THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT UDENT N NEWSPAPER E SINCE 1969 MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2011
WWW.BADGERHERALD LLDD.CO CCOM OM
VOLUME XLII, ISSUE 116
ARTS |ARTS CORNER
OPINION | EDITORIAL
NEWS | CRIME
News takes backseat to royal pain in the ass
Editorial Board: Re-elect Mayor Dave page 6
Beaten over ‘Bucky’ video
page
8
Three suspects were charged this weekend in a crime involving the popular Internet video page 2
Judge keeps restraint on anti-union bill Sumi rules until defendants waive immunity, advise court to proceed order will stay in place J.P. Cheng News Reporter A Dane County judge said the temporary restraining order prohibiting publication of the bill limiting collective bargaining rights for public employees would stay in place, despite the continued absence of the Republican defendants. Judge Maryann Sumi made the ruling Friday,
since the Republican legislators involved in voting on the bill, who are the defendants in the proceedings, did not attend the hearing because they said they have legislative immunity. However, their absence did not give Sumi reason to lift the restraining order. “They’re entitled to their day in court, but it also doesn’t mean that they’re entitled to have the restraining order vacated until they can no longer assert their immunity,” Sumi said.
She added future court dates would be determined once the legislators either waived their immunity or advised the court that the proceedings should go ahead in their absence. As a result, the order prohibiting publication and further implementation of the bill is likely to remain in place for at least several weeks. Much of Friday’s hearing centered on the testimony of Senate Chief Clerk Robert Marchant, the non-partisan official
who oversees the parliamentary matters of the Senate. Marchant said he was present the night lawmakers met in a conference committee to strip the budget repair bill of its fiscal elements. Legal counsel questioned Marchant for nearly two hours about whether he thought the way the bill was passed violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law or the rules of the Legislature. He said he did not believe the open meetings
law was broken, citing a rule that takes effect during special session allowing officials to give less notice for certain meetings. “The Legislature is required by law to give 24 hours notice prior to a vote on any bill,” Marchant told the court. “But under Senate Rule 93, only two hours of notice is required if there is good cause.” Capitol building security personnel also testified in court Friday and gave their accounts
of the public’s access to the Legislature’s vote on March 9. Capitol Police officer Dan Blackdeer said only one of the Capitol’s eight doors was open for public entry about an hour before the meeting convened in order to have more officers providing security for the conference committee meeting itself. However, protesters breached a second door at about 5:50 p.m., 10
ANTI-UNION BILL, page 2
Kapanke recall effort BRAAAINS! files official petition After Government Accountability Board confirms all 21,700 signatures, special election could begin in as little as 6 weeks The signatures were collected in half the time News Reporter allotted, a testimony The recall campaign to the momentum of against Sen. Dan the movement against Gov. Scott Walker. Kapanke, R-La Hundreds of Crosse, announced volunteers turned Friday members out to help the had acquired the campaign in necessary amount of Kapanke’s district, signatures to trigger with thousands a special election, helping out becoming the first of statewide in other the 16 campaigns to do so. Kapanke recall campaigns. “This is a historic The Democratic Party of Wisconsin and moment for grassroots volunteers collected history in Wisconsin,” 21,700 signatures, well Zielinski said. “Coalitions Republicans, above the roughly 15,000 of and signatures needed Independents for a recall election, Democrats got together in according to DPW the Coulee region to fight spokesperson Graeme back against Gov. Walker’s Zielinski. The campaign attack on the middle filed a recall petition class.” with the Government Accountability Board on KAPANKE, page 2 March 2.
Leah Linscheid
Megan McCormick The Badger Herald
A group of around 100 Madisonians dressed as zombies and marched down State Street to the Capitol early Saturday afternoon as a way to add new ‘life’ to protests surrounding Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial decision to strip public workers of collective bargaining rights.
District Attorney charges woman for threatening lawmakers Cross Plains citizen receives 2 felony charges after claiming to want to shoot republicans Ellen Anevicius State Reporter A Wisconsin woman is facing two felony charges after an investigation found her responsible for emailing death threats and bomb scares
to Republican senators during debate of the collective bargaining bill. The criminal complaint alleged Katherine Windels of Cross Plains threatened to shoot Republican senators and, “because [that] just isn’t enough,” plant bombs near their houses, cars and the Capitol, according to the complaint. Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay,
received the first email at 8:08 p.m. on March 9. The email said a group of people had decided Cowles and other Republican senators had to die for their support of the budget repair bill, which would limit collective bargaining rights for most public employees. The email said the group planned to come to
Cowles’ house and “place a nice little bullet in your head,” and had planted bombs in areas Cowles frequented. According to the criminal complaint, Windels sent anther email later that day to Cowles and 14 other Republican senators containing similar threats to kill them and their families. The emails were
sent from a fraudulent account under the name “Lisa Patterson,” which investigators traced by secondary email and IP address to the home of Windels, the complaint said. Windels admitted to sending the emails after being questioned by a Department of Justice special agent, but said she does not know
why she sent them and never intended to follow through on any of the threats. Windels faces two misdemeanor charges for computer threats to injure or harm and two felony counts for creating a bomb scare. DOJ referred the
THREATS, page 2
Cab companies to offer free rides to city voters Badger, Union Cab managers hope to aid residents living far away from polling places, those without alternate forms of transportation Alexa Sunby City Reporter Two local cab companies will team up for Tuesday’s Election Day and offer free rides to polling places in Madison and the surrounding areas in an effort to promote democracy throughout Wisconsin. Union Cab made the decision to offer free rides through its “Democracy in Motion” program two weeks ago and announced in a statement last week that Badger Cab Co. would be joining them. Union Cab general manager Karl Schulte said the company is hoping to aid residents who have a difficult time voting. He said in one southwest Madison neighborhood, voters would have to cross a busy highway and walk Megan McCormick The Badger Herald file photo more than one mile to get In an effort to increase voter turnout in typically under-represented districts, Union and Badger Cab companies will offer no-fare rides to polling places on election day. to their voting place if they © 2011 BADGER HERALD
do not own a car. Schulte said neighborhoods like those had bad luck of the draw since the city limit lines are in awkward places. He added the company would be proud to help their “underserved and unfortunate neighbors” who are less likely to vote in the April nonpartisan election. Badger Cab Co. joined the effort to help people who have difficulty getting to their polling place because of mobility issues that prevent them from traveling long distances from their home to the voting site, manager Tom Royston said in a statement. Royston said he is hopeful individuals who do not have adequate means of transportation
FREE RIDES, page 2