State Supreme Court says "no" to remedy for victims of jail overcrowding

On Tuesday, July 21 2009, the state Supreme Court made a ruling on a case in which the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation legal department along with Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee sued the Milwaukee County Jail for poor conditions. The Supreme Court held that a circuit court did not have the authority to provide a remedy to individuals who were held for more than 30 hours in the booking area of the Milwaukee County Jail in violation of a 2001 court order. While the decision is disappointing, conditions in the jail have improved since the class action lawsuit began years ago.

History
When the Milwaukee County Jail opened its doors in 1993, the design was only supposed to hold 798 people. Three years later, when an inmate named Milton J. Christensen filed a complaint about poor conditions, the jail held 1304 people. While no one thinks that being in jail should be like staying at the Hilton, the high overcrowding was a core part of pretty inhumane living conditions. According to the complaint:

"As a result of the high population of inmates, two inmates are confined to cells built for one. The second inmate is routinely forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor because each cell is equipped with only one bed. Because the mattress on the floor is so close to the toilet, the toilet "sweats" and water spills or urine splashes from the toilet onto the floor and gets the mattresses and bedding wet. For most inmates, there are no pillows for persons sleeping on the floor and there is only one blanket even when it is cold in the jail."

Discoveries by lawyers researching the case found that the jail would have been closer to the original design if people with convictions could be sent to state prisons, those with probation violations could have alternative sentencing options and still others who were simply awaiting sentencing could have their final time in court.

Agreement to change jail conditions
After Christensen's complaint was filed, some progress was made: in 2001, Milwaukee County Circuit Court settled on an agreement for the County to correct overcrowding and other unconstitutional conditions (including dealing with inmates with communicable diseases and a lack of mental or physical medical treatment) at the jail. Among other provisions, the consent decree imposed a limit of 30 hours on how long inmates could be held in the booking area of the jail, an area designed for very short-term detention until inmates could be assigned to longer-term quarters with beds and showers.

Unfortunately, between 2001 and 2004, the County violated this provision of the decree more than 16,000 times. According to affidavits filed in the case, inmates were held for days at a time in conditions that the Circuit Court later described as

“unacceptable, if not appalling,” including “overly crowded conditions, inmates who were forced to sit or sleep on the floor next to urinals, inmates who had to sit up for hours and hours, lack of hygiene, unsanitary conditions, inmates who were not given pillows or blankets to sleep on, cells that were infested with bugs, cold temperatures, bodily fluids on the floor and bad odors.”

Back to court. The County agreed to stop violating the agreement, but for those 16,000+ people who shouldn't have been subject to the poor conditions, their harm needed a remedy. An attempt to get compensatory damages awarded was what failed in the Supreme Court's decision today.

Legislative solution needed to demand humane jail conditions
Patrick Patterson, one of the lawyers for the plaintiff class, stated, “We are disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision. While it is significant that Milwaukee County was found to be in contempt of court for intentionally and systematically warehousing and mistreating thousands of people in direct violation of a valid court order, those people are now left without a remedy. We hope that future legislative action or judicial decisions will restore the courts’ authority to provide a remedy to the victims of parties who willfully violate court orders.”

For those who want to geek out on the full court decision, you can read it on the Wisconsin Courts website. Don't let the legaleese scare you - it's a good story. For the press release from the ACLU and Legal Aid, download the PDF on Wispolitics.

Action alert: don't let Defense bill undermine effort to close Guantanamo, end torture and detention

This week, the mammoth Defense Department Authorization bill is on the Senate floor.

This must-pass legislation could easily become a vehicle for amendments to stop the closing of Guantánamo Bay, undermine efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the Bush torture program, and -- most troubling of all -- promote a new system of indefinite detention without charge or trial. In fact, the bill already has language that would allow the Guantánamo military commissions to continue to convict people based on coerced confessions.

Email your senators and tell them not to let the Defense Department Authorization bill become a vehicle for undermining civil liberties.

