Elvira Benitez Suarez stepped out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office in downtown Milwaukee on Monday to cheers from a crowd of supporters — her first time leaving the building without handcuffs.

The 51-year-old Sheboygan Falls woman left U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last week on bond; her daughter picked her up outside the northern Kentucky detention facility where she had spent the previous two months. 

“I didn’t see daylight for 17 days, so I was very, very heartened and excited that I saw my family,” she said. 

The Monday morning check-in in Milwaukee was her first interaction with immigration authorities since returning to Wisconsin. She arrived with her family, attorney and two members of the Milwaukee Common Council in tow. 

Nearly a dozen other immigrants wove through the crowd to line up behind Benitez for their own check-ins; some picked up contact information from her attorney while they waited to enter the building. 

Benitez’s time in Kentucky was her second stint in ICE custody in the past year. Benitez, who emigrated from Mexico as a teenager and lived without legal status for over three decades, first landed in detention after a wrong turn on a family road trip took her across the Canadian border in July 2025. U.S. immigration authorities arrested her when she reentered the country. Benitez had no prior interactions with law enforcement or the federal immigration court system. 

In her absence, Benitez’s two adult daughters, both U.S.-born, took in their school-age siblings and helped manage their parents’ painting and cleaning business. 

A federal district court judge in Ohio ruled last fall that Benitez is eligible for a green card, citing — among other factors — the hardships her children experienced in her absence. After waiting a month for immigration authorities to complete her background check, Benitez returned to Wisconsin in December, only to be arrested again during a check-in at the Milwaukee DHS office in March while the agency appealed the judge’s ruling. 

“We checked in, everything went fine, and we were actually walking out the door when they stopped us,” recalled her attorney, Marc Christopher. 

After stops in Chicago and Indianapolis, Benitez landed in a cell at the Campbell County Detention Center, a northern Kentucky jail that contracts with ICE to hold immigrants facing deportation proceedings. Benitez recounted finding fellow Wisconsinites in her unit; nearly two dozen other immigrants detained in Wisconsin have passed through Campbell County within the last year.

But a recent decision by an Ohio-based federal appeals court opened a door for Benitez to again return to Wisconsin. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that a year-old Trump administration policy requiring detention for most immigrants in deportation proceedings amounts to a violation of due process rights, joining federal appellate courts in New York and Georgia. Appellate courts in Louisiana and Missouri have sided with the Trump administration, and the appellate court based in Chicago remains divided on the issue.

The 6th Circuit holds jurisdiction over Kentucky, and its ruling allowed Benitez to file a bond motion in immigration court — an option once available to most immigrant detainees that largely vanished after the Trump administration introduced its mandatory detention policy last year. An immigration court judge in Memphis granted her bond motion on May 21, setting her bond amount at the minimum allowed under court rules: $1,500.

As a condition of her bond, Benitez will continue checking in at the Milwaukee DHS office.

Benitez’s Monday morning check-in was brief and straightforward. Like other immigrants granted bond, she was directed by immigration officers to download a tracking app that will prompt her to take a photograph of her face once a week to compare against booking photos.

DHS is still appealing last year’s ruling that set Benitez on track to secure legal permanent residency. That appeal, currently in the hands of the federal Board of Immigration Appeals, is still pending. 

“I would never put anything past the Board of Immigration Appeals,” Christopher said during a press conference on Monday, alluding to the board’s recent tendency to side with the Trump administration on immigration court rule changes. Nevertheless, Christopher added that he believes Benitez’s case is strong enough to defy the odds.

Benitez herself is still recovering. “I can’t sleep,” she said, recounting the grim details of her latest stint in custody — fellow detainees whose pregnancies ended in miscarriages, late-night bus trips with erratic drivers and no seat belts, and harassment from nonimmigrant inmates with whom she shared a cell in Kentucky. Benitez noted that she is in contact with the families of several fellow detainees who remain in Kentucky.

Her eldest daughter, Crystal Aguilar, also needs time to bounce back. In her mother’s absence, “my life was on hold,” she said. A return to normality still seems far away, she added.

The post Freed on bond, Sheboygan Falls woman returns to Milwaukee immigration office amid legal limbo appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to hear from members of the public this week on a request to require judges to recuse themselves if past donations to or support of their judicial campaign could affect their impartiality in a case.

But it appears unlikely changes to the court’s recusal rules will happen right away. 

In letters to the court over the last month, some legal organizations and research groups have argued that the justices should reject the proposal, including the five retired circuit court judges from Dane, Milwaukee and Monroe counties who proposed the changes in the first place. 

Instead, the former judges, representatives of Law Forward, the Wisconsin Association for Justice and directors of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggest the Wisconsin Supreme Court should establish an advisory committee to study what process would work best in Wisconsin. 

The groups said the proposed rule changes before the court on Thursday stem from valid concerns about an impartial judiciary, but could have unintended consequences, such as chilling speech of attorneys who want to participate in elections. 

“Having solid judicial recusal standards is very important, and so it seems that the best way to move forward is to pull together a variety of different perspectives to come up with the best solution,” said Rachel Snyder, policy counsel for Law Forward. “More brain power and more thoughtful consideration … could produce a better workable recusal standard that meets the goals of ensuring confidence in the judiciary and ensuring that conflicts are addressed when they need to be, without going too far in the other direction, and chilling speech that we wouldn’t want chilled or opening the door to recusal being something that can then be weaponized.” 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to hold an open conference following the public comment period Thursday morning at the Capitol in Madison to decide next steps, a spokesperson said. The high court could vote on the proposal, decide to form an advisory committee or make other related decisions, the spokesperson said. 

Opting for further study would keep the current rules in place ahead of the next state Supreme Court election in 2027. Two candidates already launched campaigns for the April election after Justice Annette Ziegler in March said she would not seek another term on the bench. 

Snyder said it’s understandable some people want changes sooner rather than later, but expediency should not supersede reaching the best policy. In the meantime, judges can still voluntarily recuse themselves, she said. 

“If we’re going to do it, we should try to get it right to the best of our ability,” Snyder said. 

Former Dane County Judge Richard Niess, one of the retired judges who petitioned for the change, said the group had not considered a study committee as a possibility, but thought it was a “terrific” suggestion. To balance concerns about timing for a study, Niess said his colleagues asked the justices to put a deadline on when an advisory committee would share any recommendations. 

“We were delighted to receive the responses that we did, all of them, because it was precisely the type of discussion that we want to have, and we want to have it in public, so that whatever is decided upon by the Supreme Court, the public will know what the reasoning is,” Niess said. 

Current rules written by business lobby

The debate is part of a decades-long battle over what to do about increasing spending in Wisconsin’s nonpartisan, but increasingly political state Supreme Court races. 

“Broadly the question of recusal is important because it gets to the sort of core feature of our judiciary, which is the right to a fair and impartial tribunal,” said Derek Clinger, senior counsel and director of partnerships for the State Democracy Research Initiative, who has studied judicial recusals in and outside of Wisconsin. “That kind of independence and fairness is what gives the courts legitimacy, and so just the fact that the court is considering this shows that they’re taking this issue quite seriously.” 

It’s also significant that the court is debating recusal rules given the history of the issue in Wisconsin over the last 15 years, Clinger said. 

The rules were crafted after record spending in the 2007 and 2008 Wisconsin Supreme Court elections led to conservative control of the court. State Supreme Court election spending has exploded since then as liberals gained control. The 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race drew $144.5 million in spending, topping Wisconsin’s 2023 race as the most expensive high court election in U.S. history. 

The former conservative-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2010 adopted the existing rules drafted by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the Wisconsin Realtors Association. The rules state judges do not have to recuse from a case because a party or an attorney donated to their political campaigns. WMC did not respond to questions from Wisconsin Watch about whether the rules should change.  

The conservative-majority court in 2017 also rejected a petition from 54 retired judges who sought tighter recusal rules. 

Nearly a decade later, the five former circuit court judges submitted their petition in January and were granted a hearing in early April. In a memo tied to their petition, the former judges noted that since the 2010 rules were adopted, “the amount of money contributed to Supreme Court elections, and even to some of the state circuit court elections, has exploded.” 

“It is not a stretch to conclude some cause and effect relationship,” they wrote.

Niess said he recalled ongoing debates around recusals with Chief Justice Jill Karofsky and Justice Susan Crawford while they were all on the Dane County Circuit Court. 

“We were just kind of shaking our heads about how did we get to this point,” Niess recalled. “And since … these two individuals have joined as justices, it seemed the perfect time for us to just serve up a petition to get a discussion going.” 

At a WisPolitics event in October, Karofsky committed to holding a public hearing about establishing a recusal rule for the court. 

“We need to bring people into the Supreme Court hearing room and we need to hear about what kind of rule and what kind of parameters on a rule people think that we should have,” Karofsky said at the time.

The post Wisconsin Supreme Court revisits recusal rules amid debate over money and impartiality appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Starting Sunday, June 7, the Milwaukee County Transit System will launch its summer service changes. 

