Alan J. Borsuk – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Author Describes Amazon’s Boom – and the Downsides of What It Does to Communities

By: Alan J. BorsukApril 21, 2021Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

Enormous selection, good prices, quick delivery, the safety and comfort of shopping from home – what’s not to like about Amazon?

Mike Gousha put that question to Alec MacGillis, in an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program posted on the Marquette Law School’s web site on April 21, 2021.

“There’s a lot not to like,” MacGillis answered. He spells out what he means – as well as the reasons so many people love Amazon – in a broad and deep look at the company and its impact in his new book, “Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America.” And he described much of what he found in researching the book in his conversation with Gousha, Marquette Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy. Continue reading “Author Describes Amazon’s Boom – and the Downsides of What It Does to Communities”

Want Politicians to Prioritize the Greater Good over Partisanship? Change Election Rules, Speakers Say

By: Alan J. BorsukApril 12, 2021Election Law, Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

You want to do something about the partisan polarization that puts the United States Congress into frequent gridlock? Katherine Gehl and Austin Ramirez say there is a solution that has nothing to do with any specific policy or how people define themselves when it comes to partisanship: Change the way Congress members are elected.

“It turns out what really matters is the system, the rules of the game,” Gehl said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program posted on the Marquette Law School web site on April 8, 2021. The game she referred to is the way politicians get re-elected. Single-party primary elections motivate them to take highly partisan positions that play to small, but decisive blocks of voters within their party.

“Currently the system pushes – forces — the sides apart,” Gehl said. What’s best in the big picture doesn’t count the way that it counts to do what’s best for winning a party primary or keeping others from launching primary challenges.

“Our task is to make keeping the job the same as getting results for the country,” she told Gousha, Marquette Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy. Continue reading “Want Politicians to Prioritize the Greater Good over Partisanship? Change Election Rules, Speakers Say”

State Economic Development Leader Sees Growth Ahead, but Problems to Solve

By: Alan J. BorsukMarch 18, 2021Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation generally focused on larger projects aimed at building up the state’s economy, which is to say, the quasi-public agency made about 300 grants a year.

But with the impact the coronavirus had on economic life in Wisconsin, “we had to invent a bunch of tools to help businesses,” Missy Hughes, the secretary and CEO of WEDC, said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program posted on Marquette Law School’s web site on Wednesday (March 18, 2021).

The result? WEDC has made more than 60,000 grants during the pandemic period, the large number of them to small businesses seeking federal money intended to help those businesses stay alive.

As much as the grants have helped and as much as business owners and operators have shown grit, resiliency and creativity in what they are doing, Hughes told Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, that she was concerned that 20 percent to 30 percent of small businesses statewide would not survive the pandemic. Continue reading “State Economic Development Leader Sees Growth Ahead, but Problems to Solve”

Commitment to working on improving police accountability is strong at Law School conference

By: Alan J. BorsukMarch 11, 2021Criminal Law & Process, Milwaukee, Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

There was unanimous concern about the overall issue. There was unanimous willingness to work together. There was open and substantial conversation. But it will take time to see what will actually happen when it comes to progress on how to police communities and how to achieve good accountability when things related to police go bad.

That summarizes a two-hour conference on policing and accountability hosted by the Marquette Law School and the Marquette Forum, a university-wide set of efforts to address major issues. Participants included major figures involved in controversies over the subject and in the aftermath of several police shootings of black men. The conference was posted on the Law School’s web site on March 10, 2021.

“Ideologically, we want to live in a city where we all feel safe, where we feel heard, where we feel protected,” said Amanda Avalos, a new member of Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission. “And people’s ideas of how we get there are different.” Continue reading “Commitment to working on improving police accountability is strong at Law School conference”

Rebuilding intangibles like trust will be needed for schools to recover, expert says at Law School program

By: Alan J. BorsukMarch 9, 2021March 12, 2021Milwaukee Public Schools, Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

This appeared as a column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 7, 2021.