Your voice and that of hundreds of thousands of other ACLU activists are being heard in Washington. After months and months of pressure and newer, more disturbing revelations, Attorney General Holder is close to appointing a special prosecutor to investigate torture. And we have allies in the White House and in Congress who are committed to cleaning up the mess left by the Bush administration.

There are also some dangerous proposals being considered -- including indefinite detention without charge or trial. That is why it is so critical for you to contact to your senators today and ask them to:

- Support the President's commitment to shutdown Guantánamo by January 2010.

- End Guantánamo military commissions, and charge and try any alleged terrorists in federal criminal courts.

- Totally reject indefinite detention without charge and without trial. Nothing could be more un-American than giving the federal government the power to imprison people indefinitely without charge or trial.

Please help the ACLU create a drumbeat letting Congress and the White House know that Americans want them to move forward. Congress should not codify and expand Bush Administration policies.

Email your senators and tell them not to let the Defense Department Authorization bill become a vehicle for undermining civil liberties.

With critical civil liberties issues about to hit the Senate floor, we have to be as vocal as possible. Please take a moment right now to contact your senators. And please stay alert to fast-moving events in the days ahead.

Sincerely,
Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union

P.S. The news last weekend that Attorney General Eric Holder is actively considering launching a torture investigation is encouraging. It is because of the hard work of ACLU attorneys and advocates and the voices of activists like you that we are at this point. We’ll be counting on you to make sure he follows through -- and to insist that an investigation is as thorough and far-reaching as it needs to be. Please donate or become a member today.

Sotomayor nomination, ACLU report on her civil liberties record and other SCOTUS resources

With the hearings of Chief Justice Nominee Sonia Sotomayor quickly approaching, we wanted to share some resources and information on this historic candidate.

She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009 to replace Justice David Souter, and if elected, would be the first Hispanic justice to serve the Supreme Court. Hearings begin on Monday, July 13. For articles, speeches and information on Sotomayor we’ve compiled a list of links found below. The ACLU does not endorse or oppose candidates for elective or appointive office, but we encourage everyone to learn more about how the nominee, if confirmed, would impact the highest level of the judicial branch of government.

Where to find the facts on Sotomayor's record and history:
The national ACLU office issued a lengthy report on the civil liberties and rights record for Sotomayor, including the dozen or so cases in which ACLU participated. Generally the report says that Sotomayor's history shows a thorough and deep exploration of case law, but not a lot of philosophical musings on hot-button issues. The release of the report was also announced on the ACLU's Blog of Rights which has an interesting discussion in the comments section.

Sotomayor’s questionnaire compiled by the Senate Judiciary Committee is available for the public. This link has all of the source documents of her background and offers a comprehensive list of her education, experience, and decisions on past court cases as well as the text of speeches and interviews of her experience as a female judge.

The New York Times Topics page on Sotomayor offers current news regarding the nomination as well as an overview on her nomination, opinion articles and links to past speeches she has given.

Where to get interesting opinions on Sotomayor's nomination:
SCOTUS bloggers discuss Sotomayor. The blog links to resources on news, endorsements and non-partisan reports on her record.

DemocracyNow! offered a roundtable discussion of Sotomayor’s nomination with Marjorie Cohn of the National Lawyers Guild; attorney and SCOTUS Blog founder Tom Goldstein; Cesar Perales, general counsel of Latino Justice; and Juan Manuel Garcia-Passalacqua, an independent political analyst who knows Sotomayor personally. The discussion includes reactions to having a Puerto Rican American nominee, trends in her decisions and reactions to critical debates about the nomination in the media.

And this short opinion piece from the New Yorker looks at Sotomayor’s nomination within a broader historical context of overall election trends within the Supreme Court. It discusses how diversity on the court used to be about geographic interests but has evolved into representing the demographic changes of the country's citizens.

There are lots of other sources of debate in the media about the Sotomayor nomination. The ACLU of Wisconsin encourages members and the public to tune into the hearings and watch our two state Senators' questions of the nominee.

