Racial Profiling Law Could Have Helped Cops End Biased Policing

Today Governor Scott Walker signed a bill to repeal a law designed to help police managers identify biased policing. The law had only just gone into effect and set up a system to collect and analyze data on the race and ethnicity of motorists when police officers initiate certain types of traffic stops or conduct searches of vehicles. 

The ACLU of Wisconsin asks, shouldn’t Wisconsin law enforcement agencies make it a priority to protect and serve all of the members of the public without bias, including motorists of color?

Governor Walker signed the repeal of the law that took effect January 1, 2011 and gave Wisconsin law enforcement managers a new tool to identify biased policing during traffic stops. The new law set up a system to collect traffic stop data and have the Office of Justice Assistance analyze it to determine if minority motorists were being stopped or searched disproportionately compared to non-minority motorists.

ACLU of Wisconsin's Executive Director Chris Ahmuty served on the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance advisory committee that helped design the traffic stop data collection system. This advisory committee was mostly composed of law enforcement professionals. It conducted listening sessions around the state where we heard compelling testimony from residents who felt they were victims of biased policing. The advisory committee also heard from many law enforcement professionals who had significant input into the creation of the system.

Most professional law enforcement leaders nationwide recognize the importance of identifying bias where it exists and addressing it. The Wisconsin legislators and Governor Walker repealed this law without giving it a chance.

While some small departments may have legitimate technical and financial issues in complying with the new law immediately, assertions regarding expense and labor costs are overblown. It is disturbing that opponents of addressing biased policing chose to repeal the law rather than attempt to make the system work. Their haste calls into question their commitment to solving the problem of racial profiling and bias among law enforcement officers in our state.

The ACLU of Wisconsin will work with law enforcement officials, community leaders, racial justice advocates and any residents of Wisconsin to identify workable solutions to the problem of racial profiling. In response to the repeal of the traffic stop data collection law, the ACLU of Wisconsin will begin an effort to collect the stories from individuals who have experienced biased policing.

Get on the Bus vs. Hit the Highway: Why Walker's Transportation Policy Impacts Workers, Clean Air and Segregated Cities

On Monday April 4, three organizations supporting racial and environmental justice - the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, and Midwest Environmental Advocates - filed comments opposing the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s efforts to again expand highway access - to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars - at the same time the state is trying to cut transit spending.

Fact: cutting innercity transportation keeps people from jobs. Milwaukee and state leaders must make the connection that people depend on public transportation to get to work. Read more in today's Huffington Post.

“WisDOT, and the state of Wisconsin, get federal money, so they must follow Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” noted ACLU-WI Senior Staff Attorney Karyn Rotker. “And that federal law means they can’t run their transportation program in ways that have the effect of discriminating against people of color, regardless of whether they are intentionally discriminating. And the state’s transportation funding and policy decisions are clearly having a discriminatory effect.”

Fact: Milwaukee is the most racially segregated city in the nation. Recent census figures show the continued racial gap and this Salon.com article breaks down why this impacts public debate on transit equity.

“In our region, people of color - especially African-Americans and Latinos - are much more likely to depend on transit than non-minorities. Allowing highway projects to move forward while transit moves backwards reduces their opportunities and segregates them even more from jobs, medical care, and other needs,” added Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin President/CEO, Dr. Patricia McManus.

“WisDOT needs to go back to the drawing board,” said Dennis Grzezinski, Midwest Environmental Advocates’ senior counsel. “They need to come up with a multi-modal plan that integrates transit as well as highways, to ensure that all residents of our region receive a fair share of the benefits of state transportation system investments.”

Read the full comments from the environmental justice organizations on the ACLU of Wisconsin website (PDF).

Learn more about how transportation dollars are affecting the state budget in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. Other groups in Madison are talking about how budget policy will harm public transportation.

Election Day - Photo ID NOT Required (yet...)

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin would like to remind voters that they don’t have to show a photo ID to vote on Election Day, Tuesday April 5.

Though photo ID is not required to vote in Tuesday’s election, voters across the state may be confused about current voting laws due to a proposal before the legislature (SB 6) that if passed would require eligible voters to show one of a limited number of state-issued photo identification documents each time they vote.

“First we hope that confusion about the proposed law doesn’t keep eligible voters without a current ID from exercising their right to elect officials on Tuesday,” said ACLU of Wisconsin Associate Director Renee Shavers. “But further, people should know there is still time to voice their opposition to photo ID requirements for voting.” The Government Accountability Board issued a statement Monday that also reminded voters that ID was not required for the upcoming Election Day.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation estimates that if the proposed law were passed, it could cost the state nearly $3 million dollars in training, equipment, materials and lost revenues from a requirement to provide free identification. The Government Accountability Board estimates that over $2.3 million dollars would be needed to update databases, forms, provide voter education, poll worker training and other costs associated with major changes in voting rights laws (find more on the bill’s fiscal estimate online).

Also, the Department of Transportation estimates that about 20% of Wisconsin’s eligible voters do not have a state-issued photo ID. Citizens who tend not to have current photo identification include a disproportionate number of people of color as well as the elderly, people with disabilities, those who rely on public transportation, and mobile populations such as college students. The ACLU of Wisconsin opposes SB 6 because it would restrict the free and fair voting rights of eligible voters while having a discriminatory effect on minorities. Read more about our opposition to voter ID on our blog.

“When our state has such a long history of free and open elections, we need to work to make sure every citizen has the right to vote, no matter what’s in their wallets,” said Shavers.

The ACLU of Wisconsin has information on the right to vote (including people who have had criminal convictions) at aclu-wi.org. Please contact the Milwaukee or Madison office if you have complaints about voter access at your local polling place on Election Day.

