The GAB’s Duty of “Careful Examination”: Why Judge Davis Got It Right

I have written a few things on my personal blog about the GAB’s authority and duty to conduct a more thorough review of recall petitions than it apparently intends to conduct. Last Thursday, Judge Mac Davis ordered a more extensive review. Ed Fallone thinks that the judge got it wrong. I disagree. Here’s why.

Ed argues that “there are no explicit provisions in the statutes that direct the GAB to look for and eliminate duplicate, fictitious or unrecognizable signatures. Just a direction not to count signatures that are insufficient under Section 9.10(2)(e).”

I see two problems with this statement. First, the GAB’s obligation upon the filing of a petition is not limited to the elimination of signatures for the reasons set forth in § 9.10(2)(e). To the contrary, the obligation imposed on GAB is to “determine by careful examination whether the petition on its face is sufficient.” Wis. Stat. § 9.10(3)(b). Whatever that duty is, it is nowhere limited by § 9.10(2)(e). Second, as we will see, even if it is so limited, § 9.10(2)(e) does not relieve GAB of the obligation to do what Judge Davis ordered it to do.

So what does this duty of “careful examination” entail?

Continue ReadingThe GAB’s Duty of “Careful Examination”: Why Judge Davis Got It Right

A Tale of Three States, Part 6: Happy Days

In the previous post in this series, I took the imprisonment data from Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin back to 1991.  I’ve been interested, though, in pinpointing when exactly the Minnesota-Wisconsin imprisonment disparity arose, which requires going back further — much further, to the 1950′s.  Here are the numbers:

WI Imprisonment Rate (per 1000,000) Percent Change MN Imprisonment Rate (per 1000,000) Percent Change IN Imprisonment Rate (per 1000,000) Percent Change
1950 58.7 n/a 63.0 n/a 120.4 n/a
1955 61.6 4.9% 61.6 -2.2% 103.1 -14.4%
1960 69.5 12.8% 60.3 -2.1% 116.4 12.9%
1965 68.3 -1.7% 49.1 -18.6% 91.1 -21.7%
1970 67.3 -1.5% 41.7 -15.1% 79.6 -12.6%
1975 65.0 -3.4% 42.0 0.7% 73.0 -8.3%
1980 85.0 30.8% 49.3 17.4% 114.0 56.2%
1985 113.6 33.6% 55.9 13.4% 182.3 60.0%
1990 152.6 34.3% 71.9 28.6% 229.7 26.0%
1995 218.6 43.3% 105.1 46.2% 277.7 20.9%
2000 386.9 77.0% 126.8 20.6% 331.0 19.2%
2005 392.9 1.6% 173.1 36.5% 399.5 (est) 20.7%
2010 387.2 -1.5% 177.8 2.7% 459.9 15.1%

 

The numbers tell a remarkable story.  Here are some of the parts of that story that stand out for me:  

Continue ReadingA Tale of Three States, Part 6: Happy Days

New Ventures and Old

As some members of the Law School know, last winter I received a grant from the Bradley Foundation to form a nonprofit law center that has come to be known as the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. WILL engages in public education and litigation in the public interest with respect to issues of constitutional government, individual liberty, and the preservation of a robust civil society. We currently have a staff of four, including Tom Kamenick (L’09), and look forward to expanding as we complete our first year of operation this July. You can read more about us here.

I am excited by WILL but also happy to be able to return to the Law School on the adjunct faculty and teach Election Law this spring. When I proposed the class and first taught it a few years ago, I thought it would be something that could be offered every two years for the politicos in the student body. I had no idea that it would be delivered during a time when Wisconsin had become a virtual election law laboratory. But that’s where we are and that’s where I’d like to go in my next blog post.

Continue ReadingNew Ventures and Old
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