fewer overall arrests year over year except in 2021. MPD made 51,175 arrests in 2012, falling to 9,061 in 2023, a decline of 82.3%. Traffic stops have also dramatically decreased, falling from 149,721 in 2015 to 27,715 in 2023. Reported instances of crime have declined in Milwaukee, helping to partially explain the arrest decline, the report said.  Graph from the Wisconsin Policy Forum report "Arresting Developments: How and Why Arrests and Citizen Contacts are Declining in Milwaukee." Whie violent crime rates, particularly homicides, remain elevated over numbers from the early 2010’s, they remain on a downward trend as well. The report indicates that MPD has focused more on combatting high-priority crime, which requires more significant officer resources. The report attributes some of the overall declining arrest rate to an increased focus on solving and addressing more violent crimes that “draw significant community and media interest.”  Graph from the Wisconsin Policy Forum report "Arresting Developments: How and Why Arrests and Citizen Contacts are Declining in Milwaukee." The report points to no single cause for the arrest rate drop off. However, the combined effect of decreased reported offenses, amorphous national “societal factors” in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, decreased traffic stops, decreased staff competing with elevated serious crime levels, leadership changes at MPD, and a 2018 settlement in the Collins case have all played a significant role. The Collins settlement of a lawsuit against MPD in 2018 over its stop-and-frisk practices, for example, called on MPD to track several data points about every traffic stop it makes. The forum’s report concluded that “there be can be no doubt that the Settlement’s fundamental intent to eliminate unjustified stops has, indeed, been a contributor to the reductions in both stops and arrest.” The report points to changes in leadership at MPD since 2018 as another significant factor. Former MPD Chief Edward Flynn emphasized data to measure officer performance—better performance reviews for more arrest made. Neither subsequent Chief Alfonso Morales or current Chief Jeffrey Norman use such measures to gauge officer performance. Brown was careful to say he did not believe Milwaukee needs to be making more arrests, but he highlighted that the sharp declines are worth closer examination. He said anecdotal evidence gathered from interviews suggested that MPS patrol officers now spend significant amounts of time shuttling detainees to medical services and watching surveillance footage. Because Milwaukee is duty bound to allocate significant resources to the recruitment, training, and hiring of new law enforcement officers as a result of 2024 state legislation, figuring out how to better use officer time was a “worthwhile” endeavor moving forward, Brown said.  The City of Milwaukee's Judiciary and Legislation Committee on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. Photograph by Alexandria Staubach. By Alexandria Staubach
Today, the Milwaukee Common Council’s Judiciary and Legislation Committee unanimously approved a legislative lobbying plan that includes amending state law to increase use of jail as punishment and to eliminate protections against jailing of the poor by municipal courts. The state legislative package approved by the committee Monday morning describes what city representatives should pursue with the Legislature in 2025 and 2026. That the committee would take up the package was announced late Friday. Wisconsin Justice Initiative, the ACLU of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Turners, and several individuals were denied the opportunity to speak about the package, despite appearing in person at the meeting on short notice. In explanation, Alderperson Mark Chambers, Jr. said the document was a “living file” and in theory subject to change. Alderperson Robert Bauman encouraged interested people and entities to reach out to their alderpeople individually. “It felt a bit like a cold shoulder on a 12-degree day,” said James Gramling, WJI board member and former municipal court judge, who attended the committee meeting. WJI and others specifically sought to address the legislative priority of amending state law to increase the use of jail to enforce municipal forfeitures. Many municipal judges have decreased the use of jail commitments to enforce municipal forfeitures, as such jail time is widely considered counterproductive and harmful to low-income individuals. The ACLU of Wisconsin recently released a report highlighting how carceral sanctions in Wisconsin’s municipal courts inherently criminalize poverty and result in racially disparate effects. The city's legislative priority would have its lobbyists pushing for statutes permitting municipal courts to impose jail time “as a penalty for individuals who have failed to appear in court and have accumulated more than 15 outstanding citations or owe $20,000 or more in unpaid fines.” But