Wisconsin Public Defenders question relationship between Milwaukee District Attorney's office and advocacy group Enough is Enough

By Alexandria Staubach

Criminal division judges in Milwaukee County Circuit Court received a letter late last week questioning the independent legitimacy of local group Enough is Enough and its relationship with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office.   

The letter, signed by the State Public Defender’s regional manager Angel Johnson and deputy regional manager Paige Styler, alleges that the group received special treatment from the District Attorney’s office.

“While Enough is Enough is primarily composed of community members,” wrote Johnson and Styler, “its activities and formation have been closely coordinated with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office since its inception.”

The letter requested that the judiciary “consider this context when evaluating any impact statements or the presence of Enough is Enough,” adding “that this court watch group should not be regarded as an independent, grassroots organization.”

Enough is Enough President Jeanne Lupo took issue with the characterization of the group’s relationship with the DA’s office in a phone call with WJI.

“Bob Donovan actually floated us the idea,” Lupo told WJI.

Donovan is the Republican representative for the Wisconsin State Assembly in District 61. 

Lupo also said that while the group does receive information from the district attorney’s office on occasion, she believes it does not extend beyond what the public and media might get if they ask.

“We aren’t collaborating with the district attorney’s office,” said Lupo. “We are an independent 501(c)(3).”

Lupo also told WJI that before the group began their Court Watch program, they met with Chief Judge Carl Ashley, “because we wanted to be transparent in what we intended to do.”

According to its website, Enough is Enough seeks to raise awareness “about the perils of fleeing an officer and reckless driving resulting in bodily harm or death.” It does not advertise any formal affiliation with the Milwaukee District Attorney’s office.

A principal action for the group includes its Court Watch program according to Lupo. The program tracks cases in which pursuits and reckless driving are implicated as they move through Milwaukee courts.

On its website, the group highlights monitoring prosecutorial patterns and judicial sentences and says that it offers community impact statements at some sentencings. The group received media attention over the summer as reckless driving cases and police pursuits surged. 

The group’s website also says that it advocates in court proceedings for increased penalties for unlicensed vehicles and in revoked driver's license cases. It describes itself as providing “oversight of probation and court-mandated requirements often overlooked by monitoring agencies particularly the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.”

Nonetheless, according to the letter, through an open records request, the public defender's office received more than 258 emails, the contents of which “outline extensive meetings with members of the DA’s office and Enough is Enough, including ‘learning sessions’ and ‘Q&As’ conducted by members of the DA’s office for the group.”

The letter specifically cites Assistant District Attorney Joy Hammond and retired Assistant District Attorney Thomas Potter as being particularly involved in the group’s efforts and says that Hammond and Potter “reviewed, drafted, and edited letters for Enough is Enough addressed to the judiciary.”

“In those communications, Enough is Enough was told to remove language that indicated the group’s collaboration with the DA’s office and to frame their issue as a community, rather than law enforcement initiative,” wrote Johnson and Styler.

Lupo denied the characterization, saying the group is interested in working with "everyone." 

“We independently file our impact statements and attend court cases and publish reports about what rulings are,” Lupo told WJI.

“We went in with a hypothesis that Judges are too lenient,” said Lupo. “Sixty-nine percent of the time judges rule more leniently than what the DA is asking.”

“No one (from the public defender's office) has reached out to me to discuss what we do,” Lupo told WJI.

Nevertheless, it is the public defenders' “belief that the Milwaukee County DA’s office, by supplying information to Enough is Enough and then acting as if it is an independent organization, purposely omitted crucial context that should have been disclosed to the defense and judiciary,” wrote Johnson and Styler. They urged the judiciary "to consider this context when evaluating any impact statements or presence of Enough is Enough, recognizing them as part of the District Attorney’s efforts to influence sentencing decisions.”

WJI reached out to an author of the letter as well as the district attorney’s office and received no response at the time of this post. 

You can read the full letter below. 

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*Correction: An earlier version of this post stated that Enough is Enough had reached out to the State Public Defender's office. Enough is Enough has never reached out to the State Public Defender's office and the comment was included in error.