Milwaukee Police Chief Asks the Public: “Our Hand Is Out. Meet Us Halfway.”

We’re all in this together. If we want a safer Milwaukee, we need people to come together to trust law enforcement, to build healthy connections in neighborhoods, to provide help to those who might otherwise be headed for trouble. Law enforcement can’t do it alone.

That was the broad message from the Milwaukee area’s two top law enforcement leaders during an “On the Issues” program Thursday, June 1, 2023, at Eckstein Hall.

The most powerful statement of the theme came from Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. Derek Mosley, director of the Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education and moderator of the program, asked Norman and Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball what they consider the most pressing need of the departments they lead.   

“I’ve said it time and time again: It’s trust. It’s trust that we are doing the right things for the right reasons for you all,” Norman responded, gesturing to the audience of about 200.

Norman, who was named acting chief in 2020 and given the full title in 2021, urged people to leave behind past problems with some of his predecessors. Holding on to the past hampers moving forward, and the department has changed, he said.  

“We have a different culture in the Milwaukee Police Department,” he said. “Believe me. Accountability is real. But we have a lot of great men and women doing work to keep our community safe. And I stand on that.

“It’s important for all of you to know that this is a different department. It’s a different department. Give us that benefit of the doubt. It’s a partnership. It’s not a one-way vehicle here. We can’t get to reckless driving, we can’t get to violent crime, we can’t get to the things that are going on in our neighborhoods if we do not trust each other.

“Our hand is out. Meet us halfway.” He held out his hand as he spoke.

Ball jokingly responded to Norman’s impassioned call by saying, “All right, rev.”

She agreed that trust is important. But she said staffing is the biggest challenge for the sheriff’s department, with need for both more deputies to patrol freeways, parks, and the airport and more people to work in the Milwaukee County Jail, which she oversees.

Norman, who is a 2002 graduate of Marquette Law School, also said staffing is a continuing issue for the police department.

Earlier in the program, Mosley referred to the killings at the Christmas parade in Waukesha in 2021 and at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., in 2022. He asked if tragedies such as those affected preparations for large events in Milwaukee this summer.

Norman said law enforcement plans for what can be done to minimize chances of such crises, including more use of physical barriers, more visible presence of officers, and more work with community groups ahead of and during events. But, he said, events such as the killings in Highland Park by someone who was in a building overlooking the parade can be hard to prevent.

Emphasizing the theme of partnering with the community, he said a big part of what can be done is information and help from citizens. “It’s you all,“ he said. The slogan , “If you see something, say something,” is important, he said. Tips from citizens are valuable.

Ball said the sheriff’s department has built up its relationships with the 19 municipal police departments in Milwaukee County and with other law enforcement agencies. “We are better together,” she said.

Norman said collaboration among agencies was valuable and can increase effectiveness. As he put it, “You’ve got the peanut butter, I’ve got the jelly, let’s make a sandwich.”

The two took several questions and comments from the audience. One person asked how police judge whether to react strongly or stand back when there is major disorder. Norman responded, “I’m not going to allow death and destruction on my watch.”

To watch video of the program, click here.

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A Better Internet? Lawyers’ Ethics? The Quality of Criminal Justice Today? New Marquette Lawyer Magazine Looks at Major Legal Questions

Marquette Lawyer Summer CoverNearly everybody uses the internet every day and, for many us, all day long. It is ubiquitous and, looked at from a long-term perspective, an amazing part of our lives. It is also far from perfect. Can it be made better?

A core aspect of addressing that goal is the prime focus of the Summer 2023 issue of Marquette Lawyer magazine. In the cover story, “The Past’s Lessons for Today: Can We Get to a Better Internet?,” James B. Speta, the Elizabeth Froehling Horner Professor of Law at Northwestern University, looks at whether common-carrier principles could be applied, in an artful and appropriate way, to combat domination of the internet by a small number of giant platforms. Speta’s piece is an essay version of the Robert F. Boden Lecture he delivered at Marquette Law School this past academic year.

Speta’s analysis and suggestions are accompanied by responses from eight other legal academics with a wide variety of experiences and perspectives (in order of presentation):

  • Kate Klonick, St. John’s University
  • Ashutosh Bhagwat, University of California, Davis
  • Sari Mazzurco, SMU Dedman
  • Eugene Volokh, UCLA
  • Howard Shelanski, Georgetown
  • Tejas N. Narechania, University of California, Berkeley
  • Eric Goldman, Santa Clara University
  • Bruce E. Boyden, Marquette University

The presentation is capped by thoughts from Congressman Ro Khanna of California, a leading figure in policy discussions about improving the internet. Khanna offers his ideas in an interview with Speta.

The full set of pieces on internet issues may be read by clicking here.

The new Marquette Lawyer also includes a probing discussion of the duties and obligations of lawyers, focused on a new book by Michael S. Ariens, L’82, who serves as the Aloysius A. Leopold Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. Ariens’s book—The Lawyer’s Conscience: A History of American Lawyer Ethics—is described in the opening section of the article.