Changes include restoring mid-day service to some routes, route changes and modifications tied to street construction projects across Milwaukee County.

Here is what you need to know.

Mid-day service

Mid-day service is returning to the following routes on weekdays. 

Route 28: Buses will operate between approximately 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

Route 33: Buses will run between 5:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

Route 34: Buses will operate between 5 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. 

Route 55: Buses will run between 5:30 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. 

Buses will come around every 30-35 minutes throughout the day.

There are no changes to weekend schedules.

Updated schedules

MCTS is adjusting schedules for routes 19, 20, 21, 24, 31, 33, 35, 53, 54, 59, 60, 66, 68, 92 and the RedLine to improve the timeliness of buses for customers and bus operators. Find specific details on the updated schedule for each route by visiting RideMCTS.com/schedules.

Additional route adjustments

Southbound BlueLine buses will use a new route between North 64th Street and West Silver Spring Drive and North 60th Street and West Villard Avenue. 

Southbound buses will travel south on 64th Street to Custer Avenue, east on Custer Avenue to 60th Street and south on 60th Street to the regular route. 

This means the BlueLine stop at 64th and Villard will no longer be served in the southbound direction, and the BlueLine stop at 60th and Villard is moving across the street to the northwest corner of the intersection. There is no change for northbound BlueLine buses.

Additionally, on weekdays this summer Route 66 will now serve the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the upper East Side, maintaining access across the Locust Street Bridge throughout the year.

Routes with detours

Multiple routes will be on long-term detours starting or continuing through the summer. 

Route 18 is detouring eastbound only off West National Avenue using West Greenfield Avenue from Miller Park Way to South Layton Boulevard. All trip times have been shifted to accommodate the added detour time.   

Route 24, Route 80 and the GreenLine will continue their current detours.

Wisconsin I-94 East-West project 

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is partnering with MCTS to mitigate the impacts of road and bridge closures, detours and traffic congestion along bus routes. Throughout the duration of the I-94 East-West project, which will last eight years, MCTS will add one bus per weekday along the routes where riders will be most impacted. 

Below is a list of additional planned summer detours as construction work continues.

• CONNECT 1: Could experience congestion along West Wisconsin Avenue and West Bluemound Road during East-West I-94 construction. Time has been added to the schedule to accommodate the impact.  
• Route 30: Could experience congestion along West Wisconsin Avenue during East-West I-94 construction. Time has been added to the schedule to accommodate the impact. 
• Route 44U: Detour continues due to the closure of the eastbound 68th Street on-ramp to I-94. MCTS service to State Fair Park and Ride Lot will be maintained throughout. Trip times have been shifted to accommodate the added detour time.    
• Route 60: Will continue to detour off 60th Street between Main Street and West Bluemound Road, as part of the I-94 construction project. The detour will be in both directions and last until late 2028. All trip times will be shifted to accommodate the added detour time.    
• PurpleLine: Will continue to detour from 27th Street between West Clybourn Street and West National Avenue as part of the I-94 construction project. The detour will be in both directions and last until late 2027. All trip times will be shifted to accommodate the added detour time. 

For more information about summer service changes, you can visit RideMCTS.com.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

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It’s Monday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.

1. Free Food and Fellowship: Tuesday, June 2

Enjoy a free dinner and fellowship with the Konionia Family Development Center, 2944 N. 9th St., on Tuesday, June 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. More information here.

2. Love, Peace and Soul Band at Indaba Nights: Wednesday, June 3

Listen to local entertainers and watch world-class art organizations at Indaba Nights on Wednesday, June 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Indaba Band Shell on the grounds of St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care-Bucyrus Campus, 2450 W. North Ave. More information here.

3. Bike Ride Thru the Parks: Wednesday, June 3

Bike through the Estabrook Beer Garden, 4600 Eastabrook Parkway,  with the Milwaukee Parks Foundation and Wisconsin Bike Fed on Wednesday, June 3 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. More information here.

4. MPS Grow Your Own Information Session: Wednesday, June 3

Learn about Milwaukee Public Schools Grow Your Own program, which allows recent MPS graduates to work 15 to 30 hours a week as a paraprofessional while attending college for a bachelor’s degree at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3. This event is virtual. Register here.

5. Prevention in the Park: Thursday, June 4

Learn and practice injury prevention strategies, connect with local resources, explore services from women and children’s health teams and more with Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital at the North Point Water Tower, 2288 N. Lake Drive, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 4. More information here.

The post 5 things to know and do the week of June 1 appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin is challenging the state’s law governing voters’ ability to fix missing information on their absentee ballots, alleging that the law violates the Wisconsin Constitution by giving clerks a vast amount of discretion over whether to reject ballots.

The group is asking a Dane County judge to require all clerks to provide voters notice when an absentee ballot certificate is lacking necessary information — such as a signature or the address of a voter or the person who witnessed the ballot’s casting — and give them an opportunity to add that information before rejecting the ballot, a process known as “curing” the ballot.

Right now, the law tells clerks that they “may” return incomplete absentee ballots to voters. That results in some municipal clerks sending voters prompt notice about faulty ballots, while other clerks put those ballots in the rejected pile without informing the voter at all, the lawsuit states. Municipalities also treat absentee ballots differently depending on when they receive them, the lawsuit alleges, and those that arrive closer to Election Day often have a lesser chance of getting cured.

The lawsuit, which names the Wisconsin Elections Commission as the defendant, argues that, without a blanket curing requirement, “mail-in absentee ballots are jeopardized by the lack of mandatory notice and curing opportunities across the state.”

This case, which comes a few months ahead of Wisconsin’s 2026 primary election, is the latest in a long line of lawsuits over what to do when information is missing on absentee ballot certificates. In recent years, courts have allowed clerks to use their discretion to determine what constitutes a proper witness address but taken away their ability to fix missing information on the address form.

“Right now, we have ballots that come in weeks ahead of the election, and they’re being set aside for rejection with no attempt by the clerk to contact the voter,” Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, told Votebeat. 

“If even one clerk is not curing ballots, that’s one clerk too many in a democratic system where voting is an absolute right,” Cronmiller said, adding that the number of clerks who fail to follow the practice could reach into the hundreds.

While the lack of uniformity could create legal issues, clerks say a blanket curing requirement could be difficult to implement if courts maintain the state’s 8 p.m. Election Day deadline for receiving ballots as the deadline to cure those ballots, too. 

In 2024, Milwaukee received about 150 mail ballots just minutes before polls closed. At that late hour, it would have been virtually impossible for officials to notify those voters about any deficiencies with their ballots — much less give them a chance to cure them before the polls closed.

Size and resource disparities between Wisconsin’s many municipalities would also present challenges to a uniform curing system. 

A part-time clerk working from home in a small rural town operates with dramatically fewer resources than election officials in Milwaukee, where thousands of absentee ballots can arrive on Election Day. Resources in both settings would be stretched by a uniform curing requirement, depending on how courts ultimately require it to be implemented. If courts grant the league some version of the relief it is seeking, questions about how the process would work in practice could also be settled in court.

Marathon County Clerk Kim Trueblood, a Republican, said another complicating factor for clerks is that Wisconsin’s voter registration form doesn’t require registrants to provide their email addresses and phone numbers.

Trueblood said she already tells the 60 municipal clerks in the county to try to cure ballots, but that process is harder when voters don’t provide contact information or when ballots are returned on Election Day. Requiring voters to provide their contact information would make a curing requirement a lot easier to comply with, she said.

If such a requirement were imposed ahead of this year’s midterms, Trueblood said, bigger villages and cities would likely have the staff and resources to contact every voter, but for town clerks who work a different full-time job and spend just a few hours working as a clerk on weekends and evenings, “it could be a little more challenging.”

Curing lawsuits play out in Wisconsin and across the nation

Ballot curing practices vary widely across the country. Some states don’t allow curing at all. Others allow voters to cure absentee ballots well after Election Day if they’re missing a date, signature, address or something else. As arguments over voting practices increasingly head to court, lawsuits over ballot curing have played out across the nation. 

In Pennsylvania, for example, ballot curing is neither required nor prohibited under state law. Similar to Wisconsin, different counties have different curing practices — some allow voters to cure their ballots, while others don’t.

In North Carolina, a robust curing process was created as the result of a lawsuit that mirrors the one in Wisconsin. It was brought by the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, among other groups, and relied on a similar allegation: that the lack of a statewide-mandated procedure to cure absentee ballots amounted to a denial of voters’ right to due process under the U.S. Constitution. 

The lawsuit resulted in a settlement that created a curing requirement in every county. Now, voters have up to three days after Election Day to cure issues on their ballot.

The ballot rejection rate has dropped dramatically as a result of the case, said Joselle Torres, a spokesperson for Democracy North Carolina, a voting rights group that joined the state’s league chapter in the case. But she added that state and local funding is crucial to educate poll workers, voters and other election officials about the changes — “and that’s no small fee.”

Marc Meredith, a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania who researched ballot curing in North Carolina in the wake of the settlement, said he had initially expected under 50% of voters to fix their ballot or vote a new one. But ultimately, about 82% of the 26,000 voters eligible to cure their ballots did so. Many opted to vote a new ballot in person rather than fix their old one, he said.

