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WISCONSIN CRIME & JUSTICE
DEFENDING PEOPLE IN THE HEARTLAND OF AMERICA

When it comes to criminal justice, Wisconsin is reacting instead of acting, coming slowly to innovation, and turning a blind eye to racial equality when meting out punishment.

An interesting story appears in today's (11/30/14) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, about two men who killed others while driving recklessly and under the influence of intoxicants, and their respective unequal treatment serving prison sentences in Wisconsin.

Black Life is Cheaper. Or at least, sometimes in the criminal justice system it seems that way.

Whether police in Wisconsin can stop a vehicle for littering is unclear because of two opposing decisions from the Court of Appeals this month.

Police have long used confidential informants (CI's) to assist them in the so-called War on Drugs. CI's provide information that police use to arrest people and search their homes, cars, and possessions.

Federal Judge Scheindlin held earlier this week that the New York City Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy violated the constitutional rights of minorities in the City.

This is the question I've been finding myself asking young people more and more lately.

A defective taillight can be a basis for the police to stop a vehicle in Wisconsin, but the definition of what makes it defective changed today. The Wisconsin Statute requires that the tail lamp be in good working order when it’s dark outside. Until today, it was not clear what “good working order” meant.

Mastantuono & Coffee recently concluded federal civil rights litigation over the wrongful arrest, prosecution, and evidence destruction by the City of Waukesha Police resulting in a grave injustice to one of our clients.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a single decision in two cases yesterday – Riley v. California and US v. Wurie – holding that police generally cannot search a cell phone recovered from a person incident to his or her arrest without a search warrant