Wisconsin law already permits jail time for any unpaid monetary judgment ordered by a municipal court, not just after a certain dollar amount accumulates. Using jail as punishment for those with 15 or more citations, though, is new. Importantly, an alternative proposed change would eliminate protections that prevent poor defendants from jail time when they do not have the ability to pay. The city’s lobbying proposal seeks to “waive the requirements” of the statute that “limits the use of jail sentences in certain situations.” Those "certain situations" include when a defendant is deemed impoverished and lacks the ability to pay municipal court forfeitures, such as when a defendant receives public benefits. “The proposal to waive these requirements will essentially recreate debtor’s prisons—a torturous, outdated and unconstitutional relic openly forbidden by Congress in 1833 and condemned by everyone from Charles Dickens to Michelle Alexander,” Emilio De Torre, executive director of the Milwaukee Turners, told WJI. The state legislative package includes more than one hundred priorities, which its executive summary says are designed to “reflect Milwaukee’s unwavering commitment to a brighter future” and “shape Milwaukee’s development for years to come.” Bauman described the document as a “big wish list.” The committee unanimously adopted the legislative plan as proposed. It will go to the Milwaukee Common Council for approval before heading to the mayor’s desk.  A panel at the Milwaukee Turners' Dec. 7, 2024, celebration of International Human Rights Day. L to R: Melody McCurtis of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, UWM Professor Ted Lentz, WJI's Alexandria Staubach, and Pastor Walter Lanier. Photograph by Mel Bridges. On Saturday, the Milwaukee Turners hosted a forum at Turner Hall in honor of International Human Rights Day. International Human Rights Day is observed around the world on Dec. 10, recognizing the anniversary of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Milwaukee’s early celebration included comments from Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee Equal Rights Commissioner Chair Tony Snell-Rodriguez, and Steve Watrous from the Milwaukee United Nations Association. Turners Executive Director Emilio De Torre opened the event saying “at home, people of the global majority are not safe in their own skin, and people are not allowed to love according to the dictates of their heart.” Johnson joined the opening remarks by recognizing that International Human Right Day presents an opportunity to reflect and consider how we can make Milwaukee a “more ethical and more inclusive city for the people who do and all the people who will call Milwaukee home.” Johnson recognized that historical injustices to human rights are easily identified in Milwaukee and that the much more difficult challenge is finding solutions to the problems we see. A panel addressed the international theme of “Equality—Reducing Inequalities and Advancing Human Rights.” The panel discussion was led by Pastor Walter Lanier. Panelists included Melody McCurtis, deputy director and lead community organizer for Metcalfe Park Community Bridges; University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Professor Ted Lentz; and Wisconsin Justice Initiative Policy Analyst Alexandria Staubach. Discussion included housing issues, local and state legislation that might alleviate inequities in the criminal justice system, and research being conducted to make the criminal justice system more transparent in Milwaukee. Plausible solutions were offered by McCurtis, but the city’s recent attempt to pass the “Grow MKE Plan” is not one of them, she said. The plan recommends updates to Milwaukee’s zoning code to permit additional styles of housing in all Milwaukee neighborhoods. But McCurtis said the plan will permit “bad actors” and private interests to benefit from eminent domain, turning housing historically owned and occupied by community elders into short-term rentals. Over the summer, Community Bridges fought adoption of the plan, bussing more than 100 residents to a Common Council meeting to stop the plan's adoption and winning a six-month extension so those who will be directly impacted by the plan have an opportunity to weigh in. Lentz highlighted a data project that presents a broad overview of Milwaukee’s criminal justice legal landscape, analyzing patterns and trends in data collected by a variety of agencies, offices, and facilities that make up the system. The findings recognize racial disparities within the system and the need for data-informed, community engaged approaches for criminal system reform. Lentz’s project continues, with another analysis underway. His full report can be found here. Staubach discussed efforts to pass criminal justice reforms at the state level and the array of roadblocks Milwaukee faces regarding state politics. She highlighted the importance of WJI’s work at the local level, especially in municipal courts, and the need to zero in on what can be done through ordinances and the Milwaukee Common Council. “We have to recognize when we’ve gotten it wrong and do something different,” Staubach said regarding city-funded incentives for derelict landlords, which, in her opinion, line pockets and do little to expand the pool of affordable housing. “We need to change the way we legislate—from top down to bottom up, but it requires the people affected by laws to activate and engage with their local representatives,” she said. Snell-Rodriguez said he “anticipates a pull back of federal civil rights” and said it will be “be time for cities like Milwaukee to rise to the occasion.” By Alexandria Staubach