Curing has potential benefits but also challenges in Wisconsin

The drastic increase in the number of voters curing their ballots in North Carolina may not be replicated in Wisconsin, where many municipalities already have curing notifications and procedures in place.

Another difference is that North Carolina has 100 counties running elections, whereas Wisconsin has about 1,850 municipalities doing so. That could complicate implementation, Meredith said, because the same procedures would need to work in places ranging from Milwaukee to towns with 100 residents. 

“In the places that aren’t currently curing,” he added, “I would expect lots of voters would take opportunities to make corrections.”

That issue of municipalities not curing ballots is especially pronounced in rural Wisconsin, Cronmiller said. There, part-time clerks don’t always have the bandwidth to return ballots to voters ahead of Election Day, she said. If courts call for a more stringent curing requirement, Cronmiller added, “it would force all municipalities to give resources sufficient to their clerks so they could do this work.”

A requirement for clerks to tell voters can create practical issues in bigger cities, too, especially those that can receive thousands of ballots on Election Day.

To get every last ballot cured, Wisconsin would likely have to implement a cure deadline after Election Day, Meredith said. 

“You don’t want to let the perfect be the enemy of the good, is my opinion on these things,” Meredith said. “There are going to be some things that will slip through the cracks, but … don’t let the fact that a few might slip through the cracks prevent you from putting that system in that way that would help the rest.”

At the highest level, the League of Women Voters is seeking a declaration that Wisconsin’s discretionary ballot-curing law violates the state constitution, said Nina Beck, a counsel at the Fair Elections Center, which represents the league in Wisconsin and also represented the North Carolina league chapter in its lawsuit to create ballot-curing there. 

What’s required under the due process clause of the Wisconsin Constitution, Beck said, is adequate notice and the ability to cure a defect if clerks are otherwise denying people their fundamental right to vote. Instead, right now, clerks are dealing with curing in many ways and may even be treating voters within the same municipality differently, she said. “That’s fundamentally unfair.”

If the court sides with the league, the group will ask the court to set a uniform procedure for all clerks to follow, Beck said, adding that the current system is “kind of a free-for-all.” 

Alexander Shur is a reporter for Votebeat based in Wisconsin. Contact Shur at ashur@votebeat.org.

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Wisconsin’s free newsletter here.

The post Lawsuit seeks to require Wisconsin clerks to let voters fix problems with their absentee ballots appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

NNS Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday from the NNS team.

Last week was busy in Milwaukee! From Meredith’s persistent reporting on the continued dysfunction of the Social Development Commission to Princess’ nuanced story on how policy barriers hinder tenants’ efforts to address substandard living conditions, our journalists continue to give you the newsroom you deserve.

And although we tackled some hard issues, we still made time for joy. Check out Chesnie’s article about two teen friends who started their own affordable pet care business. If that doesn’t make you smile, find me and I will give you a hug.

Proceed until apprehended this week.

Ronshine
Executive Director

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The post NNS Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 21 appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

On Thursday the Board of School Directors for Milwaukee Public Schools voted to approve a $1.59 billion budget for 2027.  

The budget passed with a vote of 8-1, with only Board Director Mimi Reza voting against. 

Met with controversy since being proposed in early May, the budget included the elimination of 260 positions, including 70 central office employees and 60 assistant principals. Cuts to equity and other programs were also approved. 

Also part of the new budget is a plan to add an additional 138 paraprofessionals and 150 teachers to classrooms as part of the district’s plan to reduce class sizes and provide more classroom support. 

MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius defended the changes as needed to balance a $46 million budget deficit next year and increase student achievement in a long underperforming district. 

“While difficult decisions that impact members of the MPS team throughout the district had to be made, this budget places our resources where they will have the deepest impact on our students,” Cassellius said in the Thursday night board meeting.

District makes changes after community feedback

After several requests to keep the Community Schools program during budget hearings throughout the month, the district will use an extra $3 million from the Milwaukee Recreation budget to support community schools.

Community Schools bring together other essential resources to support students and families in and out of the classroom. Community Schools used to receive support in partnership with United Way before that funding ended. 

The 2027 budget eliminates all three Community Schools coordinators, but the extra Milwaukee Recreation funds will support 11 additional positions including a manager, coordinator, planning assistant and eight supervising associates. 

Teachers at Transition High School, Project STAY High School and James E. Groppi High School, which each serve students at risk of not graduating, raised concerns about staff cuts at the alternative schools.

Cassellius said she spoke with leadership at each school and reduced the number of eliminated positions.

Concerns about budget decisions remain

Educators, residents and advocates continued to express concerns about the approved budget, including hefty cuts to Restorative Justice and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) staff and reductions in Black and Latino Male Achievement coordinators. 

Reagan High School junior and Black and Latino Male Achievement Chapter President De’Myen Dixon said students will have to take on more responsibility to keep monthly meetings running after losing a coordinator.

The district approved a 2.63% raise for Milwaukee Teacher Education Association-represented staff, with about half to start on July 1 and the remaining implemented on Jan. 1, 2027. 

Union representatives have demanded a full 2.63% raise by July 1 for several months.

The budget will cut 15 staff in the Department of Multilingual and Multicultural Education, including three literacy specialists, one Native American program coordinator, five teachers and four teacher leaders.

Luz Hernandez, an MPS elementary bilingual teacher, told the school board on May 26 that the cuts have taken place quietly without community or staff input.

Jennifer Santiago, art teacher at Academia De Lenguaje y Bellas Artes, told the board during that meeting that the cuts weaken the district’s ability to provide a quality education and services for bilingual and English-learning students. 

“Enrollment of English learners and multilingual students continues to increase,” Santiago said. “This is precisely the time the district should be investing in (Department of Multilingual Multicultural Education) infrastructure in its budget, not dismantling it.”

Report finds that new budget won’t solve district’s financial troubles

A new brief by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonpartisan policy research organization, found that while the new budget does balance the books in the short-term, the district’s long-term financial outlook is murky. 

“The district’s five-year forecast projects a structural deficit for its main fund emerging as soon as 2028,” read a Wisconsin Policy Forum press release. 

The deficit coincides with the final year the district will see increased revenue as part of the phased implementation of the $252 million MPS referendum  passed in 2024. 

According to the report, spending is projected to outpace revenue by $63.7 million by 2029.

Among the short- and long-term financial pressures for MPS are lost revenue from departing charter and alternative schools, paying new hires, declining student enrollment and aging buildings. 

“Families, teachers, residents and investors need to have confidence in the district’s ability to meet these coming challenges, or MPS will find it harder to maintain and attract the necessary enrollment, staff and capital financing to accomplish its crucial mission,” stated a brief from the report. 

Still, the report did identify a number of positives in the 2027 budget, including the leveraging of available funding to avoid cuts and make investments, the district’s vacancy adjustments, a steady rate of debt repayment and its progress in addressing operational issues. 

“Students deserve a budget that puts them at the center. And teachers deserve classes that allow them to give students personalized attention,” Cassellius said. “This budget invests in our valued employees, tackles our deficit head on and takes important steps toward financial stability with an eye toward the difficult economic realities ahead.” 

The approved budget and changes will go into effect next school year. 

Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

The post MPS budget approved as new report cites concerns over financial future of district appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Editor’s note: The story has been updated to clarify that a statement was issued by Cristy Garcia-Thomas, interim president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

On Thursday, May 28, Commissioner Walter Lanier filed a request for guidance from Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke regarding questions over the Social Development Commission’s governance compliance. 

Concerns cited in Lanier’s request were: failure to hold officer elections; failure to conduct elections for low-income/community representative seats; failure to maintain a full complement of duly elected officers; and repeated failures to timely prepare, circulate, approve and preserve meeting minutes.

Commissioners Jackie Q. Carter, Richard Diaz and Pam Fendt, along with Dessie Levy, joined in the request, according to Lanier’s letter.

“This request is intended to help restore lawful governance, regular elections, proper public process, and public confidence in an institution that remains important to Milwaukee residents and to the broader anti-poverty infrastructure of the community,” wrote Lanier in the letter to Goyke. 

Jorge Franco, interim CEO and board chair of SDC, wrote in a response to the email thread that he was disappointed to see Lanier’s communication without vetting from the full board. 

“All of the SDC commissioners support good corporate governance practices,” he said. “But our immediate duty is to confront financial reality and determine the best legally viable path forward, which may be reorganization or some type of liquidation.” 

He has previously said that SDC remains fully in compliance with its bylaws and other regulations as it works with limited staff and resources to address the agency’s crisis. Franco said SDC will prioritize items like processing its recorded meeting minutes and holding elections once the agency is appropriately funded and has the staff to do so.

Dealing with debt

Lanier’s request comes after the same group of commissioners called an emergency meeting on May 19 that didn’t meet quorum but stirred up discussion over governance issues and the attendance of one commissioner. Two days later, the full Social Development Commission’s board met and spent most of the meeting on May 21 in closed session. 

