FREE WHITEWATER

Official Misconduct

The Truth about the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

A person should be able to make simple distinctions, as between the sensible and foolish, or practical and impractical. Sometimes those distinctions should be clear, and as stark as the difference between the contents of a sample cup and a glass of Chardonnay. You’ll hear a lot locally over the next few days about a…

The Dismissal of Palmyra’s Police Chief, Charles Warren

Last week, Palmyra’s Police Commission, on a 2-1 vote, fired Chief Charles Warren. Warren had been police chief of the village’s force for five years. Both the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Jefferson County Daily Union reported on Warren’s dismissal. The Police Commission action followed an autumn hearing on the complaint of Gary Byers, a village…

Racine Journal Times Investigation Uncovers Municipal Abuses in Mount Pleasant

For those who obstinately contend that bureaucrats and politicians are always and forever public servants, selfless, giving of themselves, exist for a better community, etc., a compelling refutation will be found in a series from the Racine Journal Times, entitled, “JT investigates: Climate of fear in Mount Pleasant.” The JT describes the series: The abrupt…

Six Years in Prison for Legally Recording a Police Officer?

Photography and video recordings both protect honest police departments against false accusations and assure communities receive information about instances of official misconduct. When citizens exercise their rights to photography and video recording, they are also bolstering the work of good officers by helping identify a few corrupt ones. Yet not everyone sees it this way,…

Lessons from the Talented Dr. Steven Hayne’s Career

I wrote last week about Dr. Steven Hayne, the incompetent forensic pathologist from Mississippi whose mistakes led to numerous wrongful convictions in that state. He made nothing but excuses — fantastic ones — when critics began to confront him. It took years for critics’ exposure of his shabby, shoddy practices to bring change to Mississippi.…

The Talented Dr. Steven Hayne

Dr. Steven Hayne is a forensic pathologist in Mississippi. He’s a fraud and liar, too. Here’s a description of his method (citations omitted): Until 2008, Hayne performed about 80 to 90 percent of criminal autopsies in Mississippi, and has testified to performing more than 1,500 autopsies per year. Performing more than 325 autopsies per year…

Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism: Indiana prosecutor resigns over Walker email

It’s hard to overestimate the outrageousness of this prosecutor’s actions: An Indiana deputy prosecutor and Republican activist resigned Thursday after the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism uncovered an email in which he suggested faking an attack on Gov. Scott Walker to discredit union protesters. Carlos F. Lam submitted his resignation shortly before the Center published…

Bell Officials’ E-Mails: We Act Like Pigs – CBS News

Readers may recall the story of excessive municipal compensation of officials in Bell, California, an impoverished town where officials helped themselves to huge salaries. See, Excessive Public Compensation in Bell, California (Lessons for the Rest of America) and Update: Excessive Public Compensation in Bell, California (Lessons for the Rest of America) It’s even worse than…

The Federal Civil Suit Against Former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz (Update 8)

The crime victim who received a series of vulgar, propositioning text messages from Calumet County’s then-District Attorney Ken Kratz while he prosecuted her attacker has filed a federal civil suit against him. I have embedded below a copy of the federal complaint, filed Friday, October 15th. (Meanwhile, Kratz is under state criminal investigation for his…

Official’s Misconduct: Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz’s Treatment of a Crime Victim (Update 7)

There’s a story in the Post Crescent about the aftermath of Calumet County D.A. Ken Kratz’s resignation, entitled, Resignation may not be the end of Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz’s woes. The resignation put an end to Gov. Jim Doyle’s efforts to remove him from office…. Kratz’s resignation followed more than two weeks of…

Official’s Misconduct: Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz’s Treatment of a Crime Victim (Update 6)

Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz, accused of sending vulgar and propositioning text messages to a domestic abuse victim while he prosecuted her attacker, has resigned his office. See, It’s official: Embattled DA Kratz resigns. The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation’s dismissal of a professional misconduct grievance against Kratz, regarding the messages he sent to…

Video: Scott Walker’s Good Friend (Update 22 in a Series)

One sometimes hears that all political ads are exaggerations. Not all of them — sadly, this one from the Barrett Campaign about Republican Scott Walker’s failure to clean house after abuses at the MIlwaukee County Mental Health Complex is true. (H/t to the Journal Sentinel.) Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tK2RgmPhg4 I’ve posted about Chianelli’s policy, and the tragedy…