School boundaries, 17-year old voters, prisons for sale and more

News tidbits for today...

Parents gear up for school boundary decision at tonight's school board meeting
The article in the State Journal on what's at stake; Channel 3000 report including video on school boundary issue. The ACLU does work nationally to work for the desegregation of public schools and has more information on its website on why integration based on race and income is still a relevant fight.

Local student comments on 17-year old primary voters
In his letter to the editor, a local student comments on why he thinks he should be able to participate in a primary if he will turn 18 by election day. He refers to Senate Bill 6 which hasn't seen political success.

Prisons for sale
An interesting editorial from the Eau Claire/Chippewa Valley Leader-Telegram on the expense of prisons.

If leave policy doesn't define marriage, can same-sex couples share the right?
Sheboygan couple files grievance over paid leave loophole for same-sex couple's marriage.

Editorial calls for action on racial disparity
Appleton/Fox Cities editorial on racial disparity and the war on drugs, refers to Governor's commission.

Rep. Ryan introduces fingerprint database for employers as alternative to national ID
Don't like Real ID? How about providing your fingerprint to get a job? Rep. Ryan's New Employee Verification Act proposal doesn't require a national ID, but still relies on databases and fingerprinting to get employers to hire only documented workers. Also highlights his support of the CLEAR Act.

News of the weird? Rock County woman jailed for overdue books
Article shows how the library patron's neglect and the library's issuance of several overdue notices leads to citations and court dates. However, as pointed out in last week's Isthmus, getting a friend or family member out of jail can be expensive. Dane County uses a service called GovPay (PDF) to process credit cards used for bail money. Fees for using credit cards for bail can be an average of 8-10% of the bail price. Another example of how the criminal justice system is stacked against the poor.