“This incident provides a perfect example of why police and community relations have become so tumultuous, and why the policing institution, as it exists, is broken.”
Common Council approves historic settlement with ACLU to end unconstitutional stops and frisks
Agreement would require Milwaukee to overhaul police department policies, training, supervision, accountability, and community engagement.
State Assembly proposal to borrow $350 million for new prison dies in Wisconsin Senate
After an Assembly proposal to borrow $350 million for a new prison in Wisconsin touched off an intense reaction from a coalition of more than 50 organizations, led by the ACLU of Wisconsin and WISDOM, the Wisconsin Senate yesterday refused to pass Senate Bill 54, which would have funded the controversial new facility.
Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections will close youth prisons in wake of unconstitutional use of solitary confinement, other inhumane conditions
Advocates celebrate the closing, pledge to vigilantly continue to monitor treatment of youth detained.
Federal Court finds current conditions of confinement for youth at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools unconstitutional
Today, Western District Judge Peterson ordered the opposing parties in a lawsuit to agree on language for a preliminary injunction to end the inhumane conditions and practices for youth in state-run correctional facilities.
Three environmental justice groups ask court to block I-94 expansion
Yesterday, organizations supporting racial and environmental justice – the NAACP Milwaukee Branch, Sierra Club John Muir Chapter, and Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope – filed suit in federal court in Milwaukee, seeking to block the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s efforts to spend over $1 billion dollars to rebuild and expand I-94 between 16th and 70th Streets when it is refusing to include necessary public transit expansion as part of the project.
Civil rights groups file lawsuit against state for abuse of imprisoned children
The ACLU of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center, with pro-bono assistance from Quarles & Brady, filed a class action lawsuit last night in federal court against four Wisconsin state officials, including Wisconsin Secretary of Corrections Jon E. Litscher, citing the unconstitutional use of solitary confinement and inhumane conditions for youth in state-run correctional facilities.
Statement from ACLU of Wisconsin on Charging of Officer Heaggan
Today, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced that his office filed first-degree reckless homicide charges against former Milwaukee police officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown, who shot and killed Mr. Sylville Smith on August 13, 2016 in Sherman Park. In response to the announcement, the ACLU of Wisconsin issued the following statement. It is attributable to ACLU […]
Community organizations push for accountability of police use of surveillance technology
Thirty-two organizations have banded together to ask Milwaukee’s Common Council to ensure transparency and accountability when it comes to police use of surveillance technology. They signed on to a letter opposing the recently proposed “Public Safety Plan” and asking for the adoption of a resolution by the Council to create a vetting system for MPD […]
MPD stops too often undermine community trust, ACLU survey finds
Today, the ACLU of Wisconsin released survey results of over 800 Milwaukee residents’ attitudes about police, which demonstrate that Milwaukeeans are less likely to trust or seek help from police officers if they have had contact with police. This finding is especially true in the six zip codes (53212, 53206, 53208, 53213, 53218, and 53216) […]