There then follow pieces engaging with Ariens’s book from three Marquette Law School faculty members—Peter K. Rofes, Rebecca K. Blemberg, and Nathaniel Romano, S.J.—and a pertinent excerpt from a 1982 law review article by the late Robert F. Boden, L’52, during his long tenure as dean of the Law School.

The whole package, titled “Acting in the Best Interests of Client and ‘King,’” may be viewed by clicking here.

Ellen Henak, a well-known criminal defense attorney and former adjunct professor at Marquette Law School, is retiring. As she draws her practice to a close, she offers careful but candid and provocative thoughts in a piece titled “Unretiring Thoughts from a Retiring Criminal Defense Lawyer,” which may be read by clicking here.

John D. Johnson, research fellow at the Marquette Law School Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, has done groundbreaking work analyzing significant shifts in property ownership in Milwaukee. He brings together much of his work in an article, “The Rise and Impact of Corporate Landlords.” It may be read by clicking here.

Any change in the faculty and staff of Marquette Law School is important, but retirements of two pillars of the Law School and appointments to two major positions are of particular note. In a set of short profiles, titled “Great Appreciation . . . and Great Anticipation,” we first say thank you to Professor Tom Hammer, L’75, and Associate Dean Bonnie Thomson, each of who has served for several decades. And then we welcome Derek Mosley, L’95, who was named director of the Lubar Center for Public Policy and Civic Education after serving as a Milwaukee municipal judge for 20 years, and Mary Triggiano, who will lead the Law School’s Andrew Center for Restorative Justice after serving as a judge of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court since 2004 and as chief judge since 2020. The four profiles may be read by clicking here.

In his column, titled “Leadership and Mission at Jesuit Schools Today,” Dean Joseph D. Kearney focuses on Marquette University President Michael R. Lovell and Katie Mertz, L’11, director of pro bono and public service at the Law School. Lovell recently honored Mertz with a Marquette University “Difference Maker” award. The column may be read by clicking here.

Finally: the Class Notes describe recent accomplishments of more than 30 Marquette lawyers and may be read by clicking here, and the back cover (here) makes a point about the Marquette Law School Poll.

The full magazine may be read by clicking here for the PDF or here for the “interactive” version.

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New MMAC Leader Says, “We’re Going to Fight for the Whole Community”

What does Dale Kooyenga like about Milwaukee?

The question came from a member of the audience at a program at Marquette Law School’s Eckstein Hall on Tuesday (April 25, 2023). The questioner said she assumed that Kooyenga didn’t like Milwaukee because he was formerly a Republican member of the Wisconsin legislature who lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield. The way Republicans in the legislature have butted heads with Milwaukee leaders, generally Democrats, is a long-standing dynamic of Wisconsin politics.

But Kooyenga answered empathically that he shouldn’t be counted as part of that, not when looking at his past record and especially not when looking at his new role as senior vice president of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce. Kooyenga is expected to succeed the long-time president of the MMAC, Tim Sheehy.

For one thing, Kooyenga said, his state Senate district in recent years included some parts of the city of Milwaukee, and he was proud to represent the full district. For another thing, Kooyenga said, ask former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett if Kooyenga was someone who Milwaukee leaders could talk to.

But, more broadly, Kooyenga had to pause before answering what he  likes about Milwaukee because, as he put it, “it’s a long list.” Recreational opportunities, spectator sports, the ease of doing things, the life his family is able to live, the diverse people of the metropolitan area, and, simply, the friendly character of Milwaukee and Milwaukeeans. Kooyenga said he grew up in Chicago and came to the Milwaukee area initially to go to college. He assumed he’d move back to Chicago as soon as he could. But he quickly decided Milwaukee was a great place to live — and he hasn’t left.

Furthermore, he said, don’t peg him in his new role by his partisanship in the past. “We’re going to fight for the whole community. . . . That’s important to me,” he said. “The MMAC will do what’s in Milwaukee’s best interest.”

Kooyenga said that for years, the MMAC has based its programs on four goals for the Milwaukee area: livability, growth, talent, and equity. He said the organization will continue to pursue those goals.

He praised Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley for the effort they are putting into building relationships with state leaders in Madison, including Republican legislative leaders. Their work will pay “huge dividends,” he said. And allowing local sales taxes to support government in Milwaukee – an idea that Johnson, Crowley, the MMAC, and others are supporting — “has to happen.”   

Kooyenga’s spoke at the first session of a new program of the Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education. Called “Get to Know,” the programs will be hosted by Derek Mosley, the new director of the Lubar Center, and are intended to provide a somewhat informal chance to meet interesting people involved in Milwaukee and the rest of Wisconsin.

The conversation with Kooyenga, Mosley, and members of the audience may be viewed by clicking below.

Continue ReadingNew MMAC Leader Says, “We’re Going to Fight for the Whole Community”