The Third Branch
People
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Judge Gerald P. Ptacek |
A Dec. 2, 2012 editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal encouraged state leaders to embrace the idea of more treatment to keep offenders with drug and alcohol addictions and mental illness out of prison.
Accompanying the editorial was a photo of Racine County Circuit Court Judge Gerald P. Ptacek applauding the success of a participant in that county's alcohol and drug treatment court program.
"The latest call for more treatment to keep offenders with drug and alcohol addictions and mental illness out of prison is welcome," the editorial read. The newspaper cited a recent report by a group of churches touting more treatment as the best way to reduce Wisconsin's prison population and save money.
"The report proposes spending $95 million a year on treatment and support services. That's a lot of money. But if successful, the group's plan could save twice that amount by keeping more people off drugs and alcohol and out of prison," the State Journal opined.
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Judge Mark D. Gundrum |
A Jan. 29 Boston Globe article chronicled some of the challenges faced by District II Court of Appeals Judge Mark D. Gundrum and his wife, Mary, as they welcomed their new son, Dominic Pio Gundrum, into the world.
Dominic was diagnosed before birth with two rare medical conditions. About 20 weeks into the pregnancy, an ultrasound showed what appeared to be an encephalocele, a portion of the brain outside the skull. Doctors told the Gundrums that the baby might not make it to birth, may die soon after, or may be severely disabled, the Globe reported.
After researching online, the Gundrums connected with Dr. John Meara, the plastic surgeon in chief at Boston Children's Hospital who had successfully operated on a Haitian child with the same condition. Meara told the Gundrums things would be OK, but he said the ultrasound also revealed that Dominic had a Tessier facial cleft, in which the sides of the head and face do not properly fuse.
Dominic was born June 18 at Froedert Hospital in Milwaukee with both conditions evident. About four months later the Gundrums decided that Meara would perform surgery to address the conditions. However, the family (now with eight children) first had to find a way to make it all work logistically – in Boston – during the holidays.
Thankfully, a suburban Boston family with whom Gundrums connected through a home-schooling network offered their home for a month. Other families provided meals and brought groceries to help the Gundrums.
Doctors were thrilled with the initial result of a complicated surgery — the encephalocele turned out to be mostly filled with fluid, and the halves of Dominic's face were successfully brought together, according to the Globe's report. However, complications ensued and Dominic remained in the hospital a month, including three weeks that were spent in intensive care. Dominic is now home with the rest of the Gundrums, along with a robot that Meara sent to help monitor Dominic's progress.
Problem-solving court programs in Brown County have helped delay a costly jail expansion, according to a Sheboygan Hub article. Programs such as the drug court and veterans court have helped to keep the jail population lower, allowing the county to put off plans to spend an estimated $34 million on expanding the 11-year-old facility, the article states. According to the article, almost two dozen offenders have been diverted from jail since the drug court program began operating in 2009. The veterans court program has already had 12 participants and 10 in the referral process since it began less than a year ago.
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On Feb. 6, Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson addressed members of the Wisconsin Counties Association during the group's 2013 Legislative Exchange in Madison. The financial partnership between Wisconsin counties and the state court system provides a justice system with a high rate of return on investment for the people of Wisconsin, Abrahamson said. The state invests less than one penny of every state tax dollar to support the judicial branch of government, including trial courts in all 72 counties and two levels of appellate courts. |
Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson urged legislators to support more problem-solving court programs for individuals battling addiction and mental illness at a recent meeting with Senate and Assembly judiciary committees, the Superior Telegram reported.
"They reduce prison time and jail time and keep people safe, and safer maybe than prison because these people don't repeat crimes as frequently," Abrahamson is quoted as saying.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Glenn Grothman, West Bend, said he thinks the committee will address treatment programs, but the main priority this session is family issues, like child support and domestic violence.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently reported that Racine County received a $116,000 grant for its Second Judicial District's Veterans Treatment Court. The grant comes from the Office of Justice Assistance and will be used for staffing, testing and monitoring of participants and program evaluation. The veterans court program launched Nov. 14, 2012, and serves veterans in Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties by pooling resources from all three counties.
Two of Wisconsin's problem-solving court programs were highlighted in the National Association of Drug Court Professionals All Rise Weekly Media Round-up newsletter. Brown County was featured in a Green Bay Press Gazette article that focused on three graduates' success stories. The newsletter also highlighted a column by David Wallace in the Wausau Daily Herald supporting an initiative to create a OWI court in Lincoln County.
Two Wisconsin judges recently made the news with their creative sentencing of men who were repeatedly delinquent on child support payments.
