Tag Archives: State: Wisconsin

The Capital Times: On Tuesday, Republicans in the U.S. House planned to bring to the floor a measure that would prohibit women from having an abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy except in cases of rape or incest where the woman had reported the crime.

WI Family Action: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on the full meaning of Wisconsin’s marriage amendment and whether it authorizes the creation of other marriage-like unions.

FFRF: The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking the Howard-Suamico Board of Education in Wisconsin to reprimand a school district superintendent for exhorting parents to pray in his commencement speech at a Green Bay high school.

Pioneer Press: The Wisconsin Senate is expected to take up a bill Tuesday that would require a pregnant woman seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound performed.

Journal Sentinel: An ultrasound would be required before an abortion under a bill moving through the Legislature, and clinics that perform the procedure would need admitting privileges at a nearby hospital — a provision that has threatened to shut down clinics in other states.

Todaystmj4.com: A Republican-backed bill that would require a woman seeking an abortion in Wisconsin to see her unborn child via ultrasound is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday.

Education Views: In a through-the-night push, Republican lawmakers sculpted some of the final contours of a state budget that would cut income taxes by $651 million over two years, expand taxpayer-funded private voucher schools across the state and increase state aid to public schools by $300 per student over two years.

Christian Institute: A primary school in America has come under fire for encouraging children as young as five to dress as the opposite sex for the day, during a week of special events.

Freedom from Religion Foundation: Should a church in Madison, Wis., be allowed to proselytize in the Pheasant Branch Conservancy in the adjoining city of Middleton? The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national state-church watchdog based in Madison, thinks not.

Education Week: A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated a Michigan law that bars school districts from deducting teachers’ union dues for their employees. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, in Cincinnati, ruled 2-1 that the state’s Act 53, a 2012 measure that by its own terms was meant as “a check on union power,” likely does not violate the free speech or equal protection rights of teachers’ unions.

Wisconsin Family Action sent a letter to Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) Friday inviting him to  clarify what he believes regarding the best interest of children.

Religion Clause Blog: The Baraboo, Wisconsin News Republic and Wisconsin Ag report that a Wisconsin state trial court judge in a ruling from the bench on Monday rejected a religious freedom defense to an aspect of the four misdemeanor charges against Amish dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: But the agreement announced by Johnson and Baldwin calls for partisan parity. Each senator, regardless of whether he or she belongs to the same party as the president, will appoint three members to a six-member nominating commission. Johnson pushed for the change, and had the leverage to get it. That’s because individual senators currently enjoy effective veto power over federal judicial nominations in their own states.

Gazette Extra: With Arkansas and North Dakota legislators enacting laws they hope will end abortions in those state—and laws those lawmakers hope invite the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its Roe v. Wade decision—it’s a fair question: Will Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature debate new abortion restrictions this session?

Milwaukee Sentinel Journal: Roggensack’s victory gives her a second 10-year term on the bench and preserves the court’s conservative majority. On the most controversial issues and cases in recent years, the court has often split 4-3, with Roggensack in the majority.

One News Now: In response, Alliance Defending Freedom‘s (ADF) Jeremy Tedesco tells American Family News his firm sent a letter to school districts in Illinois and Wisconsin last Friday, informing them that it is, in fact, constitutional to take advantage of the resources at the nearby church-run camp. “Freedom From Religion Foundation says Well, it’s a Christian-run camp; there’s Christian symbols up here and there reflecting this, and because of that, you can’t take them to this camp if you’re a public school,” the ADF attorney reports. “And that’s just blank hostility towards religion. The First Amendment doesn’t require that at all of public schools. It’s just a scare tactic from Freedom From Religion Foundation.”

American Federation for Children: The Marquette poll reported that 37 percent of Wisconsin voters would support a statewide expansion of the program while another 14 percent would support its expansion to large school districts with some failing schools. In contrast, 14 percent of voters say they favor not expanding the program, while 28 percent would end it.

WisPolitics includes part of this Alliance Defending Freedom press release and links to it.

Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter to seven school districts in Illinois and Wisconsin Friday debunking legal claims and misinformation provided by an atheist group. The letter reassures the school districts that, contrary to the atheists’ claims, taking students on field trips to participate in non-religious educational programs at a church-run camp is constitutional.

