Saturday, August 22: Commutations board meets for the first time, data center defines early race for governor and another cop punished for misuse of Flock technology
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Relief from a commutation would allow me to return to the community, family, and friends as a stable, employable, and fully rehabilitated adult who is prepared to contribute to the workforce and society”
– Michael Maldonado, writing in his application to have his homicide sentence commuted
Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution, where Michael Maldonado currently resides. (Photo courtesy Wisconsin Department of Corrections)
Wisconsin’s newly created commutations board met for the first time Friday to consider reducing the criminal sentences of 12 people. Ahead of Friday’s hearing, Criminal Justice Fellows Andrew Kennard and Frank Zufall dug into the case of 47-year-old Michael Maldonado, who is seeking the commutation of his 1994 sentence for first degree intentional homicide. Maldonado was 15 when he and two others were recruited by another student to kill the husband of a substitute teacher in exchange for cash and gifts.
An outbreak of measles in two counties has spread and is affecting 48 people, the state health department reported Friday. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has identified a total of 41 confirmed cases and seven “probable” cases, reported in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties. Erik Gunn has the latest.
A Menasha police officer was sentenced to six months in jail for unlawfully using the department’s Flock license plate reader cameras to conduct surveillance while off duty. Isiah Holmes, who has been following along as communities across the state debate the use of Flock’s technology, reports on the sentencing and continued pushback from residents.
A trio of pro-democracy groups sent a letter this week to the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office warning against potential voter intimidation after the department posted deputies at polling locations during the August primary. Baylor Spears reports on the issue, which drew complaints from people concerned about the effect of armed guards posted outside polls in which the sheriff himself was on the ballot.
Elections
Wisconsin’s three month sprint to the general election has kicked off with a focus on data centers. Fresh off his narrow primary win, Democrat David Crowley is facing heat from the left and the right over his views on data centers. Crowley says he wants to add strict regulations on the facilities, but some Democratic primary voters don’t feel he’s going far enough. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate, has pounced on that divide (including with ads about “data center David Crowley”) and touted his anti-data center views — though those are largely tied to an opposition to the development of renewable energy. Spears reports on how the data center divide has shaped the early contours of the race.
In a commentary, Editor-in-Chief Ruth Conniff writes about the data center debate and assesses the policy levers available to elected officials seeking to take on the issue once the election is decided.
Democrats this week worked to highlight Tiffany’s vote for President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut about $1 trillion from Medicaid. Elected officials and healthcare leaders say Tiffany’s vote on that bill doesn’t bode well for the future of health coverage in the state if he’s elected governor, Erik Gunn reports.
The Senate Democratic Campaign Committee filed a lawsuit this week against Michele Magadance Skinner, a Republican candidate for state Senate and an Eau Claire County board member. The lawsuit argued that Skinner should be booted off the November ballot because of evidence that she lives in Georgia, rather than the western Wisconsin district she’s running to represent. Spears covers the allegations and the hearing on Thursday in which a Dane County judge refused to grant Democrats’ request.
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ICYMI
Illustration by Tevy Khou for Capital & Main. Republished by permission.
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