Tag: Wisconsin

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Wisconsin High School Students Throw Full-On ‘Sig Heil’ In Prom Photo

(Click image to enlarge)

Folks are kind of flummoxed by a photo taken at the junior prom of Wisconsin’s Baraboo High School showing the class’s male students doing a ‘sig heil.’

Law & Crime points out the event was last spring, but the photo just came to light when it was posted to the Twitter account @GoBaraboo that has since been been made private.

It was posted with the caption, “We even got the black kid to throw it up #BarabooProud.”

One guy in the front was clearly doing the sign for white power:

Vice contributor Jules Suzdaltsev asked Twitter to help him do a deep dive into the matter, and he began getting private messages from students at the school saying they had seen and heard a lot of racist language while attending the school.

One student who graduated from BHS this spring wrote Suzdaltsev saying he could “100% support the claims of racism at that school.”

“The use of the n-word was pretty common among a lot of white students, whether jokingly or not,” he added.

Another told Suzdaltsev that the day after Donald Trump was elected, students were yelling “White Power!” in the hallways.

Folks did note that one student, in the upper right hand corner of the photo, was clearly not having the moment.

Suzdaltsev spoke with the student, Jordan Blue, who said the photo was taken so quickly he couldn’t leave. But he also shared that he’d been bullied by his classmates for years.

“My name is Jordan Blue, I am the boy captured in the photo to the far right. The photo was taken during our Junior Prom Photos. I clearly am uncomfortable, with what was happening. I couldn’t leave the photo as it was taken within 5 seconds. The photographer took the photos telling us to make the sign, I knew what my morals were and it not to salute something I firmly didn’t believe in. I attend BHS, these classmates have bullied me since entering middle school, I have struggled with it my entire life and nothing has changed. These are the boy of Class of 2019, nothing has been done and my question is… with anything ever be done. I truly & firmly believe we need to make a change to this horrible act, it need to stop. Bullying. Immaturity. And just taking things as a “joke”…”

According to Suzdaltsev, the photographer (identified as local motorcycle photographer Peter Gust) has taken the photo album down from his website and issued an odd message calling out “malevolent behavior on the part of some in society.” He seems to be blaming the scandal on folks taking issue with the idea of telling students to do a Nazi salute.

The photo has even received international attention as the Twitter account for the Auschwitz Memorial tweeted, “This is why every single day we work hard to educate.”

Baraboo School District Superintendent Dr. Lori Mueller issued this statement:

The Barabook School District sent the following letter to parents this morning in response to a photo on social media.

Dear Parents/Guardians of Baraboo School District Students:

Early this morning, a photo that was taken last spring of some Barabook School District students who appear to be making extremely inappropriate gestures began circulating on social media. The District has confirmed at this time that the photo was not taken on school property or at a school-sponsored event.

The school district is investigating this situation and is working with parents, staff and local authorities. If the gesture is what it appears to be, the district will pursue any and all available and appropriate actions, including legal, to address the issue.

With that, we want to be very clear: the Baraboo School District is a hate-free environment where all people, regardless of race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, are respected and celebrated.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lori Mueller, Superintendent

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Study Shows Wisconsin’s New, Stricter Voter-ID Laws Suppressed 200,000 2016 Votes

Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election has been described as “death by a thousand cuts.”

Clinton herself has admitted mistakes on behalf of her campaign, but it’s also impossible to not point to FBI Director James Comey’s announcement reviving the issue of Hillary’s emails just 11 days before the election, plus the Wikileaks constant drip of DNC emails.

Add another component to her loss as The Nation shares the results of a study that shows Wisconsin’s new strict voter-ID laws caused a drop of 200,000 fewer votes than in 2012.

Trump won Wisconsin by 22,748 votes.

Those lost votes tended to skew more Democratic and more African-American.

According to the study, states that did not implement stricter voting-ID laws saw participation increase by 1.3%. The states that did add tougher ID restrictions saw 3.3% less voters at the polls.

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Why Bernie Sanders Winning Wisconsin Is Not Like Winning New York

This isn’t an “anti-Bernie Sanders” post. It’s a post about math and delegates.

With Bernie Sanders leading in Wisconsin and Hillary Clinton looking to lead by 12 points in New York, the WaPo explores why a win for Bernie and a win for Hillary don’t serve up the same results.

From the Washington Post:

These states are not equivalent. This is not a tie, with Clinton winning one state and Sanders winning another. It is, instead, a clear demonstration of why Bernie Sanders almost certainly won’t be the Democratic nominee.

After all, it comes down to delegates. Wisconsin has 86 delegates; New York has 247. Since the party distributes its delegates proportionally, that means that Sanders’s slight Wisconsin lead would earn him a slightly bigger portion of the state’s small delegate haul. Clinton’s larger New York lead would earn her a larger portion of the state’s large delegate haul.

There are still a lot of states after New York for Sanders to make progress. Many of the delegates remaining though — more than half — are tied up in three large states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California. As we noted earlier this month, Clinton is leading in the most recent polling in those three states, too.

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Endores Ted Cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz (L), Gov. Scott Walker (R)

Gov. Scott Walker called into WTMJ Radio in Milwaukee to announce his endorsement of Ted Cruz. Walker called Cruz a “principled, common sense conservative.”

Not sure if endorsements actually do anything in this wild campaign season, though. South Carolina’s Gov. Nikki Haley didn’t seem to do much for Marco Rubio.

But we shall see. The Wisconsin primary is one week away.

The Ted Cruz campaign is thrilled with the news! From the Cruz campaign via press release:

We wanted to share some very exciting news with you: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has just endorsed Ted Cruz for President. This is a HUGE deal. Scott Walker has enacted big, bold conservative reforms in Wisconsin. His endorsement confirms what we have been saying for months, Conservatives are uniting behind Ted Cruz.

