The same out-of-state agitators who failed to recall Speaker Robin Vos this spring are at it again. The State DOJ dithers again. And, we have an update on the violent pro-Hamas demonstrations in Madison last month. It’s a ‘catch up with ongoing stories’ type of Key Reads today. Let’s get right to them.
What a waste of time, energy and money this is. Has anyone explained to these folks how a calendar works?
For the second time this year, Vos critics submit recall petitions – WPR
For the second time this year, conservative critics of Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos say they’ve submitted thousands of signatures to force a recall election of the powerful Republican, though it remains unclear whether their latest effort will succeed or again fall short.
…In a written statement, Vos said recall organizers had “engaged in election fraud on a massive scale” in the first attempt, and alleged that the latest effort would have similar problems.
“Once again, we look forward to rooting out any criminality and ensuring that anyone who participates in an effort to defraud Wisconsin voters is held accountable,” Vos said.
The initial recall was launched in January by outspoken supporters of former President Donald Trump, who were angry with Vos for criticizing Trump and for blocking an effort to impeach WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe. That effort failed after the bipartisan members of the Elections Commission voted unanimously that organizers failed to submit enough signatures.
Organizers launched a second recall in late March, arguing Vos “should be recalled for his tacit support of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” a “lack of election integrity” and “flagrant disrespect for his own constituents by calling them ‘whack-jobs, morons and idiots.’” Those insults and others were lobbed at recall organizers by Vos after it was clear the first recall attempt was headed for failure…
Should a recall election be ordered, and Vos be defeated, he would have to leave office, but he would still be able to run for the Assembly again as part of the 2024 election cycle.
That could potentially set up a scenario where Vos faces recall and general election primaries just a week apart.
With an new, activist, liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court, Act 10 could be in jeopardy.
Wisconsin unions argue for overturning 2011 law that ended nearly all collective bargaining | AP News
Public worker and teachers unions argued Tuesday that their lawsuit seeking to strike down a Wisconsin law that drew massive protests and made the state the center of a national fight over union rights should be allowed to proceed, even as the Republican-controlled Legislature sought to have it dismissed.
It is the first challenge to the law known as Act 10 since Wisconsin’s Supreme Court flipped to liberal control last year…
Law enforcement groups like the State Patrol were exempted from the law, and others such as the state Capitol Police were not, because there could be a public safety threat if they went on strike or had other job disruptions, said the Legislature’s attorney Misha Tseytlin.
That’s a legally allowable reason to create separate classes of employees who are subject to the law, Tseytlin said. He said the court should not become a “super Legislature” and try to examine the “minutiae” and “granular detail” of why one group was exempted while another was not….
The Legislature said in court filings that arguments made in the current case were rejected in 2014 by the state Supreme Court. The only change since that ruling is the makeup of Wisconsin Supreme Court, attorneys for the Legislature argued.
The Supreme Court is controlled 4-3 by liberals, a flip from when it upheld the law a decade ago under 5-2 conservative control.
The Act 10 law effectively ended collective bargaining for most public unions by allowing them to bargain solely over base wage increases no greater than inflation. It also disallowed the automatic withdrawal of union dues, required annual recertification votes for unions, and forced public workers to pay more for health insurance and retirement benefits.
The law has withstood numerous legal challenges…
The only thing stopping the Department of Justice from acting here is…the Department of Justice, headed by Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Wisconsin Senate, DOJ butt heads over missing and murdered Black women | CapTimes
“Notwithstanding the laudable motives of the (bill’s) authors, it was my determination that the creation of a DOJ task force does not require legislation,” Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, wrote in a May 16 letter to Kaul. “I reached this conclusion, in part, as a result of precedent set through your unilateral establishment in 2020 of a task force charged with investigating state cases of missing and murdered Indigenous females.”
Kaul said that’s just passing the buck.
“What I think we’ve seen from Stroebel, and I don’t know which other Republicans in the Senate blocked the bill from going forward, is an effort to deflect responsibility from their failure to take this bill up and to take legislative action,” Kaul told the Cap Times.
Kaul, the state’s top prosecutor, said the funding mechanisms and law enforcement strategies differ between the two task forces and this one makes more sense to go through the Legislature.
When the task force on Indigenous women was formed, he said, there was money available from the federal Violence Against Women Act.
The federal funding — signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1994 to address sexual assault, domestic violence, and other violent crime facing women across the country — is based on a spending schedule set by the U.S. Congress, which controls the money, and it’s not currently available.
While using that funding might be an option, Kaul said, Wisconsin would have to wait for the money to become available again, and the creation of a task force to investigate missing and murdered Black women would be delayed.
It is interesting that this nugget of news from the pro-Hamas protests and clash with police in Madison is not receiving more significant coverage, locally.
Wisconsin pro-Palestine protester facing felony charges after allegedly tackling officer | The National Desk
A Wisconsin man is facing two felony charges after the Madison Police Department arrested him Friday in connection to his conduct at the University of Wisconsin’s Gaza solidarity encampment, a spokesperson told The National Desk.
MPD previously assisted campus police with disbursing the illegal tent encampment occupying the school’s Campus Mall. Police say former Wisconsin student Jeffrey Brown pulled an officer to the ground during an altercation at the encampment and attempted to disarm her of her wooden baton…
A patrolling officer spotted Brown on Friday and took him into custody. Officers charged Brown with one count of disarming a peace officer and one count of battery to a law enforcement officer, both of which are Class H felonies. Each charge carries a potential $10,000 fine and up to 6 years in jail.
As we scour the news daily to bring you the Rey Reads of the day, some days the news is filled with political stories, and sometimes, like today, the clips center around continuing coverage of important issues. We strive to block out the noise and bring you just enough to stay informed, without being overwhelmed. If you’d like these Key Reads sent to your email every morning, click below and sign up. Thank you, and we’ll be back again tomorrow.
