MPS Politics: Visits to Two Different Decks

Two sessions bearing on the future of Milwaukee Public Schools took place simultaneously Tuesday night, and each drew about 75 people who care about education in the city.

Beyond that, it’s hard to think of much the two events had in common. At one, pretty much everybody thought that the way MPS is run is a big part of the problem and that it is time to make major changes.  At the other, the emphasis was on forces beyond MPS that affect schools, and everyone agreed the existing governance system should be defended. 

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Two Views of Constitutional Rights: Anti-Badgering Versus Informed Consent

badgerThis is the fifth in a series of posts reviewing last term’s criminal cases in the United States Supreme Court and previewing the new term.

You can tell there are no Wisconsinites currently on the Supreme Court — otherwise, the Justices would not treat “badger” as such a bad word.  In an earlier post, I discussed the Court’s marked left-right divide last term in its cases dealing with police investigation practices.  To my mind, the most interesting of these cases was Montejo v. Louisiana, 129 S. Ct. 2079 (2009), which nicely exemplifies the competing views of defendants’ rights on the Court. 

In Montejo, the Court substantially weakened the Sixth Amendment right to counsel by overturning Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625 (1986).  Jackson had prohibited police from initiating the interrogation of a criminal defendant once the defendant had requested counsel at an arraignment. 

Why did the Court think Jackson unnecessary?  The answer lies in the Court’s concern with “badgering.” 

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