LifeNews: They’ve scored some major victories already, but pro-life Wisconsin Republicans aren’t finished yet. The Associated Press reports that state senators Glenn Grothman and André Jacque have introduced legislation that would recognize unborn babies as human beings for the purposes of letting parents file wrongful death claims on their behalf, regardless of developmental stage.

WTAQ: Parents could sue for the wrongful deaths of their unborn children, under a bill proposed by two Republican lawmakers.

Religion Clause Blog: Last year the Freedom From Religion Foundation objected, arguing that this amounts to preferential treatment in public accommodations on the basis of creed– a violation of Wis. Stat. 106.52(3)(a)(2).

Sioux City Journal: Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says it plans to file a state lawsuit over a Wisconsin law that subjects doctors who perform medication-induced abortions to possible criminal charges.

The Capital Times: And it sounds like the first bill to get a warm reception from Republicans will be what’s being dubbed the “Woman’s Right to Know her Unborn Child Act,” also being termed the “ultrasound bill” by pro-choice forces.

WTAQ.com: The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Walker administration yesterday. The group wants the state to stop requiring permits to demonstrate at the Capitol – and to stop arresting protestors who don’t have those permits.

Northwestern.com: That means it only took about 54 years for the Freedom From Religion Foundation to send a letter to the county complaining that the prayers before County Board meetings are “pervasively Christian.” The Madison gadfly group reviewed 11 prayers and found that nine were delivered “in Jesus name.”

Religion Clause Blog: In Eau Claire County v. Borntreger, (WI App., Jan. 29, 2013) . . . Defendant’s religious objections to installing smoke detectors does not excuse non-compliance with the requirement that the building be structurally sound.

ChristianNews.net: Government officials in a Wisconsin county have voted unanimously to continue with prayers at their monthly county board meetings despite threats from a national atheist organization to file a lawsuit over the matter.

Rice Lake Online: Thirty-five people braved the bitter cold and a packed auditorium Monday night, Jan. 21 to urge the Barron County Board to continue its longstanding practice of praying at the start of its meetings.

Peshtigo Times: To view the U.S. Dept. of Education guidelines, go to: www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionand schools. Source: Gateways to Better Education (www.gtbe.com), P.O. Box 514, Lake Forest, CA 92609, 1-949-586-5437. Or contact: Alliance Defending Freedom, 1-800-835-5233 (www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org). Rev. Jean L. Waldron, Peshtigo

Wisconsin Gazette: “The lifelong, faithful union of a man and a woman is the foundation of every healthy, stable society. The people of Wisconsin recognize this, and that is why they approved a constitutional amendment that specifically protects marriage from all imitators,” said ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks. “We are appealing the appellate court’s decision because this domestic partnership scheme is precisely the type of marriage imitation that the voters intended to prevent.”

Journal-Sentinel: On Tuesday, the Alliance Defending Freedom announced it and other groups had petitioned the high court to hear an appeal of the December ruling. “We are appealing the appellate court’s decision because this domestic partnership schemed is precisely the type of o marriage imitation that the voters intended to prevent,” said Austin Nimucks, senior counsel with ADF in Washington, D.C. . . . Fair Wisconsin Executive Director Katie Belanger said, “It is disappointing that the plaintiffs and the Alliance Defending Freedom are continuing their efforts to take away important legal protections from same-sex couples and their families.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys representing Wisconsin taxpayers asked the state Supreme Court Tuesday to weigh in on the full meaning of Wisconsin’s marriage amendment and whether it authorizes the creation of other marriage-like unions.

UpNorthLive: A conflict over religious public displays has forced the Cheboygan City Council to take action. At Tuesday night’s meeting they will add a committee to take a look at the current policies regarding the use of city property.

Green Bay Press Gazette: Austin R. Nimocks, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal ministry representing Wisconsin Family Action members, said in an email he would appeal Friday’s decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. “The people of Wisconsin recognize that marriage provides a strong foundation for a thriving society,” Nimrocks wrote. “That’s why they approved a constitutional amendment that specifically protects marriage from all imitators. Politicians and activist groups should not be allowed to get around that.”

AP: Wisconsin’s domestic partnership registry is constitutional, a state appeals court ruled in a decision released Friday that marks a major victory for the state’s largest gay rights group. | Appling v. Doyle (HTML | PDF)

San Francisco Chronicle: A state attorney tells the Wisconsin Supreme Court a couple caused their daughter’s death when they prayed over while she slowly died of diabetes.