“Formulating a go-forward strategy in view of its insolvency, that’s really what we’re focused on,” said Franco after the board meeting held at Milwaukee Public Schools Central Services, 5225 W. Vliet St., on May 21. 

For decades, the anti-poverty agency provided services that included tax assistance, weatherization, child care and job training before closing two years ago. Since then, the board has continued to meet to address SDC’s loss of funding, lawsuits and debts.

In March, Franco said SDC had $2.4 million in outstanding debt with adjustments pending and was considering talking with creditors, restructuring or filing for bankruptcy to address its challenges.

“I remain committed to SDC paying every dollar it owes to whomever it owes, and to collecting every dollar owed to SDC,” he said.

Levy attended, not counted in roll call

Levy, who was appointed to serve on the SDC board by the Greater Milwaukee Committee last year, attended both meetings but was not counted in the roll call on May 21. 

Franco notified her earlier last week that she was removed from the board for exceeding the board’s policy for unexcused absences. 

Levy and some commissioners disagree with her removal and the circumstances surrounding it, while Franco said he is following a legal interpretation of the agency’s bylaws. 

He said he had no problem with Levy staying for the board’s closed session. 

“I’m just going to continue to serve as the (Greater Milwaukee Committee) wants me to serve,” Levy said. 

Franco said the bylaws and legal interpretation were shared with the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and SDC asked for a new commissioner to be appointed with expertise in reimbursement grant funding.  

“They know SDC’s position on that appointment,” Franco said.

Heather Pechacek, communications and membership director for the Greater Milwaukee Committee, sent a statement from Cristy Garcia-Thomas, interim president, saying the committee is reviewing the SDC bylaws to better understand how the decision was made. 

“Until we have a clear understanding of the circumstances, we support Dr. Levy and believe she should remain a commissioner on the board,” said Garcia-Thomas. “At this time, we have no interest in appointing another commissioner.”

The Greater Milwaukee Committee is a private sector civic organization that focuses on finances, education, public safety, and infrastructure.

Lawsuits progressing

Franco said he gave the board an update on a lawsuit from TriShulla LLC and is now waiting to hear back from the information technology firm. A hearing for partial summary judgment is scheduled to take place on June 1. 

The firm claims SDC owes about $472,000 in outstanding payments for software platform creation and other services it was contracted to provide.

Franco said he has not been briefed on a separate lawsuit filed against SDC by the former owner of its West Allis office, 20 Volga 9004 Lincoln LLC. 

The company claims SDC owes months of unpaid rent and previously filed a lawsuit that was dismissed. Now, 20 Volga 9004 Lincoln has requested the judge make a default judgment because SDC has not responded to the summons and complaint.

SDC’s next board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 18.

Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

The post Debt, questions about board seat and governance compliance among latest concerns for Social Development Commission appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.

1. ESL Movie Club: Friday, May 29

Watch a movie and practice your English at the Milwaukee Public Library’s ESL Movie Club on Friday, May 29 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. This event is virtual on Zoom. Register here. More info here.

2. Family Day of Play: Saturday, May 30

Race through an inflatable obstacle course, play carnival games and more at Milwaukee Recreation’s Family Day of Play on Saturday, May 30 at Wick Playfield, 5225 W. Vliet St., from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for youths and $10 for adults who are Milwaukee residents. Register here. More information here.

3. Milwaukee Mental Health Resource Day: Saturday, May 30

Learn about local mental health organizations and resources at the Milwaukee Public Library Center Street Branch, 2727 W. Fond Du Lac Ave., on Saturday, May 30 from 1 to 4 p.m. More information here.

4. River Trail Commons Information Session and Potluck: Saturday, May 30

Learn about the River Trail Commons cohousing community to be built at East Locust Street and North Humboldt Boulevard at an info session and potluck at Gordon Park Pavilion, 2750 Humboldt Blvd., on Saturday, May 30 from 1 to 4 p.m. Bring a dish to share. More information here.

5. MPS Bilingual Enrollment Fair: Saturday, May 30

Explore bilingual school options for students in K3 to 12th grade next school year from 9 a.m. to noon at H.W. Longfellow School gymnasium, 1021 S. 21st St., on Saturday, May 30. More information here.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

The post 5 things to know and do the weekend of May 29 appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

If you or anyone you know didn’t meet the tax day deadline, there may still be time to get help filing your taxes. 

La Casa de Esperanza’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, team is still helping people in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties file their taxes for free. 

Appointments will be available 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays between June 2 and Sept. 25 at the group’s Milwaukee office, 1915 N. Martin Luther King Drive, and from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays between June 2 and Sept. 25 in Waukesha, at 134 Wisconsin Ave. 

Appointments typically last 1–2 hours and are completed and e-filed the same day, if all the required documents are submitted.

The group will help file taxes as far back as 2022. 

For more information or to schedule an appointment in Waukesha, you can call (262) 832-1534. You can reach the Milwaukee office at (262) 722-0631 or look at the website to book an appointment online. 

The post Still haven’t filed? Here is where you can go if you need help with extended tax returns appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

De’Myen Dixon used to struggle to talk to people outside his family. 

Currently a junior at Reagan High School, Dixon is the president of his school’s Black and Latino Male Achievement chapter, or BLMA. BLMA is an MPS program that supports Black and Latino boys. 

He said the program has helped him get out of his shell. 

“When I got to BLMA, they helped me feel the brotherhood that we have, the safe space and the confidentiality that I could tell them something and that my business wouldn’t be everywhere,” Dixon said.

Black and Latino Male Achievement is one of several programs the district is restructuring into an equity department. Multiple positions are being eliminated as part of that restructure.  

MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius is proposing grouping several departments – including Black and Latino Male Achievement, Gender and Identity Inclusion, Restorative Practices and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) – under one centralized equity department. 

Thirty-four positions were grouped into the new department and only eight positions will remain, for a total of $3.3 million in cuts, including two Black and Latino Male Achievement coordinators, one Gender, Identity and Inclusion coordinator and all eight Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports coaches.

More responsibility for schools

Dixon said among those losing their positions is the Black and Latino Male Achievement coordinator who attended each of Reagan High School’s monthly meetings.

Dixon said he’s sad to see their coordinator go because he has impacted the lives of young men in the program and taught them helpful life lessons. 

“A big thing especially for a lot of teenagers is learning the value of self-control,” Dixon said. “He also helps get us connected to other people or organizations based on what our passions are.”

Once the coordinators are gone, Dixon said, students will need to take on more leadership roles to keep monthly meetings running. 

Gabriel Velez, a Marquette University professor and faculty director of the Black and Latino Ecosystem and Support Transition (BLEST) Hub, worries that the proposed cuts will stop the momentum built by equity programs like Black and Latino Male Achievement over the years.

He said it isn’t sustainable for schools to take on the load of the program. 

“The work they’re doing just can’t be done with fewer resources,” Velez said. “Then it becomes work that the schools, if they’re excited about, have to take on, and they don’t have the capacity.”

A critical resource for students

David Castillo, a founding member of the Black and Latino Male Achievement program in Milwaukee, worked for the department until 2021. He designed the curriculum for the program’s Manhood Development Academy class to address the problems and needs of Black and Latino boys in Milwaukee. 

His goal was to create spaces that guaranteed success and change their trajectory in Milwaukee.

The class explores the challenges of participants through literature, history, culture and community. Castillo said they centered the opinions of Black and Latino boys when developing the curriculum.

In the first year of the program, a district evaluation summary found that students enrolled in the Manhood Development Academy course had lower average suspension rates, higher average attendance rates and higher grade point averages compared with students outside the program. 

Castillo worries that the district may not realize it’s cutting a critical resource for students. 

“Students see themselves in (the program),” Castillo said.

Equity department will support more schools, superintendent says

In a school board meeting May 7, Cassellius said she hopes the new equity department will make it easier to send support into all classrooms, since programs like Black and Latino Male Achievement currently only work in select schools. 

“We want to be more intentional with these behavior intervention teams around their academics, around the climate and culture of the school and identity supports and belonging,” Cassellius said. 

Lukas Wierer, a teacher at Riverside University High School, told the school board in May that he understands why the district is trying to expand its reach, but he worries about the capacity of the departments and individual schools.

“When we hollow out support for our Black and Latino young men and our LGBTQ youth, we aren’t just cutting positions,” Wierer said. “We’re cutting the lifelines that tell these students they have a place in our district.”

Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

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Are you a Milwaukee graduate everyone needs to know? 

Whether you’re walking the stage as a high school or college graduate, NNS wants to hear from you. We want to know about the amazing things that you’re proud of from your time in school, what your big plans for the future are and what advice you have for others.

Doing so is easy. 

Just fill out this short form by 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2. 

Select profiles will be published in a story highlighting local graduates we all should know. Here’s a story about graduates from last year. 

Any questions? Email me. Hope to hear from you soon and congratulations!