ACLU of WI Urges WI Senate to Reject Hasty Move to Repeal Racial Profiling Data Collection Law

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is dismayed legislators are seeking to repeal a new tool for police managers seeking to identify and address possible racial profiling in officer initiated traffic stops. Today the Senate Committee on Transportation and Elections voted to send SB-15 to the full Senate for a vote to repeal our state's new traffic stop data collection system.

On January 1, 2011 most law enforcement agencies across Wisconsin began collecting data from traffic stops and searches which includes the actual or perceived race or ethnicity of the motorists they stop. The intention of the new traffic stop data collection system is to make it possible determine if a law enforcement agency or one of its units is disproportionately stopping minority motorists. If so, the agencies' leaders would be able to investigate and determine the degree to which the disparity may be the result of biased policing.

At the public hearing on the bill to repeal traffic stop data collection, it was clear there was a lot of confusion about the new system. The ACLU of Wisconsin testified at the bill's public hearing on February 16, 2011 urging legislators to address problems with implementation rather than denying that biased policing can happen here. Very small agencies may not have the computer capacity to automatically load most of the data requested at the time of a traffic stop -- however -- that is no reason to scuttle a useful and manageable way to address a real problem for law enforcement all across our state.

To give up on a data collection system, that like most other data systems, is bound to have glitches during startup, suggests that opponents of data collection do not take bias in policing seriously. Wisconsin residents from across Wisconsin during a series of listening sessions in late 2009 told of their well-founded concerns. Wisconsin law enforcement officials, community leaders, and national experts were involved in the development of the new system for the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance. If the Senate votes to repeal traffic stop data collection, it will send the wrong message. Rather than being problem solvers, they will be moving against the mainstream of law enforcement professionals nationwide who are committed to eliminating bias in policing.

Voter ID Law Would Disenfranchise Citizens, Not Fix Illegal Votes

The new session of the Wisconsin Legislature has barely begun and legislators are pushing a bill that will require all voters to present a government-issued photo ID every time they go to the polls. The bill (Senate Bill 6 - PDF) will have a public hearing this Wednesday, January 26.

Vote Fraud is a Myth
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin will be there to speak out against an attempt to treat all voters as potential crooks rather than as citizens in a democracy with free and fair access to cast their ballot.

Proponents of this measure exaggerate the instances of illegal votes cast in Wisconsin. Despite considerable resources spent to prosecute vote fraud in recent years, only 18 cases of substantiated illegal voting led to convictions. None of the cases would be avoided by requiring a photo ID to vote at the polls on Election Day. To the extent that a small number of felons on probation or parole who are ineligible to vote may cast ballots, this measure will not stop them from voting because they have or may get photo IDs.

For more information on the debunked allegations of voter fraud in Wisconsin, see the Brennan Center for Justice report, "The Truth About Voter Fraud."

SB 6 Will Disenfranchise Minority Voters
The ACLU of Wisconsin opposes the proposal because it would place a significant barrier to voting rights would have a discriminatory effect on minority voters. Citizens who tend not to have current or state-issued photo identification include people of color as well as the elderly, people with disabilities, those who rely on public transportation, and mobile populations such as college students. This is an unconstitutional burden on the fundamental right and freedom to vote.

Even if the bill allows for individuals to obtain government-issued photo identification free of charge, the documents required for qualification for an ID often cost money and take time to obtain (see the state DMV's website on the documents generally needed to acquire an ID card and specifically those required for proof of identity). Additional barriers can be experienced by citizens who face the circular challenge of obtaining documents for their photo ID when a photo ID is required to obtain documents. When individuals, especially low-income workers and those who rely on public transportation face the costs of taking time off of work, traveling to motor vehicle departments with limited locations and hours and paying fees for certified documents to obtain a photo ID simply for the freedom to vote, the ACLU of Wisconsin pledges to act on behalf of those disenfranchised by the proposed law.

The ACLU has opposed these deeply flawed laws in other states. But the law as proposed in Wisconsin is the worst and most restrictive we've ever seen. To deny potentially thousands of voters the right to freely cast a ballot to fix a non-existent problem is unconscionable in a free society.

Other Opinions About the Proposed Law
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel issued an editorial against voter ID along with many suggestions of how the law would have to be fixed in order to avoid significant disenfranchisement. The Capitol Times took a stand against fast-tracking the bill and Dave Zwiefel said the law was a solution in search of a problem. There was also a cautious editorial from the Oshkhosh Northwestern. The League of Women Voters has issued a statement against the law. On student rights and voter ID, the Huffington Post featured this opinion from a Rock the Vote field director. And the Journal Sentinel's Craig Gilbert discusses the photo ID issue along with problems with the proposal to eliminate another Wisconsin voting rights institution, Election-Day registration.

Coal Plants and Civil Rights - The ACLU Asks the WI DNR to Reform a Milwaukee-Area Energy Plant

Milwaukee Environmental Justice: Reportback from the We Energies Valley Coal Plant Hearing
On Thursday, November 4th, over 100 community members and organizations attended a hearing held by the state Department of Natural Resources regarding the We Energies Valley Coal Plant in Milwaukee. The coal plant needs a renewal of their air quality control permit but community members objected to the proposed permit and spoke out in support of clean air, energy alternatives and environmental justice.

Environment and civil rights: the connection
What does a coal plant have to do with civil rights? The answer has to do with several key laws that have been passed in the last fifty years. Milwaukee residents say that upgrades in energy plants that dramatically reduce air pollution have happened in suburban areas but not at the Valley Plant in Milwaukee near the high-density neighborhoods mostly composed of people of color. They attended the hearing to say that everyone has an equal right to breathe clean air, not just those who live in predominantly white neighborhoods.

