One reads that, in rejection of a prior administration’s approach, [Wisconsin Attorney General] Kaul Embraces Opens Records Policy: Wisconsin’s open records law applies to all records requests, big or small. But under former Attorney General Brad Schimel, the Wisconsin Department of Justice implemented a restrictive policy that limited access based on the number of potentially…
Law
America, Courts, Elections, Federal Government, Law
Major Supreme Court Decisions (And Where to Find Them)
by JOHN ADAMS •
There were two major United States Supreme Court decisions handed down today, on partisan gerrymandering and on a possible citizenship question for the 2020 census form. There will be significant commentary – some informed, some not – about these decisions, but it’s worth reading them in full. Like most decisions, they’re lengthy, yet always worth…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Open Government, Public Records 2, School District
Closed Government is Expensive Government
by JOHN ADAMS •
Small communities – by definition places with small populations – have fewer people from whom residents can choose officials, elected or appointed. The rational response for these communities would be to be as open as possible, to make best use of their full populations, and to encourage newcomers. Pride, however, stands in the way of…
Blogging, Law, Liberty, Litigation, Newspapers, Press, Public Records 2, Wisconsin
Public Records Requests as Pre-Litigation Actions
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsinites submitting public records requests under the law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31 et seq.) may do so for any number of reasons (and need not declare a motivation of any sort). Not everyone will have the same aims in mind. For someone who’s a publisher (newspaper, magazine, blogger), however, a sensible way to look at…
Education, Good Ideas, Law, Newspapers, Open Government, Public Records 2, School District
The Best Record is a Recording
by JOHN ADAMS •
A video recording of the 5.28.19 Whitewater Unified School Board meeting is now online. It is, truly, a genuine good without merely particular ends. (Every regular and special board session should be online, by the board’s own policies. See Public Records Request, 5.20.19.) A recording of the full session confirms yet again that the best…
Courts, Crime, Drug War, Health, Law, Walworth County
Treatment Courts as Practical Success Stories
by JOHN ADAMS •
Treatment courts, whether for drunk driving or drug abuse, have been successful in jurisdictions across the country. Counties from coast to coast – red or blue – have seen positive outcomes from judicially-overseen treatment programs. Despite this, there’s been opposition to a drug treatment court in rural Walworth County, sadly beset by addictions of various…
Law, Open Government, Public Records 2, School District
Public Records Request, 5.20.19
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update on the afternoon of 5.20.19: A email response from Dr. Elworthy and my reply — Dear John, I am in receipt of your records request regarding any audio or video recording of the 5.13.19 Whitewater Unified School District board meeting, including a recording of only part of the full session. The City of…
Congress, Law
Sen. Kamala Harris Questions Atty. Gen. William Barr
by JOHN ADAMS •
Babbittry, Blogging, City, Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty, Newspapers, Open Government, Press
Sunshine Week 2019
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s Sunshine Week in America: a seven-day focus from the American Society of News Editors and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on “access to public information and what it means for you and your community.” One doesn’t have to be a reporter (and bloggers, for example, are not reporters) to understand the importance…
Immigration, Law, Religion, Trump
‘Christians Build Bridges, Not Walls’
by JOHN ADAMS •
In Texas, a white adobe chapel built in 1899 on the banks of the Rio Grande sits in the proposed path of President Donald Trump’s border wall. A Border Patrol agent stands sentry yards away. A military helicopter—part of Trump’s troop surge at the border—drowns out Father Roy Snipes. It’s akin to “saying Mass in…
Courts, Elections, Law, Wisconsin
Chief Judge Lisa Neubauer for Supreme Court: Fairness. Justice. Equality
by JOHN ADAMS •
Courts, Law, Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, a Case of First Impression on Social Media Contacts
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin’s Court of Appeals handed down a decision today concerning social media. The appellate court held that a trial judge’s decision to accept a litigant’s Facebook friend request during litigation before his court created a risk of actual bias, resulted in the appearance of partiality, and so was a due process violation for which trial judge’s…
America, Congress, History, Law, Misconduct, Trump, Trump-Russia
The Case for Impeaching Trump
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yoni Applebaum contends It’s Time to Impeach Trump (“Starting the process will rein in a president who is undermining American ideals—and bring the debate about his fitness for office into Congress, where it belongs”): On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump stood on the steps of the Capitol, raised his right hand, and solemnly swore to faithfully…
Crime, Law, Trump
Circumstantial Evidence is Often Very Reliable
by JOHN ADAMS •
Trump’s defenders – many of whom would otherwise support aggressive criminal prosecutions – sometimes argue that the case against Trump is merely circumstantial (no “direct evidence of collusion”). These apologists ignore what in other cases they might acknowledge: that circumstantial evidence can strongly, reasonably support a conclusion. Eric Swalwell and Chuck Rosenberg (as recounted by Natasha…