It’s sad—and distressing—to witness how state Attorney General Brad Schimel has politicized the Department of Justice (DOJ). Instead of providing unbiased, professional legal representation for the state, Schimel has transformed the department into a Republican law firm.
On Monday, the Wisconsin State Journal reported that Schimel demoted Thomas Dawson, the DOJ’s longtime head of its environmental unit, on the heels of shrinking that unit to its smallest size in 25 years and taking a hands-off approach to polluters. The loss of Dawson is a big deal, especially when the state is grappling with the harms posed by large-scale farm operations, fracking and high-capacity wells. We have a feeling that under Schimel’s direction, Dawson’s replacement will side with the polluters, not the public.
But that’s not all. The State Journal has also detailed Schimel’s new five-person Office of Solicitor General, which state Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) called a “mini right-wing law firm in the attorney general’s office.” The attorneys are charged with fighting federal regulations on climate change, water pollution and bathroom access in addition to defending state laws in the courts, such as voter ID and stringent abortion regulations. In addition, Schimel’s spokesman Johnny Koremenos is also Schimel’s campaign spokesman and draws salaries from both the state and Schimel’s campaign account. Are we really supposed to believe that Koremenos is only doing political work on his own time? Mr. Schimel, we, the public, are not exactly stupid.
Sadly, Schimel can get away with politicizing the Department of Justice because no one will stand up to him. Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-dominated Legislature share his right-wing views. If he is challenged in court, he knows he will ultimately win at the Supreme Court level because, due to Walker’s appointments to fill vacancies in the court, there is now a five-justice—two far right-wing—majority in the court that votes politics over our state constitution.
Unfortunately, since the very low-turnout tea party revolution election of 2010 brought a majority of extremist Republicans in to control of both chambers of the Legislature, the governor’s office and the Republican attorney general, Wisconsin is stuck with an extremist right-wing government that does not represent the opinions of the majority of Wisconsin citizens. Wisconsin needs to have more of its citizens voting in the off year elections like they vote in presidential years, when the outcomes are more in the Wisconsin progressive tradition. When that happens, our government will again represent the ideals of the majority of the Wisconsin citizens.
|
|