Environmental justice: the law
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed and said that any program that received federal funding could not directly discriminate or have a discriminatory effect on protected groups. Since the Department of Natural Resources receives federal funds and since the DNR is in charge of approving pollution permits for energy producers like We Energies Valley Coal Plant, the DNR must take into consideration the equal right everyone has to breathe clean air.

The Clean Air Act was first passed in 1970 and has been updated and changed over the years. In the 1990s the law established an improved permit program in an attempt to better regulate energy producers’ air pollution.

In 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order #12898, on Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations. That order said that federal agencies need to know how minority and low-income neighborhoods will be affected by governmental actions in terms of environmental concerns. When outdated, relatively uncontrolled coal plants in low-income neighborhoods pollute the air, everyone there suffers. Governmental agencies have the responsibility to keep energy plants accountable.

Coal plants: impact on the people
Cracking down on air pollution isn’t just about global warming. People suffer immediate health effects when air quality is poor. Bad air makes asthma worse and Wisconsin sees a disproportionate number of asthma cases in the southeast part of the state, particularly with African-American children. The American Lung Association consistently gives Milwaukee an “F” for air quality, high ozone days and excessive particulate pollution. The Valley Coal plant is the oldest of WE Energies' coal plants and is located in a high-density area of the city with the largest concentration of African-American and Latino residents. Yet suburban plants in Port Washington and Oak Creek and other units have gotten upgrades, pollution controls or even natural gas conversions. The We Energy Valley Coal Plant is not just hurting the environment, its permit has a discriminatory impact on the public health of the community.

The ACLU and you: what you can do
The ACLU of Wisconsin joined the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, Midwest Environmental Associates and the Milwaukee Latino Health Coalition to oppose the permit renewal of the Valley Coal Plant and we submitted our full comments to the state Department of Natural Resources. These organizations got involved because we see, from a systemic level, how government decision-making can disproportionately impact the health and well-being of some of the most disfranchised groups of people in our state.

Join the ACLU of Wisconsin today and let us know that you support our work on racial and environmental justice. Or please consider making a donation to our legal efforts through Community Shares of Wisconsin or Community Shares of Greater Milwaukee. Your tax-deductible contribution to the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation helps our legal team be a voice for environmental justice in the state.

Find the organizations' documents including a press release, comments with references and more on our Racial Justice issues page.

Federal Report Underscores Need for Fair Housing Plans, ACLU of Wisconsin Agrees

On October 15th, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released its report on Housing and Community Grants. The GAO found – and put as the main conclusion on the title page of the report – that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) “Needs to Enhance Its Requirements and Oversight of Jurisdictions’ Fair Housing Plans.” Fair housing advocates in Wisconsin agree.

“For years, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council and other groups have worked to ensure there is fair and open housing throughout our region,” stated Bill Tisdale, MMFHC’s CEO. “This report shows that we also need HUD to step up and make sure that county and local governments are doing their part.”

“Federal law is very clear that if a local government gets money from HUD for things like the Community Development Block Grant or HOME program, it has to analyze the impediments to fair housing in that community,” noted Karyn Rotker, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Wisconsin, which also works on fair housing issues. “And beyond that, it has to take actions to try to reduce those barriers. This isn’t just responding to complaints of discrimination – it’s taking active steps to create a more inclusive community.”

Mr. Tisdale added that “impediments to fair housing” are far broader than just overt expressions of discrimination. “For example, if people in protected groups – like people of color and persons with disabilities – are more likely to need affordable housing and a community’s laws or policies prevent that housing from being built, this is clearly a fair housing impediment. In fact, the GAO report shows it is one of the most common impediments to fair housing around the country – and that is certainly true in Wisconsin.”

“We hope this report will be just a first step for HUD to make sure that local governments are complying with the law,” added Attorney Rotker. “And we also hope that the governments themselves will start taking these requirements seriously.”

The response by the ACLU of Wisconsin and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council are available on the ACLU of Wisconsin's website.

ACLU of WI Files Complaint Over Shorewood Hills Planning and Housing Decisions

Whenever there are concerns about building affordable housing, our ears prick up mostly because of fights like what happened in South Milwaukee with the Lake Point Apartments.

We’ve been observing the housing issue around Shorewood Hills and the proposal to replace the nearly vacant Pyare Square building. Some residents of the affluent village near Lake Mendota and the University of Wisconsin Madison campus complained about a proposed apartment complex that would house limited-income families. Finally the whole project was scrapped ostensibly due to the height of the building design. However a new apartment complex proposal has recently been suggested by the Stone House Development company under the same affordable housing financing program with fewer neighborhood objections. But questions remain about the fairness of the planning process in the village.

Today, on behalf of a Shorewood Hills resident named Bill Thomas, the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation requested a federal investigation of the Village's rejection of accepting affordable family housing developments. In the complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Mr. Thomas objects to the discriminatory effect of the Village's February 2010 rejection of affordable housing.

Mr. Thomas is a longtime resident of Shorewood Hills, a former member of its Plan Commission, and an outspoken advocate for housing diversity in the Village. He as long objected to Shorewood Hills’ de facto policy of excluding affordable housing - and the people who qualify for it, who are disproportionately persons of color - from the community.

“A developer wanted to build affordable housing in a perfect spot in Shorewood Hills,” noted Mr. Thomas. “He wanted to tear down Pyare Square - an obsolete, almost vacant office building, for which no one could think of a viable non-residential use, and replace it with affordable apartments and some green space. That proposal gave our Village a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to break with the deplorable exclusionary policies of its past, and to comply with Wisconsin’s Smart Growth mandates to ‘meet the housing needs of persons of all income levels,’ and ‘promote the availability of land for the development and redevelopment low-income and moderate income housing’ without any serious strain or pain. Although the Plan Commission had recommended the needed rezoning, the Board of Trustees denied it.”