As we reach the one-year mark in the greatest crisis American education has faced since the public schooling began taking its current form in the 19^th Century, there are so many tangible things to be concerned about. Getting more kids back to school in person, especially now that teachers are getting vaccinated. What to do to help kids cover educational ground they didn’t cover in past months. How to use the coming summer. Money issues. Handling continuing health precautions. On and on.

But underlying the tangible issues are intangibles that also need big attention. I was involved in a virtual program on March 2 sponsored by the Marquette Law School and the Marquette College of Education on the state of K-12 education. Here are a few valuable thoughts from that session, emphasizing some of those intangibles:

Trust. A good school community is one where people – adults and children – are confident that, overall, things are being done well and for the good of all. There is a sense of everyone being on the same team. Trust underlies all of this. And the relationships and assumptions involved in trust have taken big steps backwards in many communities. That shows up especially in disputes nationwide over whether to have school in person. Continue reading “Rebuilding intangibles like trust will be needed for schools to recover, expert says at Law School program”

Northwestern Mutual Exec Describes Efforts to Improve Opportunities for Black Entrepreneurs

By: Alan J. BorsukFebruary 17, 2021February 17, 2021Milwaukee, Public, Speakers at Marquette1 Comment

Black people who have the potential to be successful entrepreneurs and business leaders have rarely reached that potential, given the impact of systemic racism, including the fact that few are in positions where they can take part in the networking that leads to so many opportunities.

Abim Kolawole thinks change can occur and steps being taken now will have positive impact. And he is in a major position to help that become so.

Kolawole, a top executive of Northwestern Mutual – he was recently named vice-president of “customer experience integration and promoting journey “ and was previously vice president of digital innovation — said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program posted on Marquette Law School’s website on February 17, 2021, that there is a greater sense of urgency around creating opportunity in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020. Continue reading “Northwestern Mutual Exec Describes Efforts to Improve Opportunities for Black Entrepreneurs”

Election Reform Efforts Are Needed in Wisconsin, GOP Party Chair Says

By: Alan J. BorsukFebruary 9, 2021Election Law, Political Processes & Rhetoric, Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

The 2020 election is over, but the need for election reform continues, the chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, Andrew Hitt, said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program posted on Marquette Law School’s web site on Feb. 9, 2021.

So expect legislative action on that front and, given the likelihood of vetoes by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, new lawsuits and efforts to get the Wisconsin Election Commission to take more action regarding election rules, Hitt said.

But, Reid Ribble, who represented an area including Green Bay as a Republican member of the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017, took a different approach to the subject, suggesting it would be “a huge confidence boost for everyone” if legislators and the governor came together on a bipartisan plan for election integrity. Continue reading “Election Reform Efforts Are Needed in Wisconsin, GOP Party Chair Says”

Does News Media Coverage of the Supreme Court Emphasize Politics Too Much?

By: Alan J. BorsukFebruary 4, 2021Media & Journalism, Public, Speakers at Marquette, U.S. Supreme CourtLeave a comment»

What started as an informal lunch conversation has developed into a scholarly law journal article raising an important question: Is the coverage of the United State Supreme Court by the news media contributing to the public perception of the Court as an institution doing politicized work in an atmosphere emphasizing factions? Or, as the title of the article puts it, “Supreme Court Journalism: From Law to Spectacle?”

In an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program posted on Marquette Law School’s web site on Feb. 3, 2021, Christina Tilley, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law, said the paper in the Washington & Lee Law Review does not answer the broad question. But it examines aspects of the matter.

Tilley told Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, that she and her co-author, Barry Sullivan, a professor at Loyola University Chicago Law School, were talking one day several years ago, when Tilley was a faculty member at Loyola, about how headlines on Supreme Court stories seemed to be getting more “click-baity,” a term for language that attracts attention. Stories about the Court seemed to be emphasizing which president appointed justices and which faction of the court justices belonged to rather than issues and legal reasoning, they thought. Continue reading “Does News Media Coverage of the Supreme Court Emphasize Politics Too Much?”

