9-14-06, 9:00 am
During McCann's 35 year reign, Wisconsin has become the worst state in the nation to be Black, in great part because of E. Michael?s massive prosecution and imprisonment of poor people of color at a disproportionate rate to his prosecution and imprisonment of white people and non-poor people. The Black Commentator found that Wisconsin was number one in the US for racially selective policing, prosecution and mass imprisonment of Black citizens. Most are from Milwaukee. Wisconsin locks up Black people at a rate 11.6 times higher than whites. And Wisconsin leads the nation in the percentage of Black prisoners. These are glaring human rights violations enforced and carried out by McCann.
E. Michael McCann also empowers and protects violent police who kill unarmed men of color. No matter how many unarmed poor men of color the police have killed (a lot), E. Michael has NEVER prosecuted any killer cop. (Murder is a major human rights violation.) The latest evidence of McCann?s love of Milwaukee?s violent 'protectors' is his handling of the Jude case. Off duty white male cops brutally beat and sexually assaulted bi-racial Mr. Jude in front of tons of witnesses and other cops. McCann, so inexperienced at prosecuting anyone with lawyers or money, helped choose an all white jury and tried the three together so they could all blame one another! He whined that the police wouldn?t betray each other. If he had ever prosecuted Milwaukee?s criminal businessmen, lawyers, doctors or priests, he would have learned how to combat that typical 'brotherly' loyalty. (Poor people are forced to 'plead guilty' in McCann?s 'justice' system, so of course McCann lacks trial experience.)
Speaking of priests, when the head of Milwaukee?s Catholic Archdiocese embezzled ('misspent'?) half a million parishioners' dollars to silence a former male lover who was blackmailing him, McCann helped out the thief instead of exposing or prosecuting him. The irony here is that McCann has also refused to apply the hate crimes enhancer to any bias-based crime commit against Milwaukee?s gay citizens, even when a murderer admitted repeatedly shooting a lesbian to death for 'being gay and turning his sister gay.' More human rights violations protected and thus promoted by McCann.
McCann also empowers and protects wealthy corporate criminals at the expense of the human rights of their victims. When Milwaukee Billionaire corporations Maximus and Goodwill each admitted 'misspending' over half a million dollars of state W2 monies--on trips, business out of state, parties and festivals--McCann refused to even consider prosecuting them. Yet he consistently prosecutes and imprisons as felons single moms in poverty (with as many as six children) for working and receiving welfare‹a tiny amount of petty survival 'welfare fraud' that can never compare to the millions embezzled by big-time welfare frauders, Goodwill (Employment Solutions) and Maximus. Their victims are mothers and children in crisis who are systematically and illegally denied cash support. Permanent victims are the infants, mothers and children with disabilities who have died in record numbers under these greedy privatized welfare corporations. While 540,000 people now live in poverty in Wisconsin, less than 8,000 families manage to get any economic help from McCann?s corporate W2 friends.
Why didn?t the Human Rights Roundtable invite the experts on human rights violations to speak and be guest commentators? Where are the single moms in poverty, poor men of color, former prisoners, gay men and lesbians---and the groups who work with these survivors to stop the shocking systematic violations of their human rights? Why overlook those with knowledge while providing a voice to a racist DA who imprisons the poor and empowers the rich?
--Pat Gowens is director Welfare Warriors. Contact Welfare Warriors at 414-342-6662 or
