Panelists Say New Assessment Tool Makes Pre-Trial Release Decisions “Smarter”

One of the most important decisions a judge or court commissioner makes in handling criminal cases is whether the defendant should be kept in jail or released while awaiting an outcome. A person’s constitutional rights and the community’s need for safety need to be weighed.

At an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Marquette Law School on Wednesday, Maxine White, chief judge of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, summarized the obligation of judges and commissioners when making those decisions: “To do everything possible to get it right.”

“When I started as a judge 25 years ago, the ‘getting it right’ was all in Maxine’s head and Maxine’s gut,” White said. “Since that time, we’ve gotten smarter.”

The tool that is being used now as a key to getting smarter was the focus of the program in the newly-named Lubar Center (previously the Appellate Courtroom) at Eckstein Hall as White, L’85, along with Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Wisconsin First Assistant State Defender Tom Reed, described a scoring system that is being used in Milwaukee County and almost 30 other jurisdictions around the United States to better inform decisions on releasing or incarcerating those awaiting outcomes of criminal complaints.  

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Insights on Judiciary and Tech Industry Highlight New Marquette Lawyer Magazine

Marquette Lawyer Summer 2017 CoverTwo pairs may not be the most powerful hand in poker, but they are definitely a winning combination for the Summer 2017 edition of Marquette Lawyer, the Marquette Law School magazine.

One pair in the magazine focuses on how long U.S. Supreme Court Justices should serve and, more broadly, how to assure confidence in the judiciary. Judge Albert Diaz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit focused on this in the E. Harold Hallows Lecture he delivered at Marquette Law School in 2016. The magazine offers a lightly edited text of the lecture by Diaz, including his advocacy of ideas he presumes that few of his fellow judges would support. Paired with the text is a comment from Diaz’s colleague on the Fourth Circuit, Judge James Wynn, L’79. An interview and profile of Wynn accompany his comment. The Diaz text may be read by clicking here and the Wynn comment (and interview) here.

The other pair in the magazine offers provocative insights from two people who play leading roles in the tech world. Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer of Microsoft, made two appearances at Marquette Law School on November 15, 2016, delivering the Helen Wilson Nies Lecture on Intellectual Property and participating in an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program. A selection of his thoughts may be found by clicking here.

Ted Ullyot is currently a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a leading venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, and he was formerly general counsel for Facebook—indeed, the lawyer who led the company in the process of going public. An edited version of Ullyot’s remarks at the Law School in a Helen Wilson Nies Lecture in April 2016 may be found by clicking here. 

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Lubar Gift Opens Path to “So Much More” in Law School Public Policy Programs

Sheldon LubarIn the announcement of a $5.5 million endowment gift by Milwaukee philanthropists Sheldon and Marianne Lubar to support public policy work at Marquette Law School, perhaps the most important statement came from Sheldon Lubar himself: “There is so much more to be done.”

The gift, announced Tuesday, will be added to a $1.5 million endowment gift made by the Lubars in 2010, to create a $7 million fund for continuing support of the efforts of the Law School. The public policy initiative began in 2007 with the hiring of Mike Gousha, distinguished fellow in law and public policy. It has grown to include numerous conferences, candidate debates, the “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” series of conversations, the Marquette Law School Poll, the Water Law and Policy Initiative, and other efforts to further serious, balanced discussion of major issues of all kinds.

“In recent years in particular, Marquette Law School has played a leading role in significant discussions and research on important topics,” Sheldon Lubar said. “At the same time, there is so much more to do. We are pleased to expand our support of this work.”

The initiative will be named the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education. In addition, the Appellate Courtroom of Eckstein Hall, where many major events are held, will be named the Lubar Center.

Marquette University President Michael R. Lovell said, “Marquette greatly appreciates the faith of Shel and his family in our university’s ability to bring greater understanding through constructive conversations.”

Joseph D. Kearney, Dean and Professor of Law, said, “Marquette University Law School is deeply committed to serving our community in ways even beyond our primary goal of providing outstanding legal education to our students. . . . We seek to enhance that role and to bring important ideas and people to our community through the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education.”

The Lubar Center will support public policy research initiatives and civic education at the Law School and beyond. This includes public events, funding for faculty and staff involved in the center, and research and reporting projects.

The initial Lubar gift has supported numerous research projects and innovative partnerships with journalism entities, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Milwaukee Business Journal.

In addition to the Lubar Fund, the Law School supports its public policy initiative with donations from its annual fund.

Gousha said, “Whether it is hearing from candidates for public office, exploring new ideas for addressing policy challenges, or providing independent research, data collection, and analysis, our goal is to be a resource for the region and state.”

The full news release announcing the gift may be found by clicking here.

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