The post Class of 2026 and doing big things? We want to hear from you  appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

As Wisconsin’s prison population nears a record high, the state’s already-full prisons are getting even more crowded — especially for women. The state’s three women’s prisons collectively house 18 women for every 10 they were designed for, making them the most crowded of all state facilities.

One reason: While growth in the women’s prison population has far outpaced growth in the men’s system, Wisconsin prison officials shrank the facilities that housed them — to make more space for men.

Now, to make room for women, prison officials have set up beds in gyms and offices.

“They just cram us in wherever they can, it’s sad,” wrote Sarah Buckingham, who is currently incarcerated at Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional Center, a minimum-security facility in Racine County that now houses more than twice as many people as it was designed for.

Across the system, the rising number of prisoners and a shortage of staff have strained resources. Prisoners often wait months or years for limited spots in treatment, education and work programs, the very programs designed to prepare them for release. That, advocates say, could mean people wait longer to get out, or even end up returning to prison — making facilities even more crowded.

A new data tool from Wisconsin Watch allows anyone to track the population of the system and of each facility for free. The dashboard, which shows weekly population and capacity counts going back to 2006, updates automatically when prison officials post the latest figures. 

The data makes it clear: Overcrowding is not new. Wisconsin’s prisons have held thousands more people than intended for at least the last 20 years. The population dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic but is now heading toward an all-time high. More than 23,600 people are in state custody, according to the latest figures available from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. That’s about 200 shy of the record 23,826 set in 2019.

The dashboard can’t show how the trends could soon change. In April, Gov. Tony Evers announced the state would soon commute prison sentences for the first time in 25 years, though it’s not yet clear how many people may be eligible or how long the process will take.

Women’s prisons are the most crowded

Female prisoners bear the brunt of the state’s overcrowding predicament. While the state’s male facilities are about 30% over capacity in total, its female facilities are 78% over capacity. That’s according to the department’s latest data, which shows population and capacity as of May 22. 

Taycheedah Correctional Institution, the state’s only maximum-security women’s prison, is designed to house 653. On May 22, it housed 1,039. 

Prison officials have raised alarms about conditions at Taycheedah for at least a decade. 

“The increased population at TCI has detrimental effects on the prison,” they wrote in a 2016 budget request, when the population was 873. Crowded conditions could cause security problems, they wrote, as each correctional officer must supervise more prisoners. They also noted the steep competition for access to programs for treatment or training. 

“There is also decreased programming availability to inmates, and programming has been shown to help reduce recidivism,” the authors wrote.

Since then, the facility has added nearly 170 women. 

“(Taycheedah) has already undergone conversions to turn spaces into living areas that were not originally meant to be used as living areas due to a problem with overcrowding,” said Daniel Cromwell, an administrator for the state’s corrections department, in an April court filing.

Wisconsin Watch heard from six currently incarcerated women who watched the women’s prison population balloon. They described sharing already overcrowded bathrooms with more women and competing for treatment and employment resources. 

Department of Corrections spokesperson Beth Hardtke confirmed that beds have previously been set up in the gym at Taycheedah but said no one is living in the gym now. Taycheedah staff are currently converting a “former property room” into a dormitory to house 20 women, Hardtke said.

The issue isn’t isolated to Taycheedah. The Milwaukee Women’s Center is at 255% capacity. Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional is now at 219% of its capacity.

Fifteen years ago, the state’s women’s prisons had nearly enough space, not just because there were fewer prisoners, but because there was a fourth women’s minimum-security prison. John C. Burke Correctional Center in Waupun, designed for 186 prisoners, housed women from 2000 to 2011, when it was converted into a men’s minimum-security prison. 

The move dropped the capacity of the women’s system — just as the number of female prisoners spiked. In the 15 years since, the women’s prison population has grown nearly 29%, more than four times as fast as the men’s population.  

Now, state officials are making plans to turn Burke back into a women’s prison, part of a $500 million prison reorganization Gov. Tony Evers proposed last year.

Overcrowding limits education, training 

Overcrowding doesn’t just mean getting an extra roommate or waiting longer for a shower. It also means prisons need extra staff — staff they often struggle to find. In 2023, prison officials locked down Waupun — canceling programs and confining prisoners to their cells for the better part of several months — because they didn’t have enough officers to conduct normal operations, Wisconsin Watch reporting revealed.

While the staffing shortage has eased since, the system is still short about 620 full-time correctional officers and sergeants, the latest DOC figures show. 

Those shortages can mean prison programs get cut or canceled, said Shannon Ross, founder and executive director of the Milwaukee-based nonprofit The Community, which helps incarcerated people pursue education and develop as leaders.

“If you have too many people to watch per staff member, now, ‘Oh, we can’t have classes tonight because we need to have more people over here watching more people that are incarcerated,’” Ross said. 

Ross, who earned a bachelor’s degree while serving a 17-year sentence in Wisconsin prisons, said when prisons are packed and money is tight, prison officials scale back vocational training and higher education to focus on the basics: food, housing, security, court-ordered programming and services prisons are legally required to provide.

“Anything beyond that is going to become superfluous,” he said. That’s a problem, he said, because more than 90% of Wisconsin’s prisoners will one day be released. “Who do we want them to be?”

How we got here

Wisconsin isn’t the only state struggling to find room for all its prisoners. Across the country, prison populations spiked in the 1980s and 1990s as states adopted harsher punishments and “truth-in-sentencing” legislation. The latter requires most prisoners to spend their full sentence behind bars, without the possibility of parole. 

Suddenly the flow of people out of prison slowed, while as many as ever flowed in. Lots also flowed back, returning to prison for allegedly violating the terms of their release.

In Wisconsin, the prison population peaked in August 2019 at 23,826, then dropped sharply beginning in March 2020 as courts shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In just over a year, the number of people in prison fell by nearly 20% to 19,381, the lowest figure in the last two decades. 

As the state’s courts reopened, they began working through a backlog of cases — and sending more people to prison. In a 2023 report, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau said that if the prison population continued growing as fast as it was, it would set a record of 24,800 by July 2025. 

The authors predicted that wouldn’t happen, and they were right. 

“While recent growth patterns have been sizable, it is likely that the updated growth rate is too high to continue for the duration of the 2023-25 biennium, and that the recent rapid growth is likely temporary,” the authors wrote, noting that “at some point, the courts will catch up and prison populations will level out and grow at a slower rate.”

Still, the numbers have kept rising, and the growth has gotten faster, not slower. In the last year, that growth has been fueled entirely by a surge in women prisoners: While the male population fell slightly between May 2025 and May 2026, the female population rose by more than 4%.

What’s the solution?

Policymakers and prisoner advocates disagree about the answer to Wisconsin’s crowded prisons. 

In the major revamp he proposed last year, Gov. Evers called for, among other things:

• Closing the nearly 130-year-old Green Bay Correctional Institution.
• Transforming Waupun Correctional Institution into a “vocational village.” 
• Converting the troubled Lincoln Hills School from a juvenile prison to an adult prison.
• Converting Burke into a women’s prison.
• Expanding a program that allows some people incarcerated for nonviolent crimes to qualify for early release by completing treatment for substance use. 

Together the changes would reduce the state’s prison capacity by 700. The plan drew criticism from Republican lawmakers, who pointed to the state’s crowded prisons as a sign that the state needs more space in its prisons, not less.

State Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said the answer is “right-sizing” the number of prisoners by “adding additional beds, reducing overcrowding and making facilities safer for not only our inmates, but for our staff,” Wisconsin Public Radio reported. 

In October, the State of Wisconsin Building Commission released $15 million to plan for Evers’ proposed changes. 

Ross of The Community calls that proposal a “marginal improvement.”

“It’s not getting us the level of change that everybody would need to see and want to see … You’ve got to get past marginal improvements at some point to really have something different,” Ross said. “Otherwise, it’s just a different version of the exact same problem every year we’re facing.”

One way to do that, he said, is to repeal truth-in-sentencing laws to reduce the number of people behind bars.

“Stop having a system in which people cannot get back out if they’re ready,” Ross said.

That, like other major prison changes, would require legislative action. But lawmakers in the Republican majority have stymied reform for years, Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said. 

“Gov. Evers has repeatedly worked to comprehensively reform our state’s justice system and corrections statutes to save taxpayers and reduce overcrowding, invest in evidence-based alternatives to incarceration, and improve public safety in our communities while reducing the likelihood that someone may reoffend once they have completed their sentence,” Cudaback said in an email. 

But Evers can’t make those changes unilaterally, Cudaback said, and lawmakers in the Republican majority have “refused nearly every effort to address these challenges over the last nearly eight years.”

In April, with nine months left in office, Evers announced he would use one of the few tools available for single-handedly easing overcrowding: commutations. It’s the first time in 25 years that incarcerated people in Wisconsin can request to have their sentence shortened. 

Advocates across the state are still trying to determine how many of Wisconsin’s nearly 24,000 prisoners may be eligible, and they’re working to help as many eligible people as possible apply. 

The first meeting of the Commutation Advisory Board will take place in June, and the first commutations will be issued some time after that. With Gov. Evers leaving office in January, it will be up to the next governor to decide whether the process continues.