Mr. Thomas’ attorney, the ACLU’s Karyn Rotker, noted that the Fair Housing Act prohibits actions that have a discriminatory effect, as well as intentionally discriminatory behavior.

“Refusing to allow a developer to build housing that persons of color are proportionally more likely to need and use, especially in a less-diverse community like Shorewood Hills, can be unlawful," said Rotker. "That’s especially true when the rejection of such housing is accompanied by the kinds of sudden changes in rules and priorities, and the negative statements about people who live in affordable housing, that occurred here.”

“I fear that the Board of Trustees of Shorewood Hills, as a body, does not feel morally or legally obligated to even allow, much less encourage, affordable housing in the Village," said Thomas. "Unless it is persuaded otherwise, it will exercise the discretion it has reserved for itself to keep affordable housing out of Shorewood Hills indefinitely. I am hopeful that the Department of Housing and Urban Development will succeed in persuading it otherwise,” Mr. Thomas added.

The complaint got some media attention in the Wisconsin State Journal.

Voting Rights: Unfinished Business on the Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act

Today is the 45th anniversary of the passage of the National Voting Rights Act of 1965. Until the height of the civil rights movement, state voting laws allowed discriminatory practices like poll taxes, “literacy” tests and grandfather clauses. Additionally Jim Crow segregation and even intimidation and violence led to the systemic disenfranchisement of African American voters.

The National Voting Rights Act helped to return voting rights to how the 15th Amendment of the Constitution read: “the right of U.S. citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged … on account of race or color.” By trumping the state laws that had a grossly discriminatory effect of African American voter disfranchisement, the Voting Rights Act was a major step forward for the civil rights movement and taught our country that barriers to voting are unconstitutional.

But as we look back at the history of this landmark legislation, we must remember that there is unfinished business in the area of voting rights. One holdover from the days of Jim Crow laws is the idea that citizens who commit felonies should be denied their right to vote. The American public is still split on this issue and some still support the idea of taking away voting rights as a form of "civil death" as a fair part of punishment.

However it must be said that America is doing an excellent job of putting people behind bars since we have the highest incarceration rates in the world. And Wisconsin is among our country’s leaders for disproportionate imprisonment of people of color. Punitive trends started with Reagan’s War on Drugs, led to “truth in sentencing” and today politicians emphasize incarceration and harsh sentences for even non-violent drug offenses. Add in racial profiling and a systemic imbalance on how sentences are meted out in court rooms across the country and the truth is simple: we are locking up more people of color than ever before.

In Wisconsin, our state law says that people with felony convictions cannot vote until they have served time behind bars as well as completed probation and parole. Our state’s disproportionate minority incarceration means that minority voters on probation and parole in our communities are working and paying taxes but remain locked out of the voting booth.

The ACLU of Wisconsin and the Restore the Vote coalition worked hard this year to convince our state legislators that the time is now to change our state law to allow voting access for every citizen who is not incarcerated. Meanwhile state laws and court decisions across the country are moving toward making ex-felon disfranchisement a thing of the past. Wisconsin shouldn’t wait for the courts or Congress to restore the vote to those who are no longer incarcerated.

For more on this topic, check out Linda Greenhouse’s opinion piece in the New York Times from last week where she describes who goes to prison, why the racial imbalance of those who are incarcerated combined with felon disfranchisement has a discriminatory result, and how this issue has the attention of the Supreme Court and the Obama Administration. Greenhouse is a Yale Law professor, an expert on SCOTUS and a Pulitzer Prize winning writer.

For news from around the country on the work of the ACLU to secure voting rights for those who are no longer incarcerated, visit our national website.

Racial Profiling and Hip-Hop the Subject of Madison ACLU Student Alliance Event

On Thursday, April 29th, 2010, the ACLU Student Alliance sponsored an event called "Stand Up for Hip-Hop" at the Red Gym on the UW-Madison campus.


As a part of Hip-Hop As a Movement Week, the event brought attention to racial profiling in the Madison community, individual rights with law enforcement, and featured live performances from student DJs, MCs and slam poets.


J Dante was the event's host and introduced the ACLU of Wisconsin before describing for the crowd the meaning of hip-hop profiling.


"So what exactly does 'hip-hop profiling' mean you might be asking? Let me read for you a list of newspaper headlines in Madison since 2008," said Dante. "'King St. Club on Hot Seat,' 'Profiling Charged After Event Canceled,' 'MPD vs. Clubs, Hip-Hop,' 'Brink Lounge Bans Hip-Hop Shows,' 'Should Majestic Drop the DJ?'

"Local beat writer Katjusa Cisar described it as 'tension that has been building up in Madison for years.' Just type "hip-hop" and "venue" into Madison.com's search engine, set the time limit at the past ten years and hundreds of stories pop up. At the Madison Hip-Hop Forum in 2009 which looked to address many of these issues, a promoter complained about the police canceling her party at the last minute and without evidence. 'It feels like we're always being targeted,' she said.

"Things need to change in Madison. And unfortunately not much has changed since that 2009 forum. Police still watch our every move and venue owners are still just as reluctant to embrace hip-hop music," J Dante said. (Dane 101 readers might have caught The Pub's sight against hip-hop in the last ALRC rundown)

The ACLU has been involved in issues around racial profiling for years all around the country. Back in 2003, the concept of "hip-hop profiling" came to a peak in Florida, where the ACLU called for an investigation of the surveillance of rap artists who were the subject of police scrutiny for alleged associations with gang members. Anti-racist activists demanded that police start with reasonable suspicion rather than employment as a rap artists before profiling individuals.

