Wisconsin lawmakers on Thursday were set to consider the first bills based on recommendations from a racial disparities task force that the Assembly's top Republican put together last year following George Floyd's death and a rash of police shootings across the country.

Wisconsin Republicans voted Thursday to reject more than $70 million in funding to combat homelessness in the state, a move that Democrats called a missed opportunity to address a problem that worsened due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Republicans who head the Legislature’s budget committee told Wisconsin’s business leaders on Wednesday that they are optimistic a tax cut will be a part of the next two-year spending plan, although they said details on what type and how much were still being discussed.

Gov. Tony Evers and his fellow Democratic lawmakers have introduced a series of proposals designed to reduce overcrowded prisons, but without support from Republican leaders they are unlikely to gain momentum in the GOP-controlled Legislature.

A group of lawmakers is trying again to pass legislation that would allow convicts to ask judges to expunge their criminal records.

An assembly panel has approved a bill that would make post-traumatic-stress disorder a mitigating factor judges can consider in sentencing criminals.

Those in Wisconsin’s legal community who oppose truth-in-sentencing understand their chances for overturning, or at least toning down, the law depend on how well they play the long game.

A committee tasked with making recommendations on how to improve Wisconsin's treatment courts system voted Wednesday that programs should allow certain violent offenders to participate.

A legislative study committee voted Wednesday to recommend several changes to Wisconsin’s treatment courts system.

A legislative committee tasked with looking at the Wisconsin’s treatment and alternative courts is ready to start considering recommendations for the Legislature.

The Assembly passed a bill Thursday that would up the interest rate on judgments in small claims cases to 12 percent.

A bill that would allow crime victims to view portions of defendant’s presentence investigation reports was passed by the Assembly’s judiciary committee Tuesday morning.

With the latest bill addressing the removal of information from CCAP popping up this week, I thought it was worth reviewing a few of the other bills introduced in the past few months that sought to address the exact same problem, yet have gone nowhere.

A proposal that would remove information from the state’s online courts website about cases in which a person was acquitted is poised to receive heavy Republican support in the coming weeks.

An Assembly bill that gives individuals who call 911 to report a heroin overdose immunity from prosecution for certain crimes unanimously passed out of committee Thursday.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to take up expunction in certain criminal cases – a topic at least one legislator has sought to address in the current session.

A Milwaukee state representative who earlier this year tried to advance a bill that would create a bifurcated online court records system now plans to focus on expunction instead.

A Milwaukee legislator who introduced legislation to create a bifurcated online system to prevent the misuse of state court records said he is reconsidering the bill and working on major changes.

State Rep. Evan Goyke is acting on his assumption that Wisconsin residents are a simple bunch so swayed by gossip that they cannot be trusted with basic court records.

Democrats challenged a pair of Republican lawmakers Thursday to prove measures for tougher drunken driving penalties would actually make a difference, demanding to see statistics and data that would justify the bills' costs.

The latest attempt to help those who are unfairly persecuted because of a wrongful arrest is drawing the ire of First Amendment advocates who say the measure would deny much of the public easy access to records.

Two bills aimed at strengthening the state's domestic abuse laws received approval Thursday from legislative committees, including one that would require officers responding to domestic violence calls to explain themselves if they failed to make an arrest.