The Badger Herald: An anti-abortion group within the state has proposed stricter regulations on abortions, including mandating women requesting abortions to watch an ultrasound of their fetuses.

Education News: The growth in market share of students for Milwaukee charter schools underscores important changes in the local landscape for such publicly financed, independently operated schools. MPS, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the City of Milwaukee are approving more charter schools, and a growing number of those proposals are coming from national operators.

One News Now: “Well, I think this is just further evidence that groups like Freedom From Religion Foundation or Americans United for Separation of Church and State are trying to use the Johnson Amendment in the tax code as a tool of intimidation to silence and censor churches,” contends Erik Stanley, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom.

AP: The lawsuit also refers to “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” a national event on Oct. 7 in which more than 1,500 pastors endorsed a candidate from the pulpit and then sent a record of their statement to the IRS, hoping their challenge would eventually end up in court. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has organized the event since 2008. The group considers the IRS regulations against bringing partisan politics to the pulpit an unconstitutional government intrusion.

Religion Clause Blog: The Freedom From Religion Foundation yesterday announced that it has filed suit in a Wisconsin federal district court against the Internal Revenue Service challenging its failure to enforce against churches and religious organizations the electioneering restrictions applicable to tax-exempt non-profit organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

ABC:  ABC News projects that Tammy Baldwin has won the U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin, making history as the first openly gay U.S. Senator.

LifeNews: Supporters of President Barack Obama in Wisconsin who were waiting to get into a local event with Vice President Joe Biden vandalized and spray-painted over pro-life signs held by pro-life rally protestors.

The Examiner: New polls released over the last 72 hours from Senate races in Massachusetts, Missouri Virginia, and Wisconsin all give Democrats a good chance to keep control of the Senate. Nate Silver’s probability analysis for all ten races, which was updated just today, favors the Democrats in seven out of the ten races listed below.

The New American: It took the complaint of just one parent to induce the school district of Shorewood, a suburb of Milwaukee, to drop a new student-designed logo from the high school football team’s helmets. The reason: The logo included a cross, along with a bishop’s hat (similar to the design on the traditional chess piece). The district’s superintendent, Martin Lexmond, no doubt feared that the religious symbols, particularly the cross, might raise the ire of the ACLU, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, or some other secular group which have used the First Amendment’s supposed “separation of church and state” clause to intimidate schools and municipalities into removing all signs of religious faith from public facilities.

Daily Caller: Unhappy with President Barack Obama‘s support of same-sex marriage, a group of African-American faith leaders have announced a campaign aimed at stripping 25 percent of the black vote that went to Obama in 2008 (95 percent).

Wall Street Journal (via Google): Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s recall victory in June was a stinging defeat for organized labor. But just when Wisconsinites thought they were getting past this fight, the left is staging a last gasp coup in the courts. On Monday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago heard oral arguments in a federal case challenging the law’s limits on collective bargaining for government unions

AP: A federal appeals court in Chicago has heard arguments on the constitutionality of provisions in Wisconsin’s law restricting collective bargaining by public employees.

RRStar.com: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has declined to take up a case challenging the state’s domestic partnership law until an appeals court has heard the case.

One News Now: Wisconsin judge has struck down nearly all of the state law championed by Gov. Scott Walker that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for most public workers.

Watertown Daily Times: The Dodge County Planning Committee decided this week to forward to its county board of supervisors a recommendation regarding the revamping of the county’s adult zoning ordinance when the latter body meets Tuesday.

Journal Times: Baldwin, 50, was the first openly gay candidate to win election to the House in 1998. She is looking to become the first openly gay candidate elected to the Senate, and the first woman senator from Wisconsin.

The Church Report: Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) leads Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) by 9 points, according to a new poll from Marquette University.

Religion Clause Blog: In Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. United States, (WD WI, Aug. 29. 2012), a Wisconsin federal district court held that officers of the Freedom From Religion Foundation have standing to bring Establishment Clause and equal protection challenges to the constitutionality of Internal Revenue Code Sec. 107 that excludes from taxable income the parsonage allowance or the rental value of a home provided to members of the clergy.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: An atheist group is complaining that Mexican Fiesta’s discounted admission for attending its Sunday Mass on the Summerfest grounds violates laws barring discrimination based on religious affiliation.

