News & Commentary

The annual banquet of the Fox Valley Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will be on Friday evening, April 26 at Robbins Restaurant. Featured speaker will be attorney George W. Curtis. His topic will be “We Have the Best Government that Money Can Buy.” He’ll discuss issues of campaign finance reform, vote suppression, lobbying, and corrupt practices. Curtis is a frequent public speaker. He has had over 40 years of legal experience. Curtis is Past-President of the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers and Past-President of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He was named a Super Lawyer by Milwaukee Magazine for many years. Curtis created a local cable access TV program called “It’s Your Law,” on which he interviewed five Wisconsin Governors, State Supreme Court Justices, legislators, and others. The event is open to the public. For further information and to make reservations, contact FVCLU President, Dr. Martin Gruberg, (920) 235-4822 or gruberg@uwosh.edu.

On February 6, 2013, Milwaukee community groups asked a federal court to stop plans to expand the Zoo Interchange in western Milwaukee County unless and until the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration look at incorporating public transportation into the project and properly consider air quality, social and economic effects of their plans. The action falls amidst Wisconsin Transit Week that highlights the use of public transit statewide, despite cuts in our largest urban area.

Cross posted from the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.

By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist

On Thursday, January 24, 2013, the City of Milwaukee Common Council’s Public Safety Committee held an open public hearing. The subject of the hearing was Mayor Tom Barrett’s appointment of Ms. Ann Wilson to the Milwaukee Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.   Dozens of Milwaukeeans came to the City Hall Council Chamber that afternoon, including ACLU members and our community allies. 

Mayor Tom Barrett on Tuesday appointed Ann Wilson, manager of the Housing Authority's Hillside Family Resource Center, to a vacant position on the Fire and Police Commission.

MADISON, Wis. -- Republicans scratching for a way to fund Gov. Scott Walker's plan to collect DNA from suspects upon arrest may have a chance at extra dollars courtesy of Congress.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals today announced that the state’s law granting domestic partnership protections to same-sex couples will be upheld.

December 1 is the anniversary of the day in 1955 when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. Back then, racism was visible in signs that marked Jim Crow policies of segregation. We know that it took courageous organizers – like Rosa Parks, and thousands of others - and a national movement to shift our laws and policies toward racial justice.