THE DARK SIDE: The main difference between Madison and Milwaukee? Sand

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I was in Madison one day last week. Those of you who enjoy my work will be happy to know that I was not burned at the stake for heresy. Instead, I had a lovely time.

I met Victoria Nourse, a professor who has been nominated by President Obama for the Seventh Circuit, and I’m pleased to report I enjoyed meeting her very much. I hope the Senate gets on with confirming her for the post, even though she wouldn’t be my first choice for the position.

But as I walked around, it occurred to me that Madison really is different from Milwaukee. In Milwaukee, people spread salt to melt snow and ice. In Madison, they spread sand around to … well, I’m not really sure what they think the sand is supposed to do. But I do know that if someone in Milwaukee did that, we’ll call it an actionable tort, and we’d sue the property owner for negligence.

Editor’s Note: David Ziemer’s The Dark Side column appears weekly in the Wisconsin Law Journal. He will begin to write more frequent blog posts at wislawjournal.com.