In Wisconsin, in addition to tension around the hip-hop scene in Madison, racial profiling is being debated once again in the news and around the state. When the legislature passed its biennial budget, a provision that allows police officers to do primary seat belt enforcement (pull people over for a seat belt check) along with requiring the collection of data such as the race of the person pulled over was signed into law. Since then, the ACLU of Wisconsin and our supporters have been at public hearings for the Office of Justice Assistance to give feedback on how the data collection would work and why it would be helpful in addressing racial profiling.


What is essential for everyone in the United States and for anyone who comes in contact with law enforcement is a basic understanding of individual rights. Criminal defense attorney and ACLU of Wisconsin board president Erik Guenther talked to the group about what to do if they encounter police and what to do if they feel they were the subject of profiling at hip-hop shows or on the street. Students got a chance to ask questions about police and the criminal justice system and to share their stories about what they felt was unfair treatment or discriminatory scrutiny by law enforcement.


After the Q&A, the performers got to take over. Music was provided by DJ Dyme.


Phonetic One got the group fired up, supported by J Dante.


Polygon n Flaka Flows shared some social rhymes.


And Stereotype ended the night with a bang along with J Dante.


For more information about racial profiling issues in the Madison area, contact the local ACLU office at 6084695540. For more information on how UW-Madison students can join the ACLU Student Alliance at UW, email the group or find them on Facebook.

Racial Profiling Hearings: Monday/Madison and Wednesday/Milwaukee, Share Your Story

RACIAL PROFILING PUBLIC HEARINGS

MADISON: Mon. APRIL 26, 4-7 pm
Madison Area Technical College, 3550 Anderson Street
Room 142 C (Student Lounge)

MILWAUKEE: Wed. APRIL 28, 4-7 pm
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, 2419 East Kenwood Boulevard
Room 250, Zelazo Center

Written Comments May be Submitted Until April 30 (details below)

Have you or someone you know ever been stopped, questioned, detained, or arrested for being the wrong race/color in the wrong place/neighborhood at the wrong time? Share your experiences and help create progressive rules for racial profiling data collection!

Effective January 1, 2011, all Wisconsin police officers must collect data to determine whether vehicles operated or occupied by racial minorities are stopped more often than those operated or occupied by non-minorities. A new administrative rule will determine what data is collected and how it is analyzed.

Some in our state think that racial profiling doesn't exist. If you disagree, this is your opportunity to raise awareness and share your thoughts and experiences about this issue - and about what kinds of data and information law enforcement needs to collect.

COME TO A HEARING AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Important points to remember about about racial profiling in Wisconsin:

• Tell your story of experiencing racial profiling at the hearing and to members of your community.

• Ask legislators for data collection on whether stopped drivers don't speak English, and if they are asked whether or not a driver lives in the community where they were stopped (known as a "race out of place" stop).

• Data and reports should be broken down to include subparts of all major cities - not just Milwaukee

• All departments must be required to submit reports promptly - not wait years until they are on the "BadgerTracs" data system.

• Raw data - from the Office of Justice Assistance, Department of Transportation and local departments - must be subject to open records laws.

• The system must be set up to allow an increasingly sophisticated analysis as technology improves.

Written comments will be accepted through the close of business April 30th. Send written comments via e-mail to OJATSDC@wi.gov or by post to: Office of Justice Assistance, Attn: Dennis Schuh, 1 S. Pinckney St, Suite 615, Madison, WI 53703

State Senate Needs to Pass Race-Based Mascot Bill

This week the Wisconsin State Assembly passed a bill that would provide an opportunity for local communities to challenge race-based mascots.

When the Assembly held a hearing on the bill back in March 2009, we blogged about why we testified in support of the bill. And when the Senate also heard an overwhelming number of supportive testimonies, we tweeted live from the hearing. The ACLU of Wisconsin supports this bill because fundamentally this issue is not about the constitutionally protected free speech of students: this bill is about ending the governmental endorsement of discrimination.

We pointed out that nearly 40 public school districts across Wisconsin continue to use nicknames, mascots and logos for their sports teams that are based on race or ethnicity. Nicknames, like Chiefs or Chieftains, Indians, Red Raiders, Redman, and Warhawks, and school-approved mascots and logos have been a common feature at sporting and pep events attended by generations of enthusiastic students.

But this legislation needs to be passed in 2010 because all public schools in Wisconsin are required to provide all students with an adequate, nondiscriminatory education. Race-based nicknames, logos and mascots are inherently discriminatory and shouldn’t be endorsed by a public school.

The legislation is also needed because there should be an opportunity for a fair and adequate process for the Department of Public Instruction to review complaints from community members about race-based mascots. The government is responsible for addressing discriminatory practices such as the use of race-based mascots and the Department of Public Instruction is the appropriate agency to mediate local conflict resolution.

Votes on this issue in the Assembly were unusually not split along party lines. Democrats Jorgensen, Krusick, Ziegelbauer and Zigmunt joined mostly Republicans in voting against the bill. Republicans Brooks, Montgomery, Mursau, Rhodes and Van Roy voted in favor of AB 35. We remember how Rep. Rhodes introduced a group of youth from her district who spoke passionately in favor of the bill and what it would do for student equality. It was a great moment for the positive power of student speech for justice.

Now the bill’s future lies in the Senate. The ACLU of Wisconsin urges the Senate and majority leader Decker to have a floor vote as soon as possible.

Public School Legislative Action Needed Now!

On January 6, 2010 the ACLU of Wisconsin’s executive director Christopher Ahmuty sent the following statement to members of the Wisconsin Legislature and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. He urged them to move beyond a perceived impasse on legislation to aid the Milwaukee Public Schools. Ahmuty’s statement:

"Some media, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wispolitics.com, report that after a January 5th marathon hearing on Milwaukee Public Schools, the Wisconsin Legislature is unlikely to come up with a fix for the district’s woes any time soon. As someone who attended the hearing for eight hours, I believe the media reports misrepresent the current situation.