Wisconsin Watch reporter Addie Costello contributed to this report.

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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct that the New Lisbon Correctional Institution is in Juneau County.

Marshall Jones is a good test case for your opinion about the state’s revived commutation process. 

In April, Gov. Tony Evers announced he was restarting the commutation process – a form of clemency that allows governors to change prison sentences for incarcerated people. 

In a statement, Evers said he was trying to move Wisconsin’s “justice system into the 21st Century by reforming our criminal justice and corrections systems to improve public safety, reduce the likelihood that individuals will reoffend when they enter our communities and save taxpayer dollars in the long run.”

Some supporters of Evers’ decision say people can change after decades in prison and that remaining there no longer serves any beneficial purpose. 

However, critics question whether people convicted of serious violent crimes should ever be released early.

Jones sits at the center of these views.

He was sentenced in 2004 to two consecutive terms of life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide. 

He said he fully acknowledges his crimes, which occurred during an armed tavern robbery in Racine, and continues to have remorse over them. 

“No amount of right I have done would ever erase the wrong I have done to my victims and their families, and I understand that perfectly,” Jones said. “I also know that I am a transformed man, and I am rehabilitated.”

Applying for commutation

Jones said he decided to apply for a commutation the moment his wife, Jessica Jones, told him about Evers’ announcement.

There are two commutation tracks: a general commutation process for people convicted as adults and a separate process for some sentenced as juveniles.

Jones, who was 22 when he was sentenced to life and is now 44, qualifies for the first track. 

Applicants qualify for this track if they are: incarcerated on a Wisconsin conviction; have more than one year left on their sentence; have served at least half their incarceration term or at least 20 years of a life sentence. 

They also cannot be serving sentences for sex offenses; have unresolved criminal charges or warrants; or have committed violent misconduct in prison within the past five years.

Individuals who apply must provide information about the crimes for which they are seeking commutation; prior interactions with law enforcement; prison disciplinary history; rehabilitation efforts; and reentry plans. 

Applications also require certified court records as well as letters of support. 

“Emotionally, a person has to remain calm,” Jones said. “There is a sense of urgency that will be overwhelming at times.”

He said coming up with a clear plan has been vital to overcoming his panic.

 “One box at a time. One task at a time,” he said.

For and against

Nationally, many politicians associated with “tough-on-crime” policies have opposed sentence reductions for people convicted of violent crimes, arguing rehabilitation cannot outweigh the harm caused.

In Wisconsin, it has become a hotbed issue in the race for governor. 

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s gubernatorial campaign told NNS that he would rescind the executive orders that allow murderers, including those serving life sentences, to be released back into the community after 20 years. 

“He is making a commitment as governor that he will not release violent criminals early and will ensure victims and their families receive the full measure of justice,” said the Tiffany campaign.

Diego Rodriguez, coalition coordinator for Justice Forward Wisconsin, an advocacy coalition focused on criminal justice reform, said he understands the concerns people have but believes they are based on misunderstandings of the process. 

Commutation is far from automatic, he said. The approval process includes multiple reviews, eligibility restrictions and detailed reentry planning requirements. 

“These are pretty thorough applications,” Rodriguez said. “If somebody still poses a threat to the community, they’re not going to let them out.”

Shannon Ross, a criminal justice advocate who works with Justice Forward to support the commutation application process, said people in prison who have genuinely transformed often have clear ways of showing that to be the case.

“If you’ve been doing the work, if you’ve been spending your time constructively, this is your moment,” Ross said.

Impact of victims

The impact of a commutation on victims and survivors will be part of how applications are evaluated, according to Executive Order #287.  Also evaluated will be the potential impact on public safety, applicants’ prison conduct and their personal growth and development since conviction. 

“What commutations allow is for the governor to come in and to step in and to identify people who have made changes,” Rodriguez said.

If someone is truly remorseful, has accepted responsibility and demonstrated long-term change, prison no longer serves any meaningful rehabilitative purpose, he said.

Rodriguez also said that commutations could improve public safety by helping reduce overcrowding inside Wisconsin prisons.

Wisconsin prisons have long faced overcrowding and staffing shortages.

“Far more people are incarcerated than we even have space for,” Rodriguez said. 

Under these conditions, Rodriguez said, prisons become less safe and less effective at rehabilitation.

“It makes our community less safe when we have overcrowded prisons because they’re not getting the same quality of treatment,” Rodriguez said.

Accountability

During a commutation application webinar organized by Justice Forward Wisconsin, former Wisconsin Parole Commission Chair John Tate II said accountability is central to the process.

“The thing that I would emphasize the most when we’re talking about a discretionary mechanism within the criminal legal system is accountability, accountability, accountability,” Tate said. 

“Any minimization of what their role in that (crime) was is often seen as a lack of accountability,” he added.

Jones said his accountability starts with fully acknowledging the harm he caused and what kind of person he once was.

“I was a horrible person, and I took lives without mercy,” Jones said.

But Jones said decades in prison changed him.

His wife, Jessica, who met him while working at the New Lisbon Correctional Institution in Juneau County, said her views on rehabilitation have changed by getting to know people who are incarcerated. 

“Most of the general public believes that all people in prison are horrible people, incorrigible and worthless,” she said. “I used to be one of those people. I believed everyone in prison could be nothing more than their worst day. Then, I worked in the prison and learned how wrong I was.”  

She said she met many men in prison who shouldn’t be there anymore. She believes her husband is one of them. 

“He does more good than many free people I know,” she said. “He does not let his sentence or crime define him even though it’s a daily reality.”

Open questions

Major questions about the process still remain, including how quickly applications will be processed and how many people could ultimately receive commutations. 

There is also uncertainty surrounding the future of the process itself. NNS reached out to the governor’s office to ask whether the commutation process could change under new leadership but did not receive a response. 

“This is a governor’s last term,” Rodriguez said. “When it comes to executive orders, those can be changed in an instant.”

The post Commutations are back in Wisconsin – as are strong feelings about them appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

As summer break approaches for most Milwaukee youths, they need things to do. There are a number of local programs and camps for them to participate in.

Here are some summer programs to consider. 

(Are we missing something? Feel free to email cwardell@milwaukeenns.org)

Milwaukee Recreation

Milwaukee Recreation is opening its child care camps, community learning centers and more beginning June 22 at over 90 locations in Milwaukee for K3 through 12th grade students. 

Participating students experience engaging indoor and outdoor activities, receive free meals and make new friends.

Click here to register and learn more about the sessions offered. 

Our Next Generation

Our Next Generation, 3421 W. Lisbon Ave., is offering a free summer camp from June 29 through Aug. 21 for first through 12th grade students. 

Full days at camp include academic support, fun indoor and outdoor activities and nutritional meals. 

To register, stop in person or contact Erica Tate at ETATE@ONGKIDS.org  Spots are limited. 

More information here.

Hip-Hop Hangouts

Your Move MKE is offering opportunities for individuals from 11 to 21 to participate in its Hip-Hop Hangouts, a summer program that provides mentorship, development and creative spaces to explore music and art.

The program begins June 22 and lasts through Aug. 14. Sessions are Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1674 S. 11th St. 

Students will go on a field trip each week, engage in workshops and be fed daily. Click here to register.

More information here. 

Summer Empowerment Experience

Ladies With A Purpose MKE is hosting a six-week program for girls ages 11 to 17 from June 22 through Aug. 1 on Mondays and Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m.

Girls will learn how to gain confidence, self-care, receive mentorship and more. Click here to register as spots are limited to 10 participants. 

Location will be shared upon acceptance. 

More information here.

Artificial Intelligence Boot Camp

The Greater Milwaukee Urban League, 435 W. North Ave., is offering a free four-week artificial intelligence camp for youths in eighth to 12th grade. 

Students will learn coding, automation and other skills. For those who have 90% attendance, a completion award will be sent electronically. 

Start dates vary by cohort and classes are held Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Click here to register. 

More information here.

Pro Style Basketball Summer League

Cream Skills invites youths 14 to 17 to its free 11-week co-ed summer basketball league that offers the opportunity to learn team work and other life skills.

The camp includes a player draft, basketball contests and weekly games at the COA Goldin Center, 2320 W. Burleigh St., or the Milwaukee Area Technical College Downtown Campus, 700 W. State St. 

The camp will conclude with a playoff tournament and championship game. 

After you register, you will be contacted and invited to tryouts on Wednesday, May 27 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Harold S. Vincent School of Agricultural Science, 7501 N. Granville Road. 

More information here.

The post Here are 6 free or affordable summer programs and camps for Milwaukee youths appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Los Angeles International Airport customs officers took Everlee Wihongi aside for questioning in April. Her family hasn’t seen her since.

Wihongi, a longtime resident of Hortonville, Wisconsin, was passing through Los Angeles during a return trip from her native New Zealand. The 37-year-old green card holder had made the same trip at least a half-dozen times, even after pleading no contest to a felony marijuana possession charge in Fond du Lac County in her mid-20s. 