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Judge Timothy B. Boyle |
Judge Eugene D. Harrington |
The Racine Journal Times reported on Racine County Circuit Court Judge Timothy B. Boyle's sentencing of a father of nine who owes almost $100,000 in back child support. In addition to three years of probation, Boyle ordered the man not to have any more children until he could prove that he could support that child in addition to the nine he already has.
"Common sense dictates you shouldn't have kids you can't afford," Boyle said, according to the Journal Times.
In a similar case, the Duluth News Tribune reported that Washburn County Circuit Court Judge Eugene D. Harrington not only ordered a man not to procreate until all of his back child support has been paid, but also ordered him to reveal that he is a convicted felon and owes back child support within three minutes of meeting any female. In addition, the other conditions of the man's two-year probation require him to maintain full-time employment, keep up on his child support payments, and seek treatment and counseling.
In its 2001 ruling in State v. Oakley, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that a judge can order a defendant not to procreate until he or she can support the child, since the condition does not eliminate the constitutional right to procreate.
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Judge Michael O. Bohren |
"Something as important as a courthouse remodel or a new courthouse is something that should be looked at carefully and judiciously," Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael O. Bohren told the Wisconsin Law Journal. The Law Journal reported that the county has agreed to spend money on a study to determine if the county's current courthouse, which was built in 1959, needs to be remodeled, or if a new one should be built. Bohren, who has served as chair of PPAC's Subcommittee on Court Security, says the current building is outdated and poses some security concerns.
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Judge Lloyd V. Carter |
Deputy Chief Judge Lloyd V. Carter, Waukesha County Circuit Court, agrees in the article that security issues need to be addressed, particularly where the security screening takes place. Currently, the metal detectors and scanners are in the courthouse's lobby.
"If there's a security breach, it's already in the building," Carter said.
Another issue that needs to be addressed, according to the article, is the number of levels of access. Right now, there is one area accessable by the public, and one area the judges, court staff and inmates share. Ideally, there would be areas for judges and court staff separate from the inmates to access the court rooms.
Heightened security measures means longer lines to get into the Milwaukee County courthouses, according to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee County Clerk of Court John Barrett recommends people plan to arrive 30 minutes early to allow time for the screenings. The Journal Sentinel reports that the new security measures are a result of a failed test, where a deputy posing in plain clothes was able to pass through security screenings with a concealed weapon.
"The security check has become an exercise in going through the motions," the paper quotes from a news release from Milwaukee Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.
Individuals entering the courthouses must now remove their shoes and belts, and show their waistbands.
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Judge Philip M. Kirk |
Waupaca County Circuit Court Judge Philip M. Kirk has been featured in the book 67 Conservatives You Should Meet Before You Die. While Kirk said he has never used that label to describe himself, the book's author, Burt Prelutsky, cites Kirk's comment while sentencing a man convicted of sexually assaulting other men. Kirk told the defendant, who insisted he was not gay, "I think you were born gayer than a sweet smelling jock strap." Also featured in the book are U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, Journalist Bernard Goldberg, actor Gary Sinise, former U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich, and political commentator Charles Krauthammer.
Gov. Scott Walker announced plans for a proposed Family Justice Center in Milwaukee to serve those families and victims who are dealing with domestic violence, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in February.
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Sojourner Family Peace Center are partnering on the center which will provide coordinated services in a proposed 78,000-square-foot facility to be built at 619 W. Walnut St. The building would include an on-site 56-bed shelter for families, the newspaper reported.
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District Court Administrators (DCA) Andrew M. Graubard (middle) and Michael Neimon (right), along with a local friend (Dr. Emon Das (left)) promoted public trust and confidence by joining the masses at the 2013 Polar Plunge down at Bradford Beach, Milwaukee for a quick swim in Lake Michigan on New Year's Day. The air temperature was a balmy 12 degrees, wind chill at 3 degrees and the temperature of the water was 42 degrees. Both DCAs survived the chilling swim with all limbs intact. As you can see in the picture, Neimon even brought his Wisconsin Supreme Court Director's Cup to show his pride in the Wisconsin court system. Also noteworthy is that Graubard did not receive any harm for wearing Philadelphia Eagles garb. |
Dubbing themselves "Monty Python's Flying Circuits," circuit court judges James D. Babbitt (Barron County), Jeffery L. Anderson (Polk County), Jennifer L. Weston (Jefferson County), and Craig R. Day (Grant County), cast themselves into the frigid waters of Half Moon Lake in Eau Claire on Feb. 24. The Eau Claire event raised a record $190,000 for Special Olympics and is one of many Polar Plunge events around the state. A total of $1,475 was donated to the Special Olympics, exclusively by Wisconsin judges. |
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