WJI's Daily Reads for Aug. 3, 2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling is member of "constitutional sheriffs" movement. 
​
The Constitutional Sheriffs was founded in 2011 by former Graham County, Arizona, Sheriff Richard Mack. The organization is similar to the Oath Keepers, which encourages members to refuse to enforce laws that they believe are unconstitutional. . . . 

In bold letters on the Constitutional Sheriffs website, the mission statement reads: "The vertical separation of powers in the Constitution makes it clear that the power of the sheriff even supersedes the powers of the President."

Wisconsin Public Radio: Staffing shortages and safety concerns cause closure of part of Dane County Jail.

Sheriff Kalvin Barrett announced the department would be closing the east section of the 7th floor of the City-County Building in Madison. It’s the oldest part of the county’s jail facilities, dating back to the 1950s.

"A lack of safe and humane jail space, along with ongoing staffing shortages, has brought us to the difficult decision to place some of our jail residents in other counties. I will continue to advocate for a facility to be built in Dane County which reflects our community values," said Barrett in a press release.

NBC: U.S. Department of Justice sues to block Idaho abortion ban, claiming violation of supremacy clause.

NBC: Federal judge rejects Donald Trump's claim of absolute immunity from claims relating to Jan. 6.

The lawsuits, brought on behalf of four U.S. Capitol Police officers, seek to hold Trump liable for emotional and physical injuries they sustained when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol and disrupted the electoral vote count.

Brennan Center for Justice: Pres. Joe Biden introduces $15 billion grant program called Accelerating Justice System Reform. . . 

Rather than reflex­ively lock­ing up Amer­ic­ans with substance addic­tion, who pose virtu­ally no public threat, the grants would divert them into mandat­ory treat­ment and harm-reduc­tion programs. Grants would also fund altern­ate respon­der programs, which send trained coun­selors to deal with mental health crises, either along­side or instead of armed police officers. These solu­tions are proven to reduce viol­ent inter­ac­tions with police, who will also bene­fit from focus­ing on true public safety calls. The grant program addresses the stub­born prob­lem of recidiv­ism, provid­ing money for job train­ing and hous­ing to smooth the trans­ition from prison back into soci­ety. 

Reuters: and at the same time calls for more police funding.

But the centerpiece of Biden’s Safer America plan is the fund the police measure: a request for nearly $13 billion to hire 100,000 police officers around the country over the next five years.

WTTW: Confirmed Monkeypox case at Cook County Jail.

Amanda Klonsky, research and policy fellow at the COVID Behind Bars Data Project at University of California Los Angeles Law School, said after watching how jails and prisons have handled COVID, it is a cause of concern for how monkeypox will be controlled.