News roundup: more support for voting rights, postponed Kenosha cursing decision and more

A news round up from the week – good civil liberties articles and issues you don’t want to miss!

Voting Rights
Rep. Joseph Parisi made a supportive statement about the committee hearing for the Wisconsin Democracy Restoration Act bill. His comments on how racial bias in the criminal justice system disfranchises a larger amount of people of color gives good support for the bill. The Capital Times had a supportive editorial and the On Milwaukee blog gave it a shout out.

Free Speech
ACLU of Wisconsin board member and law professor Jon Marshall was interviewed on a Fox 6 news report on the proposed Kenosha cursing ticket ordinance. The Kenosha City Council decided to postpone their vote. The ACLU of Wisconsin continues to urge them to drop the proposal.

There were also articles in the Madison Isthmus on the police crackdown on selling political newspapers on State St. as well as a Green Bay Press Gazette editorial questioning the timing of a park gun ban so soon after a man carried his firearm as a public statement of Second Amendment rights. And did you catch the news about the Wisconsin Representative who wants the legislature to advise journalists to stop calling H1N1 influenza the "swine" flu?

Milwaukee Examiner blog features story about a biker from Hudson, WI who is biking across the country for charity. He brought attention to the West Bend book banning controversy and the Examiner blog post has some fun facts about Banned Books Week. Celebrate Banned Books Week this month in Wisconsin.

Domestic Partnerships
The Cap Times had a scorcher of an opinion piece on the political motivations for Attorney General Van Hollen to not represent the state in the challenge against the new statewide domestic partnership registry and benefits. The Duluth News Tribune had a similar article with an overview of the AG's opinions in the course of his tenure. The ACLU of Wisconsin also sent out a Tweet earlier this week on the legal opinion from UW Law School professor David Schwartz which described how the registry and benefits are Constitutional.

Census
There was an article on madison.com on how non-profit organizations are lining up to help people understand more about their participation in the Census. There was also a timeline on what to expect. While their is a national organization urging immigrants to not participate in the Census, Wisconsin immigrant rights groups are underscoring the need and the benefits of full participation of everyone in our community.