News & Commentary

Today, Christopher Ahmuty, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin issued the following statement in response to the partial release of a report on the conduct of the UWM Police Department during at March 4th demonstration.

On March 4th, students at the UW-Milwaukee campus gathered to rally over the increase of tuition rates. When they took their message to the University's administration building, police and protesters had a confrontation and students were arrested and ticketed. The ACLU of WI called for an investigation to review the use of force by campus police against protesters. However, the partial release of a report on police conduct by law enforcement experts and the Vice Chancellor leaves questions unanswered.  “We recognize that officers have a great deal of responsibility and work in often difficult circumstances," said Executive Director Chris Ahmuty. "Difficult circumstances do not diminish their responsibility to use constitutional police methods.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Wisconsin and the law firm Jenner and Block today filed papers seeking court approval of an agreement to settle a longstanding class-action lawsuit charging that grossly deficient medical and mental health care jeopardized the lives of female prisoners at the state’s largest women’s prison.

The ACLU of Wisconsin will continue its work to ensure that same-sex couples maintain the basic protections provided in the state’s new domestic partnership registry. “We expected a challenge to the registry in a lower court,” said Chris Ahmuty, ACLU of Wisconsin’s executive director. “We’re fully prepared to help defend the state’s registry so that same-sex couples in Wisconsin can have access to the basic, although limited, legal rights their families need. While the Wisconsin Family Action and the Alliance Defense Fund will attempt to compare the domestic partnership registry to the legal definition of marriage, same-sex couples will seek to demonstrate a factual record of how the protections offered by the registry are quite limited and in no way violate the marriage ban.” 

On Monday, the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation's legal department joined the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin and the Midwest Environmental Advocates to request that the Wisconsin Public Service Commission address the disproportionate adverse impacts of electric generating facilities on minority and low-income communities in Milwaukee. The organizations seek to ensure that the PSC address these environmental justice issues in deciding whether to retire, "mothball," or upgrade existing electric generating units.

According to media reports in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and his own press release (PDF), Milwaukee Alderman Robert Donovan has procured a recycled armored truck equipped with surveillance cameras for his crime fighting group “Operation Impact.” The Milwaukee Police Department will accept the vehicle, although they did not ask for it, according to a MPD spokesperson. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is concerned that the Alderman appears to be offering his constituents publicity rather than the professional policing they deserve.

On Tuesday July 20th, the Wisconsin Supreme Court sidestepped the question of whether there are any constitutional limits on police use of global positioning system devices to track people in their cars. Instead, the Court decided that a court order obtained by the police in the case of State v. Sveum satisfied the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Wisconsin Constitution.

On Tuesday July 20th, the Wisconsin Supreme Court sidestepped the question of whether there are any constitutional limits on police use of global positioning system devices to track people in their cars. Instead, the Court decided that a court order obtained by the police in the case of State v. Sveum satisfied the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Wisconsin Constitution.

On July 14, 2010, the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center (MGAC) received a check for $20,000 from the City of Milwaukee in settlement of a federal lawsuit filed on its behalf by the ACLU of Wisconsin. The suit alleged that the City violated the First Amendment by shutting down “Naked Boys Singing,” a musical play with gay themes that has been produced around the country, after receiving complaints from a citizen who objected to its content. “Good theater sometimes challenges convention,” said Paul Masterson, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center. “The police should not shut down a play because some people find it offensive.”