Today the Milwaukee Common Council voted to effectively suspend during the Republican National Convention local requirements that typically govern private security personnel. A substitute ordinance “deems security personnel who hold a private security permit or license, a private detective permit or license, or a reasonably similar credential issued by any United States state, territory, or municipality as in compliance with the provisions of the Milwaukee Security Personnel License ordinance.” The substitute ordinance modifies requirements that have been on the books only since March 2024, when the Common Council voted to require security personnel to obtain a license and execute a bond agreement. Under the March rules, to obtain a license an applicant must not:
Private security firms have proliferated in the United States recently. There are “roughly twice as many security guards employed in the U.S. than there were 20 years ago,” according to an investigation by TIME. In 2021, Allied Universal, an international security company, was the third largest employer in the United States behind Walmart and Amazon. The industry is largely unregulated. Variation from state to state is near limitless. No national body governs private security, and 21 states have no training requirements for private security personnel who are unarmed, says a 2021 report from the National Association of Security Companies. In Wisconsin, unarmed private security personnel are not required to complete a mandated number of training hours, while armed private security personnel are required to complete 36 hours of training. Meanwhile, the District of Columbia requires 98 hours of training for armed private security personnel, New Hampshire requires 4 hours, and Kansas requires none. Per today's new temporary ordinance in Milwaukee, accepting “reasonably similar credentials” from any state or any municipality is necessary because “convention organizers estimate that as many as 1,000 private security personnel may be present,” and if each were required to be locally licensed, the volume of applications would “hamper the License Division’s ability to perform its regular business.” The new ordinance does not identify how credentials will be verified for out-of-state private security personnel or what “reasonably similar” means. The substitute ordinance will be in effect from July 13-20 “or as further required for the completion of the Republican National Committee’s presidential nominating process.” By Alexandria Staubach
Today the Milwaukee Common Council passed an ordinance restricting movement and property within the Republican National Convention (RNC) “security footprint” zone. While coolers and nonplastic water bottles will be prohibited, all guns not otherwise prohibited by state law are OK. Newly prohibited items include those commonly associated with acts of civil unrest, at times taking that definition beyond its logical conclusion. The ordinance bans everything from tennis balls and canned goods to bicycle locks. The list contains 27 categories of prohibited items, but Police Chief Jeffrey Norman will have the last say, as the ordinance also provides a catch-all provision prohibiting anything he deems to present a “clear and present danger.” Last week, at a special meeting of the city’s Public Safety and Health Committee, Ald. Robert Bauman, whose district includes the security footprint zone, introduced a version of the ordinance that would have kept firearms out. The committee had no appetite for that version, with Common Council President José G. Pérez and Alds. Sharlen Moore and Scott Spiker voting no. Ald. Peter Burgelis voted in favor. Ald. Lamont Westmoreland abstained. Had the proposed ordinance prevailed, any attempt to keep legal firearms out of the RNC would have violated state law, said newly elected City Attorney Evan Goyke in a letter to the committee last week. Goyke pointed out that a Wisconsin statute bars the city and all local governments “from prohibiting the possession or carrying of legal firearms.” The RNC, taking place in Milwaukee in July, and the Democratic National Convention, taking place in Chicago in August, are designated National Special Security Events (NSSEs) by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). NSSEs include large-scale events