But with the White House’s nationwide immigration enforcement crackdown in full swing, customs officers took a new approach to the felony on her record. After a few uneasy hours in a secluded screening room, Wihongi left the airport in shackles en route to an immigration detention center in a desert valley northeast of Los Angeles.

Wihongi is one of hundreds of legal permanent residents federal immigration authorities have detained since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, often while they passed through airports and other ports of entry. Most — like Wihongi — had prior criminal convictions.

Those convictions generally make immigrants “inadmissible,” meaning they cannot freely re-enter the U.S.

Customs officers have “a lot of discretion at the port of entry” when deciding whether to allow green card holders with convictions like Wihongi’s to re-enter the country, Madison-based immigration attorney Aissa Olivarez said. “They have given none lately.”

“Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right,” a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson wrote in an email to Wisconsin Watch. “Our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused,” the spokesperson added, and to detain legal permanent residents while they await a decision in their removal case. 

The sharp increase in arrests of green card holders doesn’t stem from a policy change, but immigration attorneys say cases like Wihongi’s are yet another sign that federal immigration authorities are reshuffling their priorities.

Old conviction is grounds for detention

Wihongi has held a green card since childhood, when her father’s career as a locomotive engineer brought the family to northeast Wisconsin. “As the years went by, it was just cheaper to renew (her) green card,” her mother, Betty Wihongi, recalled.

Her 2014 conviction was not grounds for deportation, said Marc Christopher, a Milwaukee immigration attorney representing Wihongi. “She can remain here and become a U.S. citizen,” he said, “but once she crosses the border, she’s governed by the rules of admissibility.”

But family vacations to New Zealand passed without incident over the decade following Wihongi’s conviction. “Normally, they will just look at, look at your passport, look at your green card, you know, ask you, where you’ve been?” her mother said. “And usually it’s like two, three minutes, not even that.” 

“I just don’t think they made an issue of it” in the past, Christopher added. “They weren’t going to detain her for two to three months,” he said, in part because detaining and prosecuting a green card holder is an expensive undertaking. As of May 2025, DHS reported that the average cost to arrest, detain and deport an immigrant was roughly $17,000, though costs vary widely from case to case.

DHS detention records point to a sudden shift in practice after the Trump administration resumed control of immigration enforcement operations last year. Immigration authorities detained an average of at least 100 legal permanent residents each month between January 2025 and February 2026 — five times the monthly average in the final two years of the Biden administration, the only portion of his term for which data is available. 

At least 75% of legal permanent residents detained during the latter half of the Biden administration had prior criminal convictions, compared with at least 66% of those detained since Trump returned to office. 

Only a tiny fraction of detainees’ records from either period list marijuana possession as their most serious criminal charge, though immigration enforcement officers arrested more legal permanent residents with prior marijuana possession convictions in the first year of the Trump administration than in the previous two years combined. 

Wihongi is the second Wisconsin green card holder in ICE custody to join Christopher’s caseload since January 2025. His previous client, also blocked from re-entering the country because of a prior marijuana possession conviction, spent five months in detention before Christopher secured his release. 

Olivarez, the Madison-based immigration attorney, offered another recent example from her own caseload: a legal permanent resident and longtime Milwaukeean detained while returning from his wife’s funeral in Egypt because of a prior felony. That client eventually accepted a deportation order to avoid a lengthy stint in custody.

A stricter standard

The growing cohort of green card holders in ICE custody is still vastly outnumbered by the tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants detained alongside them. 

Federal immigration authorities have arrested more than 400,000 people since January 2025, including roughly 1,700 in Wisconsin. 

Just over half of all immigrants arrested by ICE in Wisconsin during the second Trump administration had prior criminal convictions, as was the case in the latter years of the Biden administration. But the criminal histories of more recent arrestees suggest that the stricter standards that landed Wihongi in custody are reshaping other corners of the immigration enforcement apparatus.

ICE officers in Wisconsin arrested 82 immigrants with prior traffic offense convictions in the first full year after Trump returned to office, up from 19 in the last full year of the Biden administration.

In years past, Christopher said, federal immigration authorities were less inclined to begin removal proceedings solely based on traffic offenses like driving without a license, instead prioritizing immigrants convicted of more serious offenses. 

Immigrants who come into contact with Wisconsin courts after a traffic offense now face a far higher risk of landing in federal custody, Christopher added. 

He attributes the shift in part to dramatic additions to DHS’ budget in the past year and a half. Those funding boosts, including a $170 billion increase last year, lowered the financial barriers that previously made federal immigration prosecutors wary of spending resources on immigrants with lower-priority criminal histories, Christopher argued. 

The U.S. Senate is currently considering an additional $72 billion in new funding for DHS.

Transferred without warning 

Wihongi was the only legal permanent resident in the 46-person cell in Adelanto, California, where she spent her first month in detention, her mother told Wisconsin Watch.

Her visa doesn’t spare her from the unpredictability of the federal immigration detention system. When money disappeared without notice from her commissary account on a Friday in early May, Wihongi called her mother in a panic. “Inmates all know that if that happens to your commissary,” her mother explained, “that means they’re getting ready to transfer you.” 

She resurfaced that Sunday in a detention camp outside El Paso, Texas, reaching her family by phone that evening to recount two mostly sleepless days of travel, including hours spent in shackles. 

Wihongi has since transferred again to a federal contract facility in Eloy, Arizona. An internet outage Thursday pushed her first scheduled court appearance back a week. Meanwhile, Christopher has filed a motion in Fond du Lac County to vacate her 2014 conviction.

The post Decade-old marijuana conviction prompts ICE detention of Wisconsin green card holder after family trip appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Editor’s note: With temperatures climing up Tuesday, we thought we would republish this handy list on how to stay cool and be active in the water.

Summer is almost here. Soon, the hot weather will welcome swimmers to Lake Michigan, Milwaukee County pools and splash pads, and Milwaukee Recreation open swims. 

Whether you just want your child to learn the basics or you’re an experienced swimmer looking for advanced instruction, check out these swim classes.

Swim classes

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s recreation swim program offers 30-minute private swim lessons that are open to community members 4 years and older at the Klotsche Center Pool, 3409 N. Downer Ave. Apply here. More information here.

Cost

Members

Private lesson: $19

Private lesson with two swimmers of similar abilities and goals: $21

Non-members

Private lesson: $21

Private lesson with two swimmers of similar abilities and goals: $23

Milwaukee County Parks

Classes for beginners to advanced swimmers ages 5 to 16 are available through Milwaukee County Parks at different pools around the city running from June to August. Register here.

Cost

All participants: $40

Milwaukee Recreation

Milwaukee Recreation still has spots open in some swim classes ranging from beginner to advanced for youths between the ages 6 and 14 from June to August. Register here.

Cost

Milwaukee residents: $37

Non-residents: $56

Where to swim

Swimmers have a few options for pool access this summer. 

Milwaukee County Parks has two indoor pools in the city and several outdoor pools that open June 20. Milwaukee Recreation’s summer open swim and lap hours also start on June 20 at four Milwaukee Public Schools.

Indoor Pools

Noyes Pool 

Address: 8235 W. Good Hope Road 

Find swim and lap swim hours here. 

Pulaski Pool 

Address: 2701 S. 16th St. 

Find swim and lap swim hours here. 

Milwaukee Marshall High School

Address: 4141 N. 64th St.

Time: Saturdays from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m.

Register for open swim and lap swimming here. 

MacDowell School 

Address: 6415 W. Mt. Vernon St.

Time: Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Register for open swim and lap swimming here. 

South Division High School

Address: 1515 W. Lapham Blvd.

Time: Saturdays from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.

Register for open swim and lap swimming here. 

Riverside High School

Address: 1615 E. Locust St.

Time: Monday-Thursday from 10:15 to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.

Register for open swim here.

Outdoor pools open June 20

Find open swim and lap swimming hours here.

Pelican Cove 

Address: Kosciuszko Park, 2201 S. 7th St. 

Wilson Pool 

Address: 1601 W. Howard Ave.

Splash pads and wading pools

Milwaukee County Parks has eight splash pads and 24 wading pools for younger swimmers.

Check locations and whether attractions are open here.

Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

The post Here are places in Milwaukee where you can stay cool and be active in the water this summer appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

At a time when pet owners are seeking affordable and reliable services, Jomarion Swiams and Jaidyn Boyce fill in the gap. The teen friends founded their own dog waste removal and grooming businesses with a growing clientele across Milwaukee’s North and South Sides.  

Swiams, 16, from Capitol Heights, launched BarkClean Yard Services a month ago to focus on something positive after his brother was incarcerated. 

“My dad came up with the idea and we tried to come up with a business that no one else was doing so I wouldn’t have competition when starting it,” Swiams said.

Cleaning dog poop from his four dogs was initially his chore until other family members paid him $30 a month to clean their yards, too.

“It got to the point that this could be a serious business idea,” Swiams said.

After he discovered that other pet waste removal businesses were charging $90 and up for services, he set his weekly and biweekly rates from $20 to $35 and monthly rates from $48 to $105, depending on the number of dogs.

