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WisconsinWatch.org (https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/author/bill-lueders/)

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Bill Lueders

Bill Lueders

Bill Lueders was reporter, editor and Money and Politics Project director for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism from 2011 to 2015.

Your Right to Know

Your Right to Know: Scrutinize candidates on openness

By Bill Lueders | August 31, 2018

Perhaps no other political issue receives so little attention, relative to its importance, as open government. Elections come and go without candidates addressing this fundamental tenet of a democratic society. That’s because virtually all candidates, when asked, will say they are big fans of transparency. It’s an easy position to take, a harder one to live up to. But in Wisconsin’s fall elections, fidelity to open government has come up in several races, for governor, attorney general and U.S. Senate.

Your Right to Know

Your Right to Know: Don’t chip away at records access

By Bill Lueders | June 4, 2018

One great thing about Wisconsin’s open records law is that it’s not supposed to matter who wants records or why. The law, enacted in 1983, asserts that no state or local government office may deny a request because the person making it “is unwilling to be identified or to state the purpose of the request.”

This is an important principle, because access to public information should not be limited to people whose motives have been deemed pure. In fact, citizens and political parties often use the law to scrutinize public officials and political opponents. That’s how it should be. A few years back, the primary author of Wisconsin’s open records law, former state Sen. Lynn Adelman, now a federal judge, told a group of open government advocates that he was prepared to kill the entire bill rather than accept an amendment that would have removed this ability to make anonymous requests.

Your Right to Know

Your Right to Know: Are officials giving out too much information?

By Bill Lueders | October 2, 2017

The nonprofit group I belong to is called the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. Our mission is to protect and expand access to public records.

Usually this entails pushing state and local government officials to be as open as possible. But lately, a number of developments raise a peculiar concern: Are officials being too open?

Your Right to Know

Your Right to Know: End lawmakers’ ability to destroy records

By Bill Lueders | June 29, 2017

Not long ago, I asked Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) for records regarding a controversial bill he helped author on free-speech rights at state universities. I had already obtained some communications between Vos aide Alicia Schweitzer and the Legislative Reference Bureau, from the bill-drafting file. They showed that his office had added bill language calling on UW-System schools to punish “indecent, profane, boisterous (or) obscene” conduct that interfered with others’ free speech. The LRB bill drafter, Mark Kunkel, deleted these terms, saying they were overly broad and ambiguous. But Schweitzer insisted that they be restored.

Your Right to Know

Your Right to Know: Public’s trust was abused over police videos

By Bill Lueders | January 3, 2017

On Sunday, August 14, after a night of unrest prompted by the fatal police shooting of a black man, Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said his review of body camera video of the incident proved the officer had acted appropriately. “The individual did turn toward the officer with a firearm in his hand,” Flynn stated, later saying the man, 23-year-old Sylville Smith, “was raising up with” the gun. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said a still photo he was shown from the video “demonstrates, without question, that (Smith) had a gun in his hand.” In fact, Barrett declared, the officer “ordered that individual to drop his gun, the individual did not drop his gun.”

This purportedly exculpatory video itself was not promptly released, despite requests from Barrett and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker that this occur. It still has not been released. But we know now that public officials did not give an accurate account of what it shows.

Your Right to Know

Your Right to Know: Some lawmakers still crave secrecy

By Bill Lueders | June 29, 2016

Last year on July 2, the state Legislature launched a sneak attack on Wisconsin’s open records law, effectively seeking to exempt legislators from its reach. That effort died following a huge public backlash. But some lawmakers, it’s clear, remain actively hostile to the state’s tradition of open government.

Your Right to Know

Your Right to Know: UW shouldn’t hide finalist names

By Bill Lueders | July 1, 2015

A provision snuck into the state budget bill by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee would deal a significant blow to open government in Wisconsin. The provision, part of an omnibus motion of changes affecting the University of Wisconsin System, would exempt universities from the rule in place for all other state agencies regarding the naming of finalists for key positions. No longer would they need to identify the five most qualified applicants, or each applicant if there are fewer than five.

Money & Politics Column

Parting reflections on an urgent coverage area

By Bill Lueders | May 19, 2015

Mark Twain had a great line about Richard Wagner’s music being “better than it sounds.” Our political system is better than you would guess from listening to politicians.

Money & Politics Column

Spring cleaning turns up news nuggets ranging from guns to schnapps

By Bill Lueders | May 12, 2015

The columnist is cleaning off his desk, emptying his inbox. Here are a few unused news nuggets that seem a shame to throw away.

Money & Politics Column

Have John Doe probes trashed rule of law in Wisconsin?

By Bill Lueders | May 5, 2015

Conservative commentators have embraced the narrative put forth by critics of the two John Doe probes involving Walker and others. Wisconsin is being defamed as a place where unethical law enforcers driven by naked political partisanship have run amok.

Government

State makes filing fraud complaints ‘as easy as possible’

By Bill Lueders | May 3, 2015

Two new state portals generate about 300 tips a month, said DHS spokeswoman Claire Yunker. The department, in response to a records request, released the complaints it received for a single month.

Safety Net

Wisconsin FoodShare fraud crackdown questioned

By Bill Lueders | May 3, 2015

In 2011, Walker’s first year as governor, 102 people were suspended from the FoodShare program for violating program rules, according to DHS. That number has increased each year, to 1,184 in 2014.

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