where DHS anticipates the attendance of dignitaries; which are of political, historical, or significant symbolic significance; and which are “likely to draw the attention of terrorists or other criminals, particularly those interested in employing weapons of mass destruction,” according to the DHS website. Once an event has been designated an NSSE, the U.S. Secret Service “assumes its mandated role as the lead federal agency for the design and implementation of the operational security plan,” says the DHS website. On July 28, 2020, shortly after Milwaukee was announced as host for this year’s RNC, the Common Council passed an ordinance precluding all persons “without the required credentials” from entering or being in the security zone during times to be designated by the Secret Service and Milwaukee Police Department. The ordinance also puts time and place restrictions on counterprotests, which are the subject of a recent ACLU lawsuit against the city. Many details regarding who and what will be permitted in the security zone remain a mystery, with the RNC set to kick off in just over a month. City of Milwaukee voters will see on their ballots a contested race for city attorney. Evan Goyke challenges incumbent Tearman Spencer. The election is on April 2. Goyke is a representative in the Wisconsin Assembly. He graduated from Marquette University Law School in 2009. Spencer was elected as city attorney in 2020. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2003. WJI asked each of the candidates to answer a series of questions. The questions asked are patterned after some of those on the job application the governor uses when he is considering judicial appointments Goyke's answers are printed as submitted, without editing or insertion of “(sic)” for errors. Spencer did not respond to WJI's request.  Evan Goyke
Why do you want to become Milwaukee City Attorney? I’ve seen firsthand how the City Attorney’s office can help improve the quality of life for Milwaukee residents. That is only possible if the office is functioning properly. I bring a skill set and vision to the office that can restore the culture and trust inside and outside of the office, return to a standard of excellence, and proactively address real world issues in our city. Name one of the best or worst U.S. or Wisconsin Supreme Court opinions in the last 25 years and explain why you feel that way. While I wish I were writing about a different case, I think I have to select, as the worst U.S. Supreme Court case, Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010). Citizens United devastated the American political system. It’s impossible to quantify the extent of the damage. In Wisconsin, the money that has been allowed to enter our political races has resulted, in part, in a near decade of one party control. I’ve experienced this firsthand during my tenure in the State Legislature and know our state’s inability to experience meaningful progress in areas deeply important to me have their roots in the flawed political process Citizens United has empowered. Describe two of the most significant cases in which you were professionally involved. State v. Moore, 2015 WI 54 I was co-counsel for Mr. Moore and briefed and helped argue the pretrial litigation that was the subject of the State Supreme Court case. Mr. Moore was interrogated by law enforcement and as co-counsel for his defense, I helped challenge the admissibility of the interrogation. Juvenile interrogations should be audio or visually recorded and portions of Mr. Moore’s interrogation were done without recording and a subsequent recording was made in secret by law enforcement. The State Supreme Court ruled wrongly that the interrogation was admissible against Mr. Moore. Bank of New York Mellon v. Carson, 2015 WI 15 While I was not counsel on the Carson case, it was one that I followed closely and was inspiration for and useful during multiple legislative sessions working on mortgage foreclosure legislation. Carson involved so called “zombie foreclosures,” where lenders never sold properties after receiving a foreclosure judgment. This meant the previous homeowners, many of whom no longer lived in the home, remained legally responsible for property taxes and the condition of the property. Carson was a big victory and helped create additional legislation improving the sheriff sale process for mortgage foreclosures. Carson remains an inspiration to me today as I look toward focusing on housing and housing quality as City Attorney. The City Attorney’s Office wrote as an Amicus in Carson. Describe your legal experience as an advocate in criminal litigation, civil litigation, and/or administrative proceedings. My litigation experience is in the criminal justice system. I worked as a trial attorney in the Office of the State Public Defender in Milwaukee County and handled all levels of criminal defense litigation, including administrative hearings. During my time in the State Legislature I have been actively involved in