"While the prospect of a mayoral takeover of MPS should be dead, that doesn’t mean that the Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and legislative leaders can’t or won’t display the kind of leadership on education that both opponents and proponents of mayoral control would welcome. Mayor Barrett, in particular, can still deliver for MPS and parents and students across Wisconsin by agreeing to legislation that would address the core issues we all face.

"The school funding formula adopted by the Legislature in 1992 is a shambles and needs to be replaced. Public schools need the resources to provide an adequate education to their students. Different districts have different needs. Poor rural and urban districts (including Beloit and Racine as well as Milwaukee) have challenges that wealthier districts do not face. A new formula can help districts with concentrations of poor students, English language learners, and special needs without harming districts with more advantaged students. A good way to enhance Governor Doyle legacy on educational issues might be to revisit the 2004 recommendations of Doyle’s Task Force on Educational Excellence for additional measures that would help districts across the state.

"A proposal by State Senator Spencer Coggs and State Representative Tamara Grigsby could be modified to include provisions on funding that will help districts statewide, not just Milwaukee. Barrett and legislative leaders could be statesmen, if Barrett recognizes the needs of districts statewide, just as legislators must now recognize the urgent needs of MPS, not for control, but for support from all segments of the public and all parts of Wisconsin."

You can read the ACLU's testimony from the hearing (PDF) or read our press release (PDF) on-line.

We've blogged before about the reasons why the Mayor shouldn't take over the Milwaukee Public Schools. We also tweeted live from yesterday's hearing.

The ACLU of Wisconsin was quoted on the subject in OnMilwaukee. Coverage of the hearing and the mayoral takeover issue also included Milwaukee Public Radio, TMJ4, WisPolitics, the Milwaukee Business Journal, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WISN, the La Crosse Tribune, and got a mention on Madison's Channel 3000.

Beloit Racial Profiling Listening Session Canceled Due to Weather

Have you been racially profiled? Want to give feedback to the justice system about your experience? The public is invited to share their comments with the Traffic Stop Data Collection Advisory Committee on a rule being developed to assess the possibility of racial profiling in Wisconsin traffic stops.

*** Please note! The Beloit listening session has been canceled due to the bad winter weather. Stay tuned for the re-scheduled dates or follow us on Twitter at ACLUMadison and ACLUofWisconsin.

For more information on the Office of Justice Assistance listening sessions, visit their website.

The ACLU of Wisconsin has been involved in the listening sessions by sending staff, ACLU members and people who are concerned with racial profiling. Read more about the ACLU of Wisconsin’s reactions in the listening sessions at the ACLUofWisconsin Twitter page.

Listening sessions have been held in Racine/Kenosha; Keshena; Superior; Rice Lake; Crandon; Milwaukee; Green Bay and La Crosse

Background:
The public expects fair treatment and equal protection for all Wisconsin’s citizens under our justice system. The presence of disparities—actual or perceived—is a serious concern. The effectiveness of Wisconsin’s justice system depends on the public’s respect and confidence in the integrity of the judicial process.

In the past decade, two gubernatorial bodies have examined racial profiling and racial disparities in Wisconsin’s criminal justice system. Both groups recommended collection of racial data when a traffic stop is made as one means to determine the extent to which people of different races receive different treatment by law enforcement. Statewide traffic stop data will inform the community about the presence or absence of disproportionate contact with racial minorities during traffic stops, and help identify opportunities for potential changes in public policy and training.

Effective January 1, 2011, all Wisconsin police officers are required to collect data that will be used to determine whether vehicles operated or occupied by racial minorities are disproportionately stopped. The data collected, collection method, and analysis will be determined by a new administrative rule. The Office of Justice Assistance (OJA), a state agency, is preparing the rule with the assistance of the Advisory Committee.

Supporting materials:
Scope statement: http://oja.wi.gov/docview.asp?docid=18277

Statutory and non-statutory language on traffic stop data collection: http://oja.wi.gov/docview.asp?docid=18276

Comparison of recent traffic stop data collection in MI, IA, IL, and MI: http://oja.wi.gov/docview.asp?docid=18321

Traffic stop data collection advisory committee: http://oja.wi.gov/docview.asp?docid=18275

Written comments for listening sessions will be accepted by the Office of Justice Assistance until December 11, 2009. Comments can be sent to: Office of Justice Assistance, 1 South Pinckney St., Suite 615, Madison, WI 53703-3220

Feingold’s End Racial Profiling Act: Says Baltimore NAACP “Race Not a Proxy for Criminality.”

Check out this op-ed in the Baltimore Sun on the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA) that will be reintroduced by Wisconsin’s Senator Russ Feingold and Michigan House member Rep. John Conyers. This op-ed breaks down why racial profiling impacts us all: “race should not be a proxy for criminality.”

News roundup: tickets for cursing, public financing for judges, AG says no on DP benefits case and more

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

Free Speech
The Kenosha News picked up the story about a proposal to allow police to ticket the use of curse words against them.

And there was more coverage of the case of the man in Crivitz who flew his flag upside down. The flag pole got knocked down by angry residents. But then supporters helped to fix it. There was more coverage on NBC 15 and on WBAY-TV.

Fair Elections
The Impartial Justice bill got approval from the state Senate this week, making it one more step closer to becoming law. While public financing of campaigns is often controversial, the big money that influences state Supreme Court elections has made the past few competitive judicial seat races a cause for concern. If judges are to remain impartial, so should their sponsorship. See more about the issue on the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign website.

Lesbian and Gay Rights
Attorney General JB Van Hollen won’t represent the state in the Wisconsin Family Action challenge to the domestic partnership registry. This just means that the governor’s office will hire its own attorneys (special council). Probably will be pricey just to prove that a partnership registry with a handful of benefits isn’t anything even substantially similar to marriage.

