The U. S. Supreme Court sidestepped the issue of whether a Colorado baker discriminated against a gay couple seeking a wedding cake and instead decided that the baker had been treated unfairly by the commission adjudicating the discrimination charge.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto

In State v. McAlister a majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court struggled to appropriately define cumulative evidence and introduces a contrived definition of recantation.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Emily Mueller Jean DiMotto State v. McAlister

Adams Outdoor Advertising leased three billboards near the Dane County Regional Airport. Before the expiration of the lease, Adams Outdoor Advertising sought to renew it.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto

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.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto

Is a tip to law enforcement from Tumblr.com equivalent to a tip from an anonymous police informant or a tip from an identified citizen informant?

Tagged with: Bench Blog Child Pornography Jean DiMotto Search warrants

Read the case of Teague v. Schimel at your peril.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto Teague v. Schimel

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently reaffirmed its two-tiered framework for loss of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. It overruled another case requiring a finding of intentionality and once again declined to mandate warnings to a defendant before forfeiture.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Janine Geske Jean DiMotto State v. Suriano Todd Ehlers

The Court of Appeals took the opportunity to again offer instruction regarding when a tort claim accrues for purposes of the statute of limitations.

Tagged with: Bench Blog David Wambach Jean DiMotto Mark Gundrum Terence Cahill

A police officer’s question to a suspect led the Wisconsin Supreme Court on a 42-page exploration of the constitutional consequences recently. State v. Harris tells the tale.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Daniel Kelly Jean DiMotto Michael Wilk State v. Cunningham State v. Harris Wisconsin Supreme Court

A recent jury summons prompted to me to think about judges being called to jury service.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto Jury

In a carefully reasoned decision, the Court of Appeals required certain safeguards before a defendant may be allowed to plead guilty by phone.

Tagged with: Bench Blog James Habeck Jean DiMotto Lisa Stark State v. Soto

In a lucid, logically ordered and eminently readable opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied the federal government’s motion for an emergency stay of a temporary restraining order enjoining the enforcement of President Trump’s travel ban.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Donald Trump Immigration Jean DiMotto

The Court of Appeals applied the agency doctrine of apparent authority when deciding whether the property owners in an eminent domain case had obtained jurisdiction over the governmental entity that condemned their property.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Eminent domain Haas v. City of Oconomowoc Jean DiMotto

The Court of Appeals took a dim view of a brother’s response to his sister’s declaratory lawsuit in which she sought to affirm her riparian rights on the Sailor Creek Flowage in Price County.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto Patricia Curley Patrick Madden

In its first non-disciplinary case of the term, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a 3-1-3 decision for the second time in six months despite the presence of a new justice.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Daniel Kelly Gregory Potter Jean DiMotto State v. Weber Wisconsin Supreme Court

Is a tree-cutting service entitled to recreational immunity when cutting trees on a conference center’s property that has a public path? The Court of Appeals says “no,” relying on a Wisconsin Supreme Court case from earlier this year on recreational immunity.

Tagged with: Bench Blog District 2 Court of Appeals Jean DiMotto Mark Gundrum Phillip Koss Recreational immunity

The Court of Appeals examined immunity from prosecution for a person who aids someone who appears to be suffering from a drug overdose. In the process, the opinion in State v. Williams offered a raw glimpse into the drug subculture.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Brian Hagedorn Chad Kerkman immunity Jean DiMotto Mark Gundrum Paul Reilly State v. Williams

In a case that lies at the intersection of child-pornography law and restitution law, the Court of Appeals concluded that the mother of a victim of child pornography could not obtain restitution from an offender.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Child Pornography David Reddy Jean DiMotto Mark Gundrum Paroline v. U.S.

The Court of Appeals recently tackled the novel question of whether an employee of a health care organization can access a patient’s records without the patient’s consent.

Tagged with: Bench Blog health care Jean DiMotto John Damon Lisa Stark

Under the implied-consent law, is your consent to a blood test for alcohol “coerced” because it is a foregone conclusion that the threatened license revocation for refusing would be vacated at a refusal hearing? The Court of Appeals recently took up this question.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Brian Hagedorn drunken driving Gary Sharpe implied consent Jean DiMotto Paul Reilly

Issues concerning damages were front and center in a small-claims case that was successfully appealed.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto Jill Fallstad Mark Seidl

The Court of Appeals recently tackled the timely issue of what constitutes evidentiary authentication of cell phone text messages.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto

In a highly unusual “decision,” the Wisconsin Supreme Court again deadlocked in a Shiffra case but this time issued five different opinions, most of them containing personal sniping.

Tagged with: Andrew Bissonnette Bench Blog Curt Johnson Jean DiMotto Wisconsin Supreme Court

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently rebuked the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a 2010 opinion upholding a Waukesha County judge’s cursory denial of a defendant’s right to self-representation.

Tagged with: Annette Ziegler Bench Blog J. Mac Davis Jean DiMotto Patrick Crooks Pro se Rashaad Imani v. William Pollard State v. Klessig William Conley

A sexual-assault case provided the context for the Court of Appeals to distinguish a formal arrest from detention in one’s home during the execution of a search warrant.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Brian Kilgore Fifth Amendment Jean DiMotto Lisa Neubauer Paul Reilly sexual assault Terence Bourke

A sheriff did battle with the open records law and lost.

Tagged with: Bench Blog David Borowski David Clarke Jean DiMotto Kitty Brennan

In a rare unanimous decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court construed the meaning of the statute on grandparents’ visitation rights after a divorce.

Tagged with: Bench Blog David Prosser divorce Family Law Jean DiMotto visitation rights William Hue Wisconsin Supreme Court

In Judge William Brash’s first published appellate opinion, he tackles the hearsay exception for dying declarations.

Tagged with: Bench Blog hearsay Jean DiMotto

The Court of Appeals rejected Planned Parenthood’s bid for declaratory judgment on the construction of two abortion statutes, and in the process damaged the idea of justiciability.

Tagged with: abortion Bench Blog Jean DiMotto Richard Niess

A majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court justices expanded the contours of the community-caretaker exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement even while embarrassing themselves through the way they reached their decision.

Tagged with: Bench Blog community caretaker function Fourth Amendment Jean DiMotto