Restore the Vote Now - Wisconsin "Democracy Restoration Act" would end taxation without representation

The Restore the Vote Wisconsin NOW! Coalition announced on July 3 the circulation of an important voting rights bill in our state legislature and encourages legislators from both sides to the aisle to co-sponsor it. The Wisconsin Democracy Restoration Act will enfranchise more than 42,000 Wisconsin citizens who live, work, go to school, raise families and pay taxes in our communities.


“Without a vote, citizens have no voice," said Sheila Cochran, President of the Milwaukee County Labor Council/AFL-CIO. "Encouraging active participation in our democratic society is an essential part of the reentry process for ex-offenders returning to their home communities. The exercise of that responsibility to society can foster safer communities for all of us.”

The Restore the Vote Now coalition is a group of over 70 organizations who have committed to public education and direct action to restore the right to vote in Wisconsin. Nationally, voting rights for people with felony convictions are being restored on a bi-partisan basis as state legislatures and governors increasingly recognize the discriminatory implications of denying any US citizen voting rights. In Wisconsin, the Restore the Vote Wisconsin NOW! (RTV-WIN!) coalition has brought together citizens, civil rights, law enforcement, labor, faith and community organizations groups committed to working for fairness and the fundamentally American right and responsibility to cast a ballot.

“The Restore the Vote Wisconsin NOW! coalition will be encouraging legislators to sign onto and quickly pass this important and timely bill,” said Renee Crawford, Associate Director of the ACLU of Wisconsin and coalition organizer. “On the day we celebrate our independence, we also thank the State Senator Lena Taylor and State Assembly Representative Tamara Grigsby for their patriotic legislation to end taxation without representation for 42,000 Wisconsin citizens.”

For more info on the RTV-WIN Coalition including a list of the more than 70 organizations who have signed onto the coalition, go to www.restorethevotewi.org. For more information about the work of the ACLU to restore voting rights to ex-offenders, please visit the national ACLU voting rights page.

Youth Scholarship Winner Reports Back From NYC ACLU Adventure

A report back from NYC and the Madison-area ACLU youth scholarship winner, Natalia Thompson:

"Last March, I was thrilled to be named one of sixteen recipients of the ACLU Youth Activist Scholarship. After spending much of my time in high school engaged in social justice activism, receiving recognition (and crucial financial support for college) from the nation's foremost civil liberties and civil rights organization was a very humbling honor, to say the least.


"In addition to this scholarship, the ACLU also invited me to attend their Youth Activist Institute, held in New York City at the ACLU's national office. I just returned to Madison from four exciting days spent learning about the ACLU and exploring New York.


"The Youth Activist Institute was a wonderful experience -- I loved the opportunity to meet other student activists from across the country; participate in a training on grassroots organizing and student activism in the model of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone; meet ACLU lawyers and advocates who have led campaigns on human rights, racial justice, women's rights, LGBT equality, and more; participate in a conversation with ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero; and enjoy summer in New York (including a Broadway production of Avenue Q)!


"I left New York energized and inspired by the phenomenal efforts of the ACLU to promote and protect social justice and human rights, even during an age when our president blasts torture one day and champions indefinite detention without charge or trial the next.

"Next month, I'll be leaving Madison to attend college at Yale University, where I hope to major in women's studies and political science. Although I'll miss Madison's wonderful community of activists, I'm excited about getting involved in the ACLU's work at Yale and beyond."

Thanks Natalia! Good luck in college!

Demand that America Holds Those Who Authorized Torture Accountable

Call Congress Today! It's time to remind our elected officials that we need them to close Guantanamo, end military commissions, reject indefinite detention and demand accountability for torture policies.

There are lots of details on Obama's consideration of renewing policies of indefinite detention in this ProPublica/Washington Post article.

They especially need a reminder that we have not forgotten about why military commissions compromise fairness in our justice system. President Obama should not fail his intentions to restore America by allowing for "due process light."

Increasingly press reports indicate the Obama administration is not only planning to revive the failed military commissions system to try detainees, but will also continue the Bush administration’s policies of holding detainees indefinitely without charge. These disappointing actions on the part of the Obama administration serve as a reminder that no matter which party controls the White House or Congress we must remain ever-vigilant and engaged in our fight to protect freedom and justice.

