Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Criminal Repeater Statutes: Occasions, Convictions, and Absurd Results

Ever wonder how Wisconsin prosecutors and judges turn a statute that reads "convicted on 2 or more separate occasions" into merely "2 or more convictions" in order to brand more defendants as repeat offenders?  Well, okay, unless you're a Wisconsin criminal defense lawyer, you probably haven't.  But if you are a Wisconsin criminal defense lawyer, or if you just want to learn how prosecutors and judges torture the plain meaning of ordinary words to get what they want, read my hot-off-the-press article, Criminal Repeater Statutes: Occasions, Convictions, and Absurd Results, 11 Hous. L. Rev. Online 1 (2020).  And for all of my articles, including this one, go to my articles page.  Enjoy! 

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Will Kenosha ever recover from Trump’s visit?


Recently, President Trump sent Federal resources to my city, Kenosha, to put an end to the fires, looting, and violence.  He then announced a planned visit to survey the destruction and meet with law enforcement and others.  Predictably, our Governor and other Democratic politicians tried to stop his visit.  They uttered the usual weak, buzzword-laden blather that masquerades as political discourse today.  Governor Evers wrote, “I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”

What?!  That’s incredibly childish nonsense.  “Hinder our healing”?  What does that even mean?  And how, exactly, are we currently “overcom[ing] division” to “move forward together”?  And how would Trump’s visit “delay” that?  This is just nonsensical word vomit—that's the most accurate way to put it.