Legal System Leaders Say Hard Work and Cooperation Have Showed Pros and Cons of Remote Court Operations

By: Alan J. BorsukJanuary 25, 2021Criminal Law & Process, Milwaukee, Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

Yes, the justice system in Milwaukee County is likely to come out of the pandemic operating better than it was before.

Yes, a lot of lessons have been learned, and some of them will have lasting impact.

But no, operating remotely and under the constraints imposed by COVID-19 precautions is not such a great thing, overall, and a return to in-person work as the predominant way the system operates is needed.

Those answers provide a broad description of an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” discussion with four leaders in courts and criminal justice in Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee. The session was posted on the Marquette Law School web site on Jan. 22, 2021. Continue reading “Legal System Leaders Say Hard Work and Cooperation Have Showed Pros and Cons of Remote Court Operations”

Hostad and Abston: Aiming to Light Up Milwaukee

By: Alan J. BorsukJanuary 20, 2021Milwaukee, Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

Mike Hostad and Ian Abston want to light up Milwaukee and its future.

One way that is so is literal. The two led the Light the Hoan project that, after five years of tenacious effort, brought multi-colored, frequently-changing lighting patterns to the Hoan Bridge at the mouth of Milwaukee’s harbor. The effort was sometimes criticized, but, once the lights went up in 2020, the project was a big hit.

Another way that is so is less literal: The two are leading a new effort called Forward 48 that recruits groups of 48 professionals between ages 25 and 35 and provides them training led by major community figures in what it takes to be leaders.

Hostad and Abson talked about both efforts during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program that was posted on Marquette Law School’s web site on Jan. 13, 2021. Continue reading “Hostad and Abston: Aiming to Light Up Milwaukee”

Amy Lindner: Following Through on a Lesson in the Impact People Can Have

By: Alan J. BorsukDecember 3, 2020Milwaukee, Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

Between finishing college and starting law school, Amy Lindner spent a year working at an auto repair shop in Waukesha. She says she learned valuable things, beyond how her car works.

One lesson was that every job has dignity and deserves respect. Another was that, in dealing with customers, she saw that “the way we treat each other just makes such an impact.” A third: When she told customers what was done for their cars, why it was needed, and why it cost what they were being charged, she found that “just being clear and kind to people is something we all can do in all of our jobs.”

Those are lessons that serve her well in her current position as president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County.

In a virtual “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program posted on Marquette Law School’s web site on Wednesday (December 2), Lindner talked not only about her work in auto repair but about how the Milwaukee area as a whole has been affected by – and is responding to – people’s needs in his time of a pandemic. Continue reading “Amy Lindner: Following Through on a Lesson in the Impact People Can Have”

New Marquette Lawyer Magazine Goes Deep in Looking at Crime and Society

By: Alan J. BorsukNovember 23, 2020Criminal Law & Process, Marquette Lawyer Magazine, Public, Speakers at MarquetteLeave a comment»

Slogans are appropriate, even useful, for rallies or marches. In-depth thought is what should be expected from law schools. The Fall 2020 issue of Marquette Lawyer magazine offers a weighty serving of the latter, while examining implications of the former.

With the overall title of “The Crime and Society Issue,” the new magazine’s cover package features three pieces focusing on assessing and potentially improving the criminal justice system, from the time of an arrest through the charging and court processes, and ways of sanctioning people who commit crimes. Each piece features expertise and insight presented at Eckstein Hall events by scholars from coast to coast.

The lead story starts with some of the controversial ideas heard during 2020, such as “defund the police,” and explores ways the justice system could be improved when it comes to the overall safety and stability of urban communities. “The Case for Careful but Big Change” focuses in large part on the ideas of Paul Butler, the Albert Brick Professor in Law at Georgetown University, particularly as he presented them in Marquette Law School’s annual Boden Lecture and in an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program (last academic year, before the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person programs at Eckstein Hall). Continue reading “New Marquette Lawyer Magazine Goes Deep in Looking at Crime and Society”