Commentary

Jan 30, 2018

CLOSING ARGUMENTS: Getting down to tax

Looking for a way to raise money for various road and building projects without raising the property tax levy, Brown County officials last year enacted an ordinance instituting a 0.5 percent local sales and use tax.

Jan 30, 2018

Pro rata distributions amid insufficient policy limits

An insurance company deposited its remaining policy limits with the court after settling with several, but not all, of the claimants in a personal-injury lawsuit.

Jan 22, 2018

View from around the state: Wanggaard’s bill puts crime victims first

A judge's order of restitution doesn't make a criminal incident magically disappear, nor does it remove the memory of the incident from the victim's mind. It's an attempt by the judge to make things right for the victim by ordering the convicted person to pay back the victim for criminal wrongdoing against that person.

Jan 4, 2018

View from around the state: Wrongful conviction victims could get more compensation

In an era of extreme partisanship, here’s an example of bipartisanship at the Capitol: An Assembly committee has unanimously approved legislation that would boost compensation for people wrongfully imprisoned.

Jan 2, 2018

View from around the state: Eschewing tradition, Supreme Court candidate Burns openly shares political views

After the state Department of Justice released its report on the leak of John Doe records, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Tim Burns unloaded on Twitter.

Dec 27, 2017

The ethics of bearing bad news

Recently, I had to tell a client some bad news. Not run-of-the-mill, we-lost-a-motion bad news, but life-changing, disruptive bad news that I could not do anything to change.

Dec 5, 2017

CRITIC’S CORNER: Defense of jury instruction 140 falls flat

Wisconsin’s criminal jury instruction 140 describes the prosecutor’s burden of proof as “beyond a reasonable doubt.” However, it then contradicts itself by telling the jury “not to search for doubt” but instead “to search for the truth.”

Dec 4, 2017

View from around the state: Schimel acts as if Walker campaign were his client

Attorney General Brad Schimel is not the lawyer for Gov. Scott Walker's re-election campaign. But, in a stunning breach of faith that displays his extreme partisanship, Schimel is acting as if the Walker campaign were his client.

Nov 29, 2017

View from around the state: No Wisconsinite working full time should live in poverty

Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin have been structurally disempowered by the most crooked of political maneuvers.

Nov 22, 2017

Meeting the challenge to Wisconsin’s criminal jury instruction 140

Kenosha County criminal defense attorney Michael Cicchini is on a quest to revise what he considers Wisconsin’s deeply flawed jury instruction concerning the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof.

Nov 15, 2017

Court finds handwritten note not enough for payable-on-death account

Todd Mueller had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in court. He walked into the Winnebago County Courthouse hoping to be declared the beneficiary of $200,000, but walked out with nothing. He had sued Thomas Edwards and Martina Welke arguing that he was the rightful beneficiary of money his neighbor had deposited in […]

Nov 13, 2017

View from around the state: Keep your hands off the US Constitution

America doesn't need an unprecedented and dangerous constitutional convention to balance its federal budget. It needs real leadership, more courage and cooperation in Washington.

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