Wisconsin Law Journal – WI Legal News & Resources Wisconsin Legal News & Resources

Carol Keip sued the Stevens Point Area School District; the district’s transportation director, James Nicewander; and the district’s insurer, Employers Insurance of Wausau, alleging defamation and, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983 (1994), a federal due process violation for failing ...

“The public has an interest in knowing what terms of settlement a federal judge would approve and perhaps therefore nudge the parties to agree to. All this would be of no moment, however, if the agreement were not in the ...

Randy A. Weishar appeals from a judgment entered on a jury verdict convicting him of criminal damage to property. The jury acquitted Weishar of the crime of failing to give information or render aid following his striking an occupied vehicle. ...

“Although the class was rightly decertified, and the suit, having thus been demoted to an individual action, therefore rightly dismissed because Culver’s claim had become moot, there is a loose end. Rule 23(e) requires that notice of a proposed dismissal ...

Douglas Meyer appeals a judgment convicting him on his guilty pleas of retail theft as a repeater in Pierce County and possession of burglary tools as a repeater in St. Croix County. He also appeals an order denying his postconviction ...

“[W]e cannot conclude that an employer is subject to what amounts to strict liability for every second incident of harassment committed by an employee, especially when the first incident was far less serious than the second. Had Bester’s acts toward ...

George Johnson appeals a judgment convicting him of two counts of incest with his adult daughter, M.J. Johnson’s defense asserted that she was not his daughter or that he did not know she was his daughter. The State proved those ...

“We agree with A&A that access to the courts is of paramount importance. However, it does not follow that an agreed upon provision that allows for the accrual of stipulated penalties during any dispute resolution is unenforceable as a matter ...

“The circuit court may have believed that the United States Supreme Court imposed such a requirement in Troxel [v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000). If so, we disagree. There is no suggestion in Troxel that a court may only interfere ...

Carlos R. Delgado appeals from a judgment entered after a jury found him guilty of two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child. He also appeals from an order denying his postconviction motion. Delgado argues that his conviction should ...

“Because the district court applied that presumption in vacating its judgment and denying habeas relief in this case, we remand the case to the district court to determine (1) whether the surveillance tape has been erased by prison officials, and ...

“The trial court did not recite the jury instruction on first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Rather, it simply responded to the jury’s specific and logical inquiry by explaining that the crime of first-degree recklessly endangering safety involves an additional element – ...

Torrence C. Borum, pro se, appeals from a judgment entered after he pled guilty to one count of battery. He claims the trial court erred when it denied his motion seeking to withdraw his guilty plea. Because the trial court ...

“Eads] claims that the proceeding denied him due process of law because (he alleges) a member of the committee is the ‘live-in boyfriend’ of one of the witnesses, a female guard… Oddly, we cannot find an appellate case dealing with ...

Troy Key appeals pro se from an order denying his motion for postconviction discovery. We conclude that the trial court’s determination that the sought-after evidence would not produce a different result at trial is not clearly erroneous. We affirm the ...

M.D. appeals from a judgment adjudicating her delinquent for second-degree sexual assault of a child. M.D. contends that the victim’s testimony was incredible and that the corroborating evidence was inadequate to support a conviction on the sexual assault charge. She ...

The Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause entitles individuals whose property interests are at stake to “notice and an opportunity to be heard.” United States v. James Daniel Good Real Property, 510 U.S. 43, 48. The straightforward reasonableness under the circumstances ...

This case involves the termination of the parental rights of Robert R., to his son, Thomas R., who was born during Robert’s marriage to Tammie C. We conclude that in order to terminate Robert’s parental rights the circuit court must ...

The Sixth Circuit erred in suggesting that, in order to prove a substantial limitation in the major life activity of performing manual tasks, a plaintiff must show that her manual disability involves a “class” of manual activities, and that those ...

Daniel Harr, a prison inmate, appeals an order dismissing his complaint against the respondents, all Department of Corrections (DOC) employees. The complaint alleged a violation of his free speech rights under the Wisconsin Constitution. The trial court granted the State’s ...

Because the Guard has neither affirmatively regulated the working conditions at issue, nor asserted comprehensive regulatory jurisdiction over working conditions on uninspected vessels, it has not exercised its authority under sec. 4(b)(1). The OSH Act does not apply to working ...

Richard T. Buerger appeals the circuit court’s issuance of a harassment injunction. For the following reasons, we affirm. Not recommended for publication in the official reports. Dist IV, Jefferson County, Hue, J., Lundsten, J. Attorneys: For Appellant: Not given For ...

The Court rejects petitioners’ argument that they are entitled to relief under sec. 502(a)(3)(A) because they seek “to enjoin a[n] act or practice”-respondents’ failure to reimburse the Plan-“which violates … the [plan’s] terms.” An injunction to compel the payment of ...

Eleanor Ciganek appeals from a judgment awarding Jeffrey Sobczak $285,064.13 for damages (and costs) he sustained in a motor vehicle accident. The issues are: (1) whether Sobczak was required to present testimony from a vocational expert to substantiate his claim ...

“The language of section 1325(a) sets forth the specific and limited universe of requirements that must be met by a debtor in his or her proposed Chapter 13 plan. If those requirements are met, and, as here, the Trustee fails ...

Juan Pagan, Jr. and Allstate Insurance Company (collectively, “Allstate”) appeal from a judgment entered in favor of Daniel S. Stasiewicz. Allstate claims: (1) the trial court erred in failing to dismiss Stasiewicz’s claim for permanent injury; (2) the trial court ...

“[N]one of [these attributes] is enough to bring Lopez within the definition of a Title VII supervisor – as there is nothing in the record indicating that Bodine entrusted him with the authority to ‘hire, fire, demote, promote, transfer, or ...

Tammy L. Beier appeals from the judgment of conviction entered against her. The issue on appeal is whether there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict. Because we conclude that there was sufficient evidence to support the verdict, we ...

“Despite the most diligent care, Nawrot cannot completely control his blood sugar level. He suffers from unpredictable hypoglycemic episodes, of such extreme consequence that death is a very real and significant risk. On the occasions he suffers from such an ...

Duane Bull appeals from an order denying his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Wis. Stat. sec. 974.06 (1999-2000). His motion raised numerous issues concerning a 1995 sexual assault conviction, and subsequent postconviction proceedings. We conclude that the trial ...