Will you join Scott Walker in standing with Ted Cruz today? Over the last year we have been campaigning from coast to coast to elect Ted Cruz as President. We have accomplished a great deal, but there is still a lot left to do. Next week Wisconsin votes. We must send a strong message that we are all behind Ted Cruz.

Scott Walker’s endorsement proves that Ted Cruz has what it takes to win everywhere, including swing states like Wisconsin. The only thing left is your support today. Please join Scott Walker and conservatives across America by contributing to the Wisconsin Victory fund. Your contribution could make the difference between victory and defeat!

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Wisconsin GOP Nominee For AG Would Defend Ban On Interracial Marriage

Brad Schimel, the current GOP nominee for Attorney General for Wisconsin, was asked on a public access TV interview if he would have defended the state’s now-defunct ban on same-sex marriage.

Schmiel said not only would he have defended the anti-gay law, he would have defended a ban on interracial marriage.

Via the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

For months, Schimel has said he would have defended the state’s ban on gay marriage in court because the attorney general is obligated to uphold state laws and provisions in the state constitution.

As he discussed his stance on that issue last month on an Oshkosh cable access program, he was asked if it would have been his obligation to defend a ban on interracial marriage if he had been an attorney general in a state with such a law 60 years ago. He sighed and said, “Yeah, it is.” “It might be distasteful to me …but I’ve got to stay consistent with that — as the state’s lawyer, it’s not my job to pick and choose.”

Responding to the criticism, Schimel issued a statement Wednesday that said: “Love and the law are colorblind, as they should be. Many shameful, racist laws were changed over the course of time in this country by legislators, the courts and the people’s direct votes. But if Susan Happ wants to make up new laws, or change old ones, she’s running for the wrong job.”

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Wisconsin: Gov. Scott Walker Reacts As State Begins Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

WBAY reports that two counties – Dane and Outgamie – have begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Three others – Brown County, Calumet County and Fond du Lac – say they are waiting for more guidance from the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office.”

The Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office released this statement:

“Today’s action by the U.S. Supreme Court allows Judge Crabb’s order to take effect. The Department, having made every effort to fulfill its duty to defend the state constitution, will now work with its state agency clients to implement the order.”

A spokesperson for Gov. Scott Walker released this statement:

“Our office is working with the Department of Justice to evaluate the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision and determine next steps for the state.”

And the haters at Wisconsin Family Action are already up in arms. Juliane Appling issued this statement:

“The high court’s denial of our Wisconsin case and these other cases is profoundly disappointing. However, at some point the US Supreme Court will take a case on this issue. Wisconsin’s marriage amendment is on hold, but should the Court ultimately rule that the US Constitution does give the states the right to determine for themselves what marriage is, our amendment will be reinstated.”

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Wisconsin: 19 Year-Old Republican State Assembly Candidate Cancels Campaign Over Racist/Homophobic Comments

Jacob Dorsey

A 19-year-old Republican candidate for Wisconsin State Assembly has ended his campaign after racist and homophobic comments he had made on Twitter and YouTube came to light.

From LGBTQNation:

Jacob Dorsey told The Janesville Gazette on Tuesday he was ending his campaign for the Assembly, just five days after apologizing for a Christmas Day 2013 tweet in which he said “fags need 2 leave my favorite state alone.”

Dorsey was commenting on Twitter after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit refused to issue a stay in a federal court ruling last year striking down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage.

“I have decided to withdraw from the race due to insensitive remarks that have surfaced from years past,” Dorsey said in a statement to The Gazette. “This race has been extremely hard on my family and myself.”

Although Dorsey tried to add some “spin” that his comments were from “years ago,” some of the comments were posted just five months before he announced his candidacy.

Clearly the young man is still on the immature side of life and not qualified to hold public office.

Dorsey says he plans to return to school to pursue a degree, having taken the semester off to run for public office.

See some of his YouTube comments below:

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals rules Indiana and Wisconsin bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional

In what is now the fourth appellate ruling in favor of marriage equality, a panel of 3 federal judges for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled unanimously that the same-sex marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana unconstitutional

From MetroWeekly:

According to the 40-page unanimous ruling authored by Judge Richard Posner, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, “discrimination against same-sex couples is irrational, and therefore unconstitutional even if the discrimination is not subjected to heightened scrutiny.”

Ruling in two cases, the court found the governments of Indiana and Wisconsin have given no reason to think they have a “reasonable basis” for forbidding same-sex marriage.

“Discrimination by a state or the federal government against a minority, when based on an immutable characteristic of the members of that minority (most familiarly skin color and gender), and occurring against an historical background of discrimination against the persons who have that characteristic, makes the discriminatory law or policy constitutionally suspect,” the ruling states.

Oral arguments were heard before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals last week in Chicago.

According to Gallup Polls, 55% of Americans support marriage equality. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll showed 77% of Americans under the age of 30 are in favor of same-sex marriage.

Same-sex couples can legally marry in nineteen states and the District of Columbia.

Cue the haters in 3, 2, 1…

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Wisconsin & Indiana in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals today on same-sex marriage bans

Oral arguments are under way in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals with Indiana and Wisconsin attempting to defend their respective state’s same-sex marriage bans.

According to Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade, the good guys catch what might be a good break from the get-go as the legal journalist feels the judges assigned the case are possible good fit for marriage equality.

UPDATE – Chris Johnson just tweeted this after the close of oral arguments:

LGBT legal journalist Chris Geidner of Buzzfeed posted this “first take”:

And The Bilerico Project had this to say: