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Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS

Law, Laws/Regulations, Wisconsin

The Journal Sentinel on Justice Gableman’s Receipt of Free Legal Services (and a bit about the story, itself)

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Over the the Journal Sentinel, there’s a story about Justice Gableman’s deciding votes on cases in which the Michael Best & Friedrich firm represented the victorious party, despite his receipt of free legal services from that firm:

State Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman in two cases cast the deciding vote in favor of parties represented by a law firm that gave him tens of thousands of dollars of free legal services, a review of state records shows.

One of those was a high-stakes case this June that allowed Gov. Scott Walker to implement a law that all but eliminates collective bargaining for most public workers. Gableman was in the 4-3 majority that allowed Walker to prevail. Michael Best & Friedrich – the firm that defended Gableman for free in an ethics case – worked for the state and Walker’s administration in the collective bargaining case.

In addition to the collective bargaining case, Gableman supplied the deciding vote in an opinion he wrote this March that sided with a Michael Best client against the City of Milwaukee over tax assessments.

The Wisconsin Democracy campaign has filed a complaint against Gableman with the state Judicial Commission over the receipt of these free services.

That’s the part of the story about Gableman, but there’s a funny part of the story that’s a story, itself: the use of Rick Esenberg as one of Marley’s sources on the ethics of Gableman’s acceptance of these free services:

Rick Esenberg, president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative public interest law firm, said that determining whether a judge must recuse after receiving legal service depends on several factors, including whether he had recused himself from some past cases, how long ago the law firm had represented him and what the work involved.

“That’s a judgment call,” Esenberg said.

Esenberg’s being evasive when he refers to recusal as a judgment call. Broadly, any decision under these circumstances is — one hopes — an exercise of judgment. If by judgment call Esenberg means that in Gableman’s circumstances there’s no ethically preferable decision between recusal and participation, he should say as much, plainly.

(Two prominent ethicists do say as much: “But two well-known legal ethics experts contacted last week – New York University law professor Stephen Gillers and Indiana University law professor Charles Geyh – said they believed Gableman should not be participating in cases involving Michael Best.”)

Unlike the two legal ethicists who question Gableman’s conduct, Esenberg’s hardly an arms-length evaluator of judicial politics in Wisconsin. He’s an advocate and polemicist. Capable, but not so much as he might think, or want others to think. (I’ve yet to see, for example, someone like the very solid Edward Fallone not get the better of Esenberg.)

Freedom of Speech

New York Civil Liberties Union: Accommodate Christmas Prayer Vigil in Zuccotti Park

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The NYCLU ( a chapter of the ACLU) is advocating on behalf of a group of religious Occupy protesters in New York.  They’re right to do so.  I have decidedly mixed feelings about the Occupy movement’s economic agenda, but speech like this in a park – whether political or religious – should be allowed in a free society.

NEW YORK — The New York Civil Liberties Union today wrote to New York City officials and Brookfield Properties asking them to accommodate a Christmas prayer vigil at Zuccotti Park.

Occupy Faith, which is composed of members of an Occupy Wall Street Christian interest group, is planning to hold a 24-prayer vigil in Zuccotti Park to begin at midnight on Christmas Eve and continue to midnight Christmas Day.

“The city has enabled religious events in parks in the past, including a 1995 mass in Central Park led by Pope John Paul II ,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. “It is entirely appropriate for the city to allow these folks to pray together in the park. It should do so without restricting any items the group believes are necessary to express its faith.”

Via NYCLU press release.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 12.20.11

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Good morning.

If you were in Whitewater today, you’d be in a small Midwestern town with a high temperature of thirty-seven, and partly sunny skies.  In New Orleans, you’d walk through a city during a day of scattered showers and mid-seventies temperatures.

There’s an Urban Forestry Commission meeting at 4:15 PM, and a  Common Council session at 6:30 PM, in Whitewater today.

I see that the Occupy movement has found its heroine.  In this, they’ve done a better job than the Tea Party, Move On, etc.  Although Sarah Palin is a Tea Party favorite, Occupy has an advocate, it seems, who’s as famous and even more captivating.

For those who wondered how Anne Hathaway would play Catwoman, now you know. For those who doubted that Christopher Nolan would keep the next (and final) installment of the Batman series relevant, doubt no more. more >>

Politics, Recall

The WISGOP Ad: Your Money

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In the prior post, The WisDems’ New Ad: I recall, one sees the Democrats’ recall approach. In the ad below, from the Walker campaign, one sees Lt. Gov. Kleefisch answering those who wonder whether the Walker Admin has achieved what it promised. Here’s Your Money:

Watching the two ads, there’s a different presentation of the recall and retention efforts. Despite the stylistic differences, these ads are directed at a similar audience.

For recall proponents, the intended message is one of broad dissatisfaction with Gov. Walker, that he’s out-of-step with ordinary people. To convey this message, the I recall ad uses crowd shots and remarks from frustrated, but ordinary-looking, people.

Although the ad seemingly reminds residents of why they might already be upset at Walker (that they should ‘recall’ their doubts of him), that’s not its only audience. It’s those who might not have a strong opinion who comprise a target just as important: they’re the uncommitted voters whose participation might swing a recall election. Seeing shots of ordinary people expressing dissatisfaction with Gov. Walker is meant to sway them join a supposed majority against him.

The Kleefisch ad (Your Money) is different, but it has a similar target audience: independents or weakly-committed Republicans who may be having doubts about whether Walker has achieved enough to justify the turbulence his policies have brought to the state.

Rebecca Kleefisch isn’t speaking to diehards in this ad; she’s speaking to wavering or hesitant voters, and of those voters, to an audience of women. (Kleefisch sits cross-legged in the ad, as though she were speaking to women in a book club or coffee klatch. The ad’s certainly not intended, and would be useless, in persuading men: men don’t talk to women in this kind of setting. Women talk to other women — at least some suburban women do — in this kind of setting.)

There’s your field of battle, and the different ways by which the parties seek to persuade a common target audience.

Recall

The WisDems’ New Ad: I recall

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The Wisconsin Democrats have a new, 1:45-long ad advocating Gov. Walker’s recall. The ad has two targets: Democrats sure to support a recall, and independents and moderates who may be frustrated or embarrassed by Walker’s supposed stridency (or supposed economic ineffectiveness despite legislative victories). Democrats are the sure votes; it’s persuading moderates that Walker’s more trouble than he’s worth that’s the more important political goal. I think this ad will be effective with those moderate voters.

See what you think:

Via I recall – YouTube.

Uncategorized

Gingrich Collapses in Iowa, as Ron Paul Surges to the Front

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A new poll from Public Policy Polling shows that Ron Paul has taken the lead in the Iowa caucus race, while Newt Gingrich’s support is fading fast. A different Gallup poll shows Grinrich still holding the lead, but slipping, while The New York Times has Paul in the lead as well.

Surprising?  Not at all, and here’s why:

Perhaps the most telling secondary question was, “Do you think Newt Gingrich has strong principles?” Only 36 percent say that he does, but for Paul that number was 73 percent.

Via Politics – The Atlantic Wire.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 12.19.11

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Good morning.

It’s an increasingly cloudy day with  a high temperature of thirty-nine ahead for Whitewater.  In Austin, TX, they’ll have a day of thunderstorms and a high temperature of sixty-eight.

The housing committee of Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets today at 4 PM.

Amazing, but true: a comet survives a close encounter with the sun.

NASA explains its video of the comet’s path:

Comet Lovejoy survived its encounter with the sun. The second clip shows the comet exiting from behind the right side of the sun, after an hour of travel through its closest approach to the sun. By tracking how the comet interacts with the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, and how material from the tail moves along the sun’s magnetic field lines, solar scientists hope to learn more about the corona. This movie was filmed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory in 171 Angstrom wavelength, which is typically shown in yellow.

Google’s puzzle for today is, I think, the oddest they’ve crafted: “You’ve bet a friend you could live longer without water than a cockroach could live without its head. Will you win the bet?”

Twitter

Recent Tweets, 12.11 to 12.17

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13 Dec
24-Year-Old Asks Facebook For His Data, Gets 1,200 PDFs – Slashdot bit.ly/rznTVt

13 Dec
Editor: Headline wrong Suspicious recall signatures, with proper dates and locations, [may!] will be counted bit.ly/s2C03e

12 Dec
Sadly, sounds like Floyd Landis & every pro cyclist ever caught: Probable Braun defense strategy – bit.ly/tzc60P

11 Dec
Odd: State Journal website offers nothing prominent about Ryan Braun suspension pic.twitter.com/2JHb1aRx

Comment Forum, Nature

Update: When will Whitewater see its first accumulated snowfall this season? When you thought it would…

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Over a month ago, I asked in a Poll & Comment Forum: When will Whitewater see its first accumulated snowfall this season?  The standard was at least one inch, and I think we’re close enough today for Saturday, December 17th to be Whitewater’s first snowfall.  It’s not much snow, but it’s enough to be noticeable, and easily more than just frost.  (There’s an imprecision in a poll like this that’s harmless; it’s not bridge-building or automotive engineering.)

The largest group of respondents was on the money: the first snowfall was between 12/16 and 12/31, as they predicted:


(I was way off: I’d predicted November 28th; it would have been better to stick with the sharp prediction of over 42% of respondents.)

Economy, Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s Poor Record of Job Creation

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We’ve had five straight months of job losses in Wisconsin, with another 14,600 jobs, including 11,700 in the private sector, lost last month.

You know, and I know, that Gov. Walker insists that Wisconsin is open for business. I’m sure it is; I’m equally sure that when most people use that expression, they’re not thinking of a fire sale.

Arguments over recall petitions notwithstanding, we’re sure to have a gubernatorial recall election, and among the many issues will be our poor record on employment. Gov. Walker can expect considerable criticism from the Left (the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future among them), as found in a flyer I’ve embedded below. He’ll need an answer, a convincing one, to their critique.