WJI's Daily Reads for April 13, 2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michael Gableman blames two judges for delays in his election investigation.

Gableman's review of the election is months behind schedule, in part because of legal disputes. Without naming them, Gableman blamed the two judges considering those cases — Waukesha County Circuit Judge Ralph Ramirez and Dane County Circuit Judge Rhonda Lanford — for the delays.
 
"The judges who are dragging this out, they know better," Gableman told WTAQ-AM host Joe Giganti. "They know that the law is very clear, that the Legislature gets to perform legislative oversight. They know that the Legislature is entitled to these interviews, they’re entitled to these documents."

Minutes later, Gableman indicated he wanted to avoid talking about state Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn, who was elected in 2019 with the help of Republicans but has ruled with liberals in some high-profile cases. 

"Let’s not even go there," Gableman said of Hagedorn.
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Salon: Former Trump lawyer John Eastman still urging Wisconsin officials to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: State Supreme Court stops further review of Racine school referendum that passed by five votes.

A unanimous state Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled those challenging a narrowly decided 2020 school referendum in Racine did not have a right to have ballots re-examined in court after they had already been reviewed during a recount. 

Associated Press: Bill to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin scheduled for public hearing, though Legislature has adjourned.

Reuters: Gunmakers ask federal judge to dismiss Mexico's lawsuit seeking $10 billion in damages.

Mexico in a lawsuit filed in August accused (Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co.) of undermining its strict gun laws by designing, marketing and distributing military-style assault weapons in ways they knew would arm drug cartels, fueling murders and kidnappings.

It said over 500,000 guns are trafficked annually from the United States into Mexico, of which more than 68% are made by the gun makers it sued, which also include Beretta USA, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Colt's Manufacturing Co and Glock Inc.

Brookings: Addressing the disproportionate effects of facial recognition and other surveillance on communities of color.

Governments and private companies have a long history of collecting data from civilians, often justifying the resulting loss of privacy in the name of national security, economic stability, or other societal benefits. But it is important to note that these trade-offs do not affect all individuals equally. In fact, surveillance and data collection have disproportionately affected communities of color under both past and current circumstances and political regimes.

Reason: Man transporting diesel fuel spends six weeks in jail based on unreliable field test reading positive for methamphetamine.

As Reason reported last year, such drug field test kits are manufactured by several different companies and are used by police departments and prison systems across the country. The test kits use instant color reactions to indicate the presence of certain compounds found in illegal drugs, but those same compounds are also found in dozens of known licit substances. And although the tests are fairly simple to use, they're still prone to user error and misinterpretation. 

Because of this, they are generally not admissible as evidence in court, but police still use them to establish probable cause to arrest and jail people. This has led to hundreds of known instances of wrongful arrests and even guilty pleas from defendants facing charges for test results that crime labs would later invalidate.