Wisconsin
Wisconsin judicial commission dismisses complaints filed by former state courts director
The Wisconsin Judicial Commission this week dismissed complaints filed by the former state courts director after he was fired by four liberal justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, documents released to The Associated Press on Thursday show.
Three of the four targeted justices fired back Thursday, accusing the former court director who filed the complaints of breaking the law by making them public. By law, complaints before the commission must remain confidential unless the target of the investigation makes it public.
Randy Koschnick filed the complaints against each of the justices who fired him in August. He also filed a complaint against the person who replaced him, former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Audrey Skwierawski. Koschnick talked about the complaints publicly at the time.
FORMER WISCONSIN COURT DIRECTOR FILES COMPLAINTS OVER REPLACEMENT AFTER CHANGE IN SUPREME COURT CONTROL
The commission should have admonished Koschnick or taken other disciplinary action against him, liberal justices Rebecca Dallet, Jill Karofsky and Janet Protasiewicz wrote in a letter they provided to the AP.
The Wisconsin State Capitol building stands as Wisconsin electors gather to cast their votes for the U.S. presidential election in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 14, 2020. Documents released show that the Wisconsin Judicial Commission this week dismissed complaints filed by Wisconsin’s former state courts director after he was fired by four liberal justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. (REUTERS/Daniel Acker)
Koschnick said Thursday that he thinks he had a First Amendment right to talk about his complaint. He said he had a “civil and moral obligation” to file the complaint.
“There is no basis for discipline,” Koschnick told the AP. “I did nothing wrong.”
Koschnick alleged in his complaint that Skwierawski cannot legally take office until July 2025 because the state constitution prohibits judges from holding nonjudicial offices until their terms end.
But the commission’s executive director, Jeremiah Van Hecke, said in a letter to each of the four justices that the commission determined there was no misconduct in hiring Skwierawski. In a letter to Skwierawski’s attorney, Van Hecke said the commission was dismissing the complaint, as she resigned her position as judge on Dec. 31 and is no longer subject to the commission’s jurisdiction.
Skwierawski’s attorney, Matthew O’Neill, said in a Thursday letter back to the judicial commission that Skwierawski was waiving confidentiality of the complaint to clear her name.
“She is gratified and vindicated by the Commission’s confirmation that her decision to serve the people of Wisconsin as interim Director of State Courts was legally, constitutionally and ethically sound,” O’Neill wrote.
Skwierawski declined to comment.
The justices, in their letter to the commission, accused Koschnick of engaging in a publicity stunt by making his complaints public. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who was the subject of a complaint that was dismissed, did not join her three colleagues in the letter back.
“Judge Koschnick’s antics were nothing more than a partisan attempt to undermine the court’s authority to hire his successor,” Justices Dallet, Protasiewicz and Karofsky wrote.
By not taking action against Koschnick, the commission “will allow itself to continue to be an arrow in the quiver of partisan activists, reducing the public’s confidence in the judiciary.,” the three justices wrote.
WISCONSIN’S LIBERAL SUPREME COURT IN CROSSHAIRS AS GOP LAWMAKERS GRILL JUDICIAL ETHICS COMMISSIONERS
The director of state courts is Wisconsin’s top nonjudicial court official and advises the Supreme Court on improving court processes while also overseeing court budgets and operations.
Koschnick, a former judge, was appointed to the role in 2017 by a conservative majority of the court.
The justices voted in December to make Skwierawski, who was initially named as the interim court director, the permanent director.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court flipped to liberal control in August after Protasiewicz’s victory in the April election.
The new liberal majority immediately set to work making sweeping changes, including voting to vastly reduce the powers of the conservative chief justice and last month tossing Republican-drawn legislative maps.
Wisconsin
Rubber bullet carnage as 1,000 animal welfare activists storm beagle breeding lab in Wisconsin | Fortune
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours into the operation after no dogs had been successfully seized.
Activists later moved from the Ridglan facility to protest outside the jail in downtown Madison.
The group Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs had publicized plans to seize the dogs Sunday but launched its operation a day earlier. The X account of the group’s leader, Wayne Hsiung, posted a picture of him being arrested.
The sheriff’s department said a person who “recklessly” drove a pickup through the front gate of the property was arrested, “preventing a potentially deadly outcome.”
Protesters broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Ridglan has denied mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website it says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
Wisconsin
Wisconsin authorities put total arrests from clashes at beagle breeding facility at about 25
MADISON (AP) — Around 25 protesters were arrested as around 1,000 animal welfare activists tried to gain entry to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin and were met by officers firing pepper spray and rubber bullets, authorities said Sunday.
Saturday’s protest was the second attempt in as many months by demonstrators to take beagles from Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were turned back by officers who arrested the group’s leader.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said the situation was “significantly calmer and more peaceful” on Sunday, when around 200 people assembled outside the farm. They dispersed after around two hours, it said.
“We’re pleased with the group’s cooperation today, and their willingness to remain peaceful, while still sending their message of concern for the dogs at Ridglan Farms,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. “We are happy to support anyone who wants to exercise the right to protest, as long as they do so lawfully.”
Owen Ziliak/The Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The sheriff had said in a video statement Saturday that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property.” They tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Some got through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Those arrested included the leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs, Wayne Hsiung, 44, of New York, who was being held on a tentative felony charge of conspiracy to commit burglary. But most arrestees were just booked and released, the sheriff’s office said Sunday.
“No one should be assaulted for giving aid to a dog, even if damage to property is part of that rescue effort,” Hsuing said in a statement from jail Sunday that also accused authorities of using excessive force. “The animals of this Earth are not “things.” They’re sentient beings. And we have the right to rescue them from abuse,” he concluded.
Protesters took 30 dogs when they broke into the facility in March, when authorities arrested 27 people.
Ridglan denies mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 in a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, the company says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
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About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
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