“I’m just happy to have a clientele because it’s all about the first visit, which takes about an hour or two,” Swiams said. “My first visit to your yard is only $25.”

Practice makes improvement

Boyce, 15, launched Ballin Bullies Grooming after taking his two dogs to PetSmart for grooming services. It became too expensive, so he bought a kit off Amazon to teach himself.

“Depending on what you add on at PetSmart, the cost adds up,” Boyce said. “When I started cutting them myself it was trash, but I got better over time.”

After noticing his improvement and investing in higher-quality items including a grooming table and curved scissors, Boyce was able to offer affordable services like bathing, nail trimming and color ranging from $10 to $70 in his home on the far Northwest Side. 

Boyce said he applied for other typical teens jobs like McDonalds, Culvers and Chick-fil-A but was denied.

“It must wasn’t meant for me to work for somebody so I had to find a way to work for myself,” he said.

Helping each other thrive

Boyce and Swiams met through social media after finding out they were doing similar business in the same city. 

They promoted each other’s work, shared resources, gave each other advice and developed goals to accomplish together. 

“I remember Jomarion needed hoodies and hats made with his brand on it, so I sent him the contact information of the guy who did mine for my business,” Boyce said. “He even came to my yard and did a good job.”

Together their businesses began to grow. 

Currently, the teens are partnering to invest in a lawnmower that will help allow Jomarion’s pet waste business to expand into full yard services.

“After Jomarion picks up the pet waste, I can mow the lawns for people who need that done and then we come together with a price,” Boyce said.

Balancing the load

Swiams and Boyce both service over 10 clients a week who are between the ages of 19 and 60. 

“My clients love me and I haven’t had any complaints about my business,” Swiams said. “I’ve had clients who canceled with other poop businesses because they half did the job, so they book with me.”

Boyce and Swiams did say that working their businesses can be overwhelming because of their other responsibilities. 

Swiams is a student at Bradley Tech High School and also works at the AMC Theater in Mayfair Mall. Boyce attends Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy High School. 

“Some days I don’t feel like getting up, but when I look at my logo I think about what I’m pushing for,” Boyce said. “And my mom supports me a lot.”

Staying optimistic

Moving forward Swiams hopes to expand BarkClean Yard Services to other places that have dogs like hotels, apartment buildings and vets. 

He also hopes to start having other teens and young adults on his payroll so he doesn’t get overwhelmed with his schedule. 

“As long as they have a vehicle, driver’s license and are not on the wrong path, we can team up,” he said. “I’m looking for people who are doing good because they’re going to be working around my clients.”

Jomarion Swiam’s dad, Jonathan Swiams, said he’s proud of the decisions his son has made and the research he’s done to help his business thrive. 

“His calendar is growing very fast and people really like him,” Jonathan Swiams said. 

Boyce finds other enjoyment in breeding and training his dogs, so his long-term business goal is to become a breeder.

“If I get far with breeding one day, then I may fall back on grooming and do it from time to time,” Boyce said. “I’m gonna stay in the dog game.”

Motivating peers to succeed

For teens who are thinking about starting their own business, Boyce said not to rush into it and think about if they’re ready to handle customers, talk professionally and can handle multiple responsibilities. 

“You don’t know how fast your business might pick up over time,” Boyce said. “Everybody has to start somewhere, but you have to be ready.”

Swiams encourages his peers to put their minds to it and do whatever their heart desires.

“That street life isn’t cool because one day you’re going to actually need a legit source of income and things to do,” he said. 

Donating and booking appointments

To book an appointment with BarkClean Yard Services, contact Swiams at 414-435-6328. 

To have your dog groomed by Ballin Bullies Grooming, contact Boyce at 414-488-5068 or via Facebook.

All appointments through Boyce require a $10 security deposit. 

Swiams and Boyce are also seeking donations of items like pooper scoopers, buckets, dog treats, grooming products and more. 

Feel free to contact them to schedule a time to drop off donations.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

The post Meet two teen friends who started their own affordable pet care businesses in Milwaukee appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Though homicides and shootings are down this year through May 20 compared with the same time period last year, there’s always concern about an increase in violence as warmer weather sets in. 

The Milwaukee Police Department hopes to prevent that from happening through its annual summer policing initiative, which began on May 21. 

Operation Summer Guardian, now in its fifth year, is a citywide initiative aimed at reducing crime, including gun violence, and building stronger relationships between officers and community members by increasing their presence in dozens of neighborhoods. 

“(There’s) a proactive component to the mission to deal with firearm offenses, narcotics offenses and quality of life offenses that’s secondary to the community outreach,” said Capt. Andrew Tischer of MPD. “Presence and community engagement is the primary focus of this.”

Neighborhoods of focus

Although citywide, the operation focuses on high-crime areas identified through various sources, Tischer said. Those include: data from MPD crime analysts, the department’s Office of Management Analysis and Planning, input from district commanders and data from ShotSpotter activations. ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection technology that traces the location of gunfire. 

Here are 27 neighborhoods that will see additional officers: 

• Historic Mitchell 
• Muskego Way
• Washington Park
• Walnut Hill
• Midtown
• Cold Spring Park
• Avenues West 
• Concordia 
• Silver Spring
• Valhalla
• Fairfield 
• Thurston Woods 
• Old North Milwaukee 
• Lincoln Creek
• Roosevelt Grove
• Amani
• Franklin Heights 
• Arlington Heights 
• Grasslyn Manor
• Sunset Heights
• Sherman Park
• Hampton Heights
• Wall Park
• Borchert Field
• St. Joseph’s
• Uptown
• Metcalfe Park 

MPD will provide door hangers and flyers to inform residents in these areas that more officers will be present. 

But the areas are not static. 

“We can definitely move the areas based on requests,” Tischer said. “For example, last year we saw an uptick in violence in the area of Stark Foods in Hampton, so we’re able to adjust our patrols to that area.”

Community and school resource officers provide support

Community resource officers, district personnel and members of the Specialized Patrol Division will be among the extra officers placed in neighborhoods. 

School resource officers will also be a part of these summertime operations for the first time, Capt. Vynetta Norberg said. 

They will engage in “low-pressure conversations, maybe pick up a game or two with the youth or just casual conversations with the citizens in Milwaukee in those certain hotspots,” Norberg said. 

She said the school resource officers will also hand out resources to those in need and engage with youth they’ve interacted with at schools. 

“So that when we go back into school again, we’ll be familiar faces.” 

Altogether, residents should expect to see an increase of officers in the double digits, Tischer said. Officers are scheduled to participate in Operation Summer Guardian through September.

Community reaction

South Side resident Miguel Flores said he wants to see police officers where more crime occurs and also at festivals and other places where large groups gather. 

“I believe the mayor and police chief need to focus on the major areas of crime and apply officers as need be,” he said. 

Homer Blow, a well-known radio host and community voice, said he’s been involved with the Summer Guardian program since the program started. His experiences with it included seeing officers “playing basketball” to “having dance-offs with youth.” 

Blow said he sees the interactions between law enforcement and residents as helpful in deterring crime.

“I’ve witnessed the impact it has had over the years in bringing the crime numbers down and bringing community relations up,” he said.

The post MPD’s Operation Summer Guardian launched last week. Here’s how and where the program operates appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

A federal judge on May 21 rejected the U.S. Justice Department’s demand for Wisconsin’s unredacted voter list, the latest defeat for President Donald Trump’s administration in its quest to obtain more information about voters around the country.

In his 10-page ruling, U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson said the department’s allegation that the Wisconsin Elections Commission violated the Civil Rights Act by not turning over the state’s voter roll “fails as a matter of law.” 

The Department of Justice has requested voter rolls with unredacted information — including voters’ full birthdates, full or partial Social Security numbers, and driver’s license information — from at least 48 states, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. At least 15 states have provided or said they will provide the data, but most have not, prompting the department to file suit against 30 states plus Washington, D.C. 

Federal judges have so far dismissed those lawsuits in seven other states, including Michigan, Oregon, California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Arizona. The Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Maine was also dismissed on Thursday. 

The department has so far appealed three of those dismissals, the ones in Michigan, Oregon and California.

The Justice Department has said it is entitled to the voter rolls under federal law and needs the data to enforce requirements in federal statutes. Officials in both Republican- and Democratic-led states have pushed back on the Justice Department’s request for unredacted voter data, saying it could put voters at risk. They also say the department hasn’t provided enough information on how the data would be used. 

The federal government requested Wisconsin’s unredacted voter rolls late last year, and the Wisconsin Elections Commission argued that state law explicitly bans election officials from disclosing information like driver’s license numbers to most people who aren’t election officials. That led to the lawsuit.

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This ruling protects against federal intrusions into Wisconsin’s election system,” said ACLU of Wisconsin legal director Ryan Cox, adding that it “ensures private voter data is safe from abuse and prevents the Trump administration from playing politics with our right to vote.”

Alexander Shur is a reporter for Votebeat based in Wisconsin. Contact Shur at ashur@votebeat.org.

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Wisconsin’s free newsletter here.

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