Racial Disparity and Public Schools
Here’s a good article that explains “open enrollment” trends in Madison area schools. Open enrollment allows students to transfer to other schools if they are dissatisfied with their district. Civil rights advocates say that open enrollment leads to greater racial segregation and an erosion of Brown v. Board of Education. A quickly increasing number of students living in poverty is cited among violence and negative peer pressure as reasons to switch.

Event: Wisconsin Books to Prisoners Book Sale
Sat. Aug. 29th 12:00 Noon - 5:00 pm Orton Park Festival - near the corner of Rutledge and Few. Wisconsin Books To Prisoners Book Sale! Drop off your donated books and look over our fine collection of reading materials! All proceeds will go towards postage to send new books to those who are eager to read within the WI prison system. WI Books to Prisoners is a project of Rainbow Bookstore. For more details contact Rainbow Books (608) 257-6050.

News roundup: fair housing victory, NIMBY on detainees, blogging on profiling and more

Here’s a quick wrap-up of some civil liberties related news of the week…

Fair Housing
The ACLU of Wisconsin won a court case against the city of South Milwaukee to prevent the razing of an apartment building that housed a large portion of the city’s minority population. More details to come.

Close Guantanamo
Last month, some legislators introduced a bill to reject any Gitmo detainees from being housed in Wisconsin jails. It’s a move that legislators are attempting across the country to stir debate about terrorism, even though we already have many convicted terrorists behind bars on US soil (remember the perps from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing? Oklahoma City fed building bombing? Even Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui is in Colorado). But this week, the Obama Administration was talking about the complexity of dealing with the often-uncharged detainees and that they might try to build a courthouse/supermax combo in Michigan or Kansas.

If you haven’t already, tell President Obama to reject indefinite detention and close Guantanamo asap.

Census and Redistricting
Census folks have been out in neighborhoods to confirm addresses since the spring, but the big count won’t happen until 2010. One of the big questions will be around how the count of prisoners will be used in future redistricting of politicans’ turf. A timely op-ed from the NY Times describes why counting prisoners where they are incarcerated makes redistricting complicated and unbalanced. Our own Wisconsin state legislators will be talking about Assembly Joint Resolution 63 which would exclude the census’ prisoner count from redistricting plans. The hearing will be on September 3.

Voting Rights
Senator Russ Feingold helped to introduce legislation at the federal level to end discrimination in voting rights against people with felony convictions. This interesting article gives the perspective from the southern states and describes why this voting rights issue echoes the long history of both Jim Crow and the prison industrial complex.

Response to the Wisconsin Democracy Restoration bill has been good. A large coalition of organizations is behind it and to date we have only found two blog posts against it (one from Sen. Mary Lazich and another from the same folks who brought complaints about gay and lesbian books in the West Bend community library.

Speaking of voting, did you get a letter from the Government Accountability Board about your voter registration status? They are cleaning up their databases. See your city clerk to get your info updated.

Racial Profiling
Opinions are mixed about the new seat belt/racial data collection item the budget the Governor signed last month. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation cited the new law that would give police the power to pull drivers over for not wearing a seat belt as a reason for record-low traffic fatalities in July. However, the Milwaukee County Sheriff is blogging about how the racial profiling data collection is a tool of exploitation by “race hustlers” and that ACLU has nothing better to do than to sue police.

Sheriff Clarke might have missed the report and recommendations issued last year by the Office of Justice Assistance and the Governor’s Commission on Reducing Racial Disparities in the Wisconsin Justice System. The commission included police, corrections and housing experts, judges, lawyers, academics, community and faith leaders. The report strongly recommended that “throughout the state, we must increase and improve the validity and reliability of data, e.g. collecting and making data available,” and that “appropriate state agencies should be directed to conduct a county-by-county baseline study of racial disparity using existing traffic citation and arrest data to determine (racial) disparity levels in the state.” The report is supposed to be a blueprint for effectively addressing our disproportionate minority incarceration rate in our state.

The reality is that racial profiling is one slice of the pie that makes Wisconsin one of the worst states for putting people of color behind bars. Anyone could suggest that a Governor's commission and an OJA report is politically motivated. But disproportionate minority contact by law enforcement is a systemic problem. A systemic problem is bigger than a few racist cops. A systemic problem is bigger than one sheriff who feels politically targeted. And a systemic problem needs a systemic analysis. Buckle up drivers!

Gay and Lesbian Rights
The domestic partner registry began this week. In Dane County, 50 couples registered on the first day. County clerks had geared up for lines of couples waiting to register. While the Cap Times article says that applying for the registry has the same process as getting a marriage license, both the state Legislative Council and the ACLU of Wisconsin said that the registry does not equate marriage.

But organizations like the “Wisconsin Family Action” are still insisting that the domestic partnership provisions are “marriage-like” and have filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The ACLU of Wisconsin has committed to fighting a legal challenge to domestic partnerships in the state.

Milwaukee School Voucher Experiment Fails Students, Exit Strategy Needed

It is time to end the school voucher program in Milwaukee after years of failure.

Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin urged the co-chairs of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee on Finance to adopt an exit strategy for the school voucher program.

“If we continue to prop up failing schools by giving them taxpayer-funded vouchers we only make it harder and more expensive to undo the harm later,” wrote ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty.

While recent reports from the School Choice Demonstration Project are not conclusive, these reports confirm that "more than 120, mostly small, Milwaukee schools that taxpayers support with tuition vouchers are performing at or below the levels achieved by comparable students attending Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).”

ACLU of Wisconsin’s Ahmuty added, “We believe that the school voucher scheme has always been a distraction. Real improvement in our public schools has to provide an adequate education for all children across the state. We wrote the Joint Finance Committee co-chairs to get the Legislature to cut our losses and reallocate resources to where they will do the most good for our public schools.”

