By: Associated Press//October 3, 2011//
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) – A Waukesha County judge says the state’s effort to strip Mukwonago High School of its Indians nickname was unconstitutional.
Judge Donald Hassin Jr. ruled Thursday in favor of residents who challenged the 2010 state law that allowed complaints about Indian nicknames and mascots.
The judge agreed that the law — as applied in the case against Mukwonago schools — was unconstitutional because the decision maker, a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction employee, had an impermissibly high risk of bias.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports a former student registered a complaint against the Mukwonago School District over the Indians name.
Last October, the DPI ruled that the mascot perpetuates stereotypes of American Indians and is discriminatory. The district was given a year to drop the Indians mascot.
Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com