Author: Todd Richmond

Exemptions that allow religious organizations to avoid paying Wisconsin’s unemployment tax do not apply to a Catholic charitable organization because its on-the-ground operations are not primarily religious, a divided state Supreme Court ruled in March. The outcome of the case, which drew attention and concern from religious groups around the country, raises the bar for all religions to show that their charity arms deserve such exemptions in the state. The Catholic organization’s attorneys immediately promised to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. If that court agrees to hear the case, any ruling could have broad national implications. The...

Lake sturgeon do not need Endangered Species Act protections, federal wildlife officials announced in April, saying that stocking programs have helped the prehistoric fish return to areas where they had vanished. The decision ends the Arizona-based Center of Biological Diversity’s petition filed in May 2018 asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list lake sturgeon as endangered or threatened. Such listings would make harvesting the fish illegal, but without them, popular sturgeon harvest seasons in states such as Wisconsin and Michigan can continue. The center argued that overharvesting and deteriorating habitat have “severely depleted” the species. Dams block...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on July 5 that officials can place ballot drop boxes around their communities in this fall’s elections, overturning its own ruling two years ago limiting their use in the presidential swing state. The court limited the use of drop boxes in July 2022, ruling then that they could be placed only in local election clerks’ offices and no one other than the voter could return a ballot in person. Conservatives controlled the court at that time, but Janet Protasiewicz’s election victory in April 2023 flipped the court to liberal control. Seeing an opening, Priorities...

For the first time in more than a decade, Democrats in key battleground state Wisconsin have a chance at wresting some legislative control from Republicans thanks to new district maps from Governor Tony Evers. Republicans will likely retain their majority in the Senate in November’s elections. But redrawn districts coupled with retirements have left almost two-thirds of the Assembly’s seats open this election cycle, giving Democrats their best shot at taking control of that chamber in a generation. “It’s been too partisan for too long,” Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said. “I know I’m sick of it and the...

The warden of a maximum-security Wisconsin prison and eight members of his staff were charged on June 5 following investigations into the deaths of four inmates over the past year, including one that was not discovered until at least 12 hours after the man died. With a “Shawshank Redemption”-style stone exterior and high castle-like guard towers, Wisconsin’s oldest prison, built in the 1850s, has long been a target for closure amid concerns about deterioration, extended lockdowns, and staffing shortfalls. Randall Hepp, warden of the Waupun Correctional Institution, was charged with misconduct in public office. The other eight face charges...