writing laws, or trying to block bad laws, that make changes to how criminal and civil cases are tried in Wisconsin. Describe an instance when you were challenged and had to exhibit courage in the face of adversity or opposition and how you handled that situation. Throughout my elected career I have had to make difficult decisions in the face of opposition. I handle these instances through research, balancing each side of the argument, listening to those directly impacted, and making the best decision possible. I can think of many instances working to reform the criminal justice system within a legislature hostile to the idea, where I pushed for compromise rejected by both the right and left wings of the major political parties. This was particularly the case working to reform Wisconsin’s juvenile justice system, where one party rejected doing anything and the other pushed against plans that did not do enough. Those were difficult, long days/months/years, but I stayed committed to the process I’ve outlined and it ultimately was a positive, meaningful effort for the issues being advanced. What are the greatest obstacles to delivering true justice for the citizens of Milwaukee that you anticipate? What can or should be done about them? I think the greatest barrier to true justice in Milwaukee, as I define it, is poverty. I don’t mean temporary poverty, I mean the generational, segregated, deep poverty that strips hope and opportunity from a person or a community. I say this because I define true justice as an equal opportunity for each person to reach their potential and live a happy, healthy life as they desire. That definition falls well outside just a legal context of justice. I plan to use the power of the City Attorney’s office to work alongside, listen to, and support community organizations, community leaders, and residents to address the challenges that allow generational poverty to persist. I plan to focus on tangible progress at the neighborhood level. I expect many barriers, as change is difficult. I plan to stay committed to residents and local stakeholders and to not allowing opponents, especially those outside our community to distract from solving the issues presented. I plan to be relentless in these pursuits until we achieve meaningful progress. By Gretchen Schuldt
A Milwaukee County judge acted with “apparent antipathy” toward a state law designed to protect businesses from unfair treatment when he ruled the law did not apply to a contract between Milwaukee Municipal Court and JusticePoint, a nonprofit that provides services to indigent defendants, the organization alleges in an appeals brief. Circuit Judge J.D. Watts “disregarded the factual record, made unsupported factual findings, and erroneously interpreted and applied the law to find that the relationship between JusticePoint and the City does not qualify as a dealership under the WFDL,” attorneys Jeffrey Mandel, Erin K. Deeley, and Rachel E. Snyder wrote on behalf of JusticePoint. The WFDL is the Wisconsin Fair Dealership Law, the 50-year-old statute designed to protect businesses from unfair and arbitrary actions by entities issuing contracts. The appeal seeks reversal of Watts’ ruling, a remand to circuit court, and a temporary injunction while the case is litigated there. JusticePoint qualifies for WFDL protection and the city must show that it met certain requirements in ending the contract, they wrote. The city must show it had good cause to end the relationship, that it issued proper notice, and that it provided JusticePoint an opportunity to correct any performance problems. “The city admits to making no effort to comply with any of these three requirements, relying instead on a ‘convenience’ clause as its sole justification for terminating JusticePoint’s contract,” they wrote. “This is patently insufficient under the WFDL.” JusticePoint’s agreement to provide Milwaukee Court Alternatives Program (MCAP) services was terminated at the behest of two of the three Milwaukee Municipal Court judges without explanation, under a “convenience” clause that allows the city to end a contract for any reason with 10 days' notice. The city notified JusticePoint of the termination in May 2023, giving the organization until mid-July to finish its work. Municipal Court officials did not name any successor provider program and said the court would seek bids sometime in the future. That meant that without JusticePoint, Municipal Court defendants would lose the assistance the organization provides for completing community service requirements, handling inability-to-pay forfeiture cases, or finding various social services. JusticePoint sued over the termination, alleging that it violated the WFDL, and Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan temporarily placed the contract cancellation on hold. Watts took over the case after that, ruling against JusticePoint after an October hearing on the matter. The city contended that, applied to a municipality, the WFDL should protect only businesses with a profit motive or a business offering, to protect public procurement law, the JusticePoint lawyers said. “Its concern was not a concrete one in this instance but an abstract fear of a potential slippery slope,” they said. The city also argued that applying the WFDL would lead the city to violate competitive procurement regulations, but “admitted this might be an illusory issue because it ‘may be accurate’ to say that the instant case has no bearing on procurement regulations.