This is why the ACLU and scores of coalition partners are mobilizing activists to demand that America returns to the rule of law and holds those who authorized torture accountable.

You can do this today by calling your member of Congress and letting your legislators know that it’s time…

…to close Guantanamo
…end the military commissions permanently
…reject indefinite detention
…demand accountability

Our Call Alert allows you to look up and call your members of Congress and helps us to track the outcome of the call. It also allows you to tell you friends about the alert to help generate even more calls. To participate, visit our action website today. Tell your legislators to:

# Close Guantanamo. The president has announced his intention to close the prison by January 2010. Congress should work with the President to ensure the prison is closed and the individuals held there are charged and prosecuted or repatriated.

# End military commissions permanently. These kangaroo courts didn’t work under the Bush administration and cosmetic changes in the Obama administration won’t work either. The system is fatally flawed. Federal courts can provide a true measure of justice, while respecting the rule of law and upholding American values.

# Reject indefinite detention. As Americans, we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Our Constitution and core values demand that we prosecute crime where evidence exists and release individuals where evidence of wrongdoing is lacking or non-existent mere suspicion is not enough to deny anyone due process. We must hold true to our values and reject any attempt to give any president the ability to detain people indefinitely without charge.

# Support the appointment of an independent prosecutor. As more and more evidence comes to light about the treatment and interrogation of detainees, the evidence demands a thorough investigation of the abuse, the architects of that abuse and prosecution of any crimes that were committed. Just as important, the American people deserve a full and fair accounting of what took place to ensure torture never happens in our name again.

For more information on how the ACLU is working to keep America Safe and Free, visit our national website.

ACLU of WI Reaches Out to Muslims in Milwaukee, Youth Organizers in Stevens Point

ACLU of Wisconsin Youth and Program Director Emilio De Torre reports from some of our recent educational efforts across the state...

Saturday June 13: Milwaukee Islamic Da'wa Center
The Da'wa center hosted the ACLU of Wisconsin along with Assistant US Attorney Richard Frohling and FBI Agent Margaret Thill for an information session on racial profiling, religious liberty and stereotyping.

"The lively open discussion challenged both community and guests to address the many issues that affect the diversity of Muslims, immigrants and black people in our post-911 communities and airports," said De Torre. "One of the many questions that came up regarded the consequences of government actions on American Muslims' exercise of their beliefs."

The ACLU has been working on educational efforts to raise the American public's greater awareness of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim discrimination. Three days after De Torre spoke at the Islamic Da'wa in Milwaukee, the ACLU issued a report, "Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity" on the impact of restrictions of Muslims' exercise of their right to practice their faith through charitable giving. The ACLU created this video on the subject:


"By the end of our discussion at the Da'wa, I think most of the participants realized that more education and outreach was needed to dispel lies and stereotypes about Muslims in particular," said De Torre. "Hopefully, this will be the first of many open community events at the Da'wa Center to educate the public on their civil liberties."

In 2006, the ACLU compiled a summary of all of the post-9/11 problems with discrimination, racial profiling and detention they were taking to the courts.


Tuesday, June 9th: Stevens Point 2009 Wisconsin State Prevention Conference
Sassy and sexy Stevens Point was the home for the 2009 Wisconsin State Prevention Conference, and ACLU of Wisconsin staff Emilio De Torre and Jason Hargis, along with interns Maggie Piery and Jeanette Martin facilitated an exciting three-hour workshop on Youth Organizing and Outreach.

“We were invited to present this workshop because of our many successes in messaging and using theatre, technology and social media to effectively organize young people around civil liberties and civil rights,” said De Torre.

“There were many people in attendance who shared their enthusiasm and desire to experiment with new methods of organizing in addition to continuing the tried and true ‘face to face' relationship-building organizing philosophy," he said.

Want us to facilitate a workshop at your conference? Give us a tweet. Or find our more about our youth programs on our website.