Washington Blade: The Associated Press reported at around 10:24 pm on Tuesday evening that Mark Pocan, who’s gay and a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, won the Democratic nomination. His main opponent in the primary was Kelda Helen Roys, a fellow Assembly member.

NC Register: Madison, Wis., Bishop Robert Morlino says he’s not endorsing Ryan, but upholds the candidate’s reputation as a serious Catholic committed to applying Church social doctrine.

Freedom from Religion Foundation: Irish Fest officials in Milwaukee announced today that are dropping a promotion that violated the Civil Rights Act by rewarding Mass attendance, in response to a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Irish Fest officials will now offer everyone who drops off a food donation by 11 a.m. free admittance.

Journal-Sentinel: A little-noticed liberal group made a big impact in Tuesday’s Democratic legislative primaries in Milwaukee, ousting two longtime incumbents with attacks on their left and likely ensuring that no strongly anti-abortion Democrats will remain in the Legislature when it returns next year. Wisconsin Progress easily won its targeted races with candidates it had helped recruit and train

The Hill: Thompson will face Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who was uncontested in her primary. Polls show the race will be competitive in the slightly Democratic-leaning state: In the last three public surveys of the race, Thompson leads in one, Baldwin leads in another and they are tied in the third. Thompson likely starts the race with a slight edge due to his popularity with independents in the state, though Baldwin has the cash advantage at this point.

LA Times: Four conservatives squared off in a Republican U.S. Senate primary here Tuesday, but it’s the Democrat that one of them will face come November who figures to transform the battle for an open seat into a national showcase. Tammy Baldwin, a veteran congresswoman from Madison who had no primary opponent, would become the first openly gay member of the staid upper chamber if she won.

Richard Garnett at National Review: Take the time to read the opinions — especially Judge Richard Posner’s dissent — in Doe v. Elmbrook School District.

Religion Clause Blog: In County of Jackson v. Borntreger, (WI App., July 19, 2012), a Wisconsin state appellate court, in a civil forfeiture action, rejected a claim by defendant, a member of the Amish faith, that applying for a county zoning permit before constructing a saw mill on his property would have unconstitutionally violated his religious freedom.

Alan E. Sears at the Alliance Defending Freedom Blog: Last week, we reported some of the actions your support has enabled Alliance Defending Freedom to take in defending our children in tax-funded schools from the onslaughts of those pressing pornography and the homosexual agenda. This week, I’d like you to see how you’re enabling our attorneys to defend religious freedom at our state universities.

Religion Clause Blog: DeBruin v. St. Patrick Congregation, (WI Sup. Ct., July 12, 2012), is a suit by a Catholic Church’s former Director of Faith Formation against the parish claiming that she was fired from her position in breach of her contract with the congregation.

AP: Wanggaard, a Republican, lost to John Lehman by 819 votes, or about 1 percent of the nearly 72,000 ballots cast in the June 5 recall.

AP: The Service Employees International Union . . . Target states include Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia – each considered crucial for an Obama victory.

Think Progress: In recent days, state Democratic parties in Montana, Texas, and Pennsylvania have agreed to add marriage equality to their 2012 platforms. Even though same-sex marriage is currently outlawed in all three states, these state Democratic parties have decided that same-sex marriage fully deserves formal recognition on their upcoming agendas.

Michael McConnell at the Wall Street Journal (via Google): Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett got millions in support from unions, whose contributions were legitimized by the Supreme Court.

American Federation for Children: State senators, governor among victors nearly one year after expansion of vouchers in Milwaukee, Racine

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Republicans held on to three other state Senate seats in Tuesday’s recall voting. Democratic challengers lost recalls bids against Sens. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls.).

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: The race was a rematch of the 2010 race, when Walker beat Barrett by nearly 6 percentage points. Turnout Tuesday was higher than it had been 19 months earlier, and Walker was leading by 7 percentage points with 96% of the vote counted.

WISPolitics.com: With only about four hours into the Election Day voting, members of the Milwaukee Democratic Party claim that calls are going out to voters telling them if they’d signed the recall, they didn’t need to vote today.

Heritage Foundation: One year ago, the state of Wisconsin adopted sweeping reforms that curbed collective bargaining rights among government workers, brought the state’s pension system into line, and empowered those workers to choose whether or not to pay union dues. A firestorm of opposition erupted among public sector unions. But despite all the rhetoric, the reforms did not spell doomsday for government workers.