“ “Though the city maintained its consistent agreement that JusticePoint distributes city MCAP Services, the trial court at numerous points attempted to steer the city into making arguments contrary to that position — and inconsistent with the factual record,” they said. Minutes after the October hearing ended, the attorneys wrote, Watts “presented a single-spaced, 11-page written decision that disregarded the city’s arguments and the undisputed factual record, concluding instead that: 1) the relationship between JusticePoint and the City was not a dealership protected under the WFDL because JusticePoint was distributing its own, rather than the City’s, services; and 2) there could be no community of interest between the parties in the absence of a ‘joint undertaking’ and shared profitability.” Watts then prompted the city to seek dismissal of the entire case, which he granted, they said. Appellate Judge M. Joseph Donald issued a stay pending appeal, maintaining the suspension of the contract termination. At the trial court level, Watts “made a series of legal errors in applying the law to the undisputed facts of this case, fundamentally narrowing the purview of the WFDL in contravention of both statutory text and binding precedent,” the JusticePoint attorneys said. Watts held, for example, that the “WFDL cannot apply outside of conventional franchise-franchisee, profit-driven, commercial relationships,” an error appellate courts have consistently warned against, they wrote. “To the contrary, JusticePoint’s delivery of services on behalf of the City fits soundly in the ambit of the WFDL under the uncontested facts before this Court,” they said. The nonprofit qualifies for protection under the law because it has an agreement with the city, distributes city services, and shares a community of interest with the city, they said. While the city effectively conceded that JusticePoint distributed city services, Watts found differently, ruling that JusticePoint was distributing its own services. Watts found it dispositive that the city “ ‘did not have the services’ themselves and . . . Municipal Court defendants do not directly pay JusticePoint for the MCAP Services those defendants receive,” the lawyers wrote. The law does not require that, however, they said. It simply requires that a dealer sell or distribute the grantor’s — in this case the city’s — goods or services. “If WFDL protection applied only if JusticePoint was selling city services, the agency could charge a penny meeting Watts’ “atextual, invented requirement” but not making JusticePoint profitable or defraying city expenses for MCAP services, they said. Watts’ misinterpretation also would effectively block charitable nonprofits from WFDL protection if they provide services free of charge for recipients, they wrote. Watts also misread the law’s “community of interest” provision to require JusticePoint to maintain a commercial business enterprise receiving revenue and setting prices, the JusticePoint attorneys said. Under state Supreme Court precedent, a community of interest exists when there is continuing financial interest and interdependence, they said. A “ ‘continuing financial interest’ contemplates a ‘shared financial interest in the operation of the dealership or the marketing of a good or service,’ while ‘interdependence' is the ‘degree to which the dealer and grantor cooperate, coordinate their activities and share common goals in their business relationship,’ ” they wrote. Watts also “arbitrarily rejected the uncontested factual record” to find that there was "no coordination of activities” between the city and the nonprofit. He found that JusticePoint’s investments in staff and computer programming infrastructure needed to run its program were not substantial compared to its overall expenses, despite there being no evidence of overall expenses offered, the lawyers said. While JusticePoint does not charge clients for its services, it saves the city money and has a financially interdependent relationship with the city, they wrote. The city’s own goal for the program, as stated in its most recent request for proposals to operate the program, is to “ ‘ultimately reduce Milwaukee County Criminal Justice Facility and House of Correction populations and reduce the associated cost to the City of housing these offenders.’ “ The agency also works closely with Municipal Court and other city officials in its program operations, they said. |
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