Ahmuty added, ”The voucher system has been particularly hard on Milwaukee’s students of color because the racial gap in performance is widening compared to the rest of the nation. Legislators in Madison have to stop pretending vouchers are a legitimate response to conditions in the state's largest city.”

Ahmuty concluded, “Given the current financial pressure on our educational system, we don’t have the luxury of continuing a failed experiment that may look good to some, but doesn’t deliver for tomorrow’s citizens, workers and families.”

News update: prison rate quadrupled, ban racist mascots, Obama reviews BC denial regs, more

Prison population rate quadrupled
Wisconsin has been doing a great job warehousing people. Monday’s Pew Center on the States report on incarceration shows that our state quadrupled its prison population in the last 25 years. We’re in the top 10 of states with accelerated incarceration rates. Nationally, it’s more like one in 31 people is behind bars. It’s a complicated picture of why so many people are in jail, but the “truth in sentencing” trends in punishing crimes has led to the denial of parole for even non-violent crimes. You can see characters “getting out for good behavior” in old movies, but not in Wisconsin today. In his budget proposal, Governor Doyle suggests that we look at early release for some incarcerated people and put them on probation instead. Early release and probation is cheaper than the warehouse: $3.42 versus $78.95. Now if we can just let people with felony convictions vote when they are released, we might have a better budget for taxpayers and a truer democracy for citizens.

Ban racist mascots
There is some attention being paid to the proposed law to ban racist mascots, including this editorial from the Appleton Post Crescent. Having a law that recognizes why race-based mascots for public schools are inherently an act of government discrimination would be a step in the right direction. The proposed law is fair, gives the community a chance to raise their voice in opposition to the mascot, and gives the Department of Public Instruction the responsibility of having a hearing on it.

Obama reviewing Bush rule on birth control denial
On the reproductive rights front, President Obama is taking a look at what can be done about Bush’s end-of-term passage of the unbalanced Department of Health and Human Services regulations on religious-based refusals of reproductive health care, including birth control prescriptions. The ACLU took a stand against the HHS regs because they gave too much power to health care providers to refuse prescriptions and care, even at the expense of patient safety. In a time of recession, high unemployment rates and chronic numbers of uninsured women, access to birth control and other reproductive health care services should not be compromised. Now that the Obama administration is reviewing the regulations, the ACLU hopes that an effective solution can be found to restore the balance between health care workers’ right to religious liberty and patients’ rights to barrier-free reproductive health care.
Read more about how the ACLU was among the hundreds of thousands of comments about the HHS regs before their passage.

Local events:
Community potluck and film screening on the criminalization of free speech activity at the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities 2008
Saturday, March 28, 7:00 pm, Madison Infoshop, 1019 Williamson St. Get an update on activists jailed for the political organizing of protesters. Suggested donation $5-10. www.terrorizingdissent.org

Prison issues film series (2nd Thursday of every month
Thursday, March 12, 7:00 pm, Rainbow Bookstore, 426 W Gillman St.
Wisconsin Books to Prisoners sponsors the films which will be shown in Wisconsin prisons one week and to the public the following week in order to facilitate a discussion between those inside and outside the system.
This month - "Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House"
“After gaining unprecedented permission from the Justice Department to gain access to the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, two indie filmmakers spent 5 weeks inside ‘the walls’ and produced a hard-edged and shocking expose of incarceration in the U.S.”

Stimulate public transit, updates on voting rights, US Senate approves equal pay, and more

Civil liberties news in review...

Environmental Justice
The ACLU of Wisconsin has many suggestions for the Governor to make our state government less discriminatory, protective of civil liberties and better for all people. But while the federal stimulus bill is being debated by the national legislature, we suggest that any “shovel-ready” projects we spend federal dollars on go into programs for public transit, rather than more highways. “For civil rights and environmental justice reasons, transit development should be one of Wisconsin’s highest priorities,” stated ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty. “For too many years, communities of color - who are much more likely to be transit dependent than other groups - have been left behind by transportation spending.” For people without cars or drivers licenses, getting to jobs the stimulus is supposed to produce would be impossible without public transportation. Making this a priority will be a better environmental and economic investment.

Racial Justice
And I know that this blog usually focuses on Wisconsin state civil liberties news or really important national ACLU action alerts, but I was really shocked to see this story about how a school in Mississippi just had their first integrated high school prom. Actor Morgan Freeman footed the bill for the shin dig and a documentary crew was there to make a film which premiered last week at Sundance. Some families still had a whites-only, separate prom. We shouldn’t forget that even though millions of people celebrated a historic election and a victory for racial justice this week, fighting racism continues to be at the heart of the ACLU’s commitment to civil rights from Brown v. Board of Education to today’s struggle for educational adequacy and equity.

Voting Rights
Did you hear that Senator Herb Kohl is a co-sponsor of a Weekend Voting Act? He just introduced it as an option for voters who can’t get to the polls on the first Tuesday of November. More voting options help democracy. Good job!

Van Hollen drops GAB lawsuit appeal after they agree to do back checks, in the more reasonable post-election clean up period anyway.

The state Supreme Court said they won’t pull together a plan to settle disputes on pending redistricting after the 2010 census. They are leaving the legislature to hash it out. For a citizen-friendly resource on redistricting and the implications for both democracy and partisan controversies, check out the Brennan’s Center report.

Separation of Church and State
FFRF drops Green Bay lawsuit appeal after no nativity in 2008 season, but takes up the issue of MATC closing for Good Friday.

Women’s Rights
Hey. The US Senate thinks women should get equal pay. Radicals! Now the bill goes back to the House for final consideration. The ACLU applauds the vote.


And in case you missed the national ACLU director on the Colbert Report...