Democracy is fragile. You can help protect it.
Get our next investigative report directly in your inbox. Sign up to get free news alerts.
By signing up you agree to our Privacy Policy
Produced by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
WisconsinWatch.org (https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/category/justice-public-safety/page/2/)
Whistleblowing traditionally has been seen as a public-private effort to expose wrongdoing, said Patrick Burns, associate director of Taxpayers Against Fraud, whose group works to protect and advance the cause of whistleblowers.
The contentious 2016 presidential election raised religious and racial tensions, but experts say the fears fueling hate and bias incidents began years earlier.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks “hate” groups nationwide, has identified nine such groups operating in Wisconsin. It defines these groups as having “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism identifies nine cases with misleading microscopic hair or fiber comparisons; one man serving life for killing a police officer in 1994 says he is innocent.
At least three men convicted in Wisconsin have been cleared in separate cases in which DNA testing proved that earlier microscopic hair analysis was wrong
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has found nine cases in the state involving 12 defendants that featured faulty crime laboratory hair or fiber comparison. Seven cases were flagged by the national task force re-examining cases involving FBI hair and fiber analysts. Two are cases in which DNA testing showed that Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory hair comparisons linking suspects to crime scene hairs were wrong.
Wisconsin ‘one of the worst states for whistleblowing,’ national expert says. Anti-fraud effort helps bottom line but falls mostly on programs for the poor.
Dan Bethards lost his career, his house and many of his friends in law enforcement after he reported his boss for selling and making guns without a license
While President Donald Trump stews about leakers, members of Congress from the state sponsor various measures that could either boost or sideline federal tipsters
A memorial near the Gates of Heaven synagogue in Madison was spray-painted with swastikas and pro-Trump messages in large red letters hours before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
In the Ken Hudson case, experts are puzzled by tests finding no human DNA in the red substance on his left foot. Is it animal blood? A judge has granted more testing.
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is joining ProPublica to collect data and stories on hate and discrimination incidents in our community. Share your story with us here.