March 6, 2008

WISC fisks a Gableman spot

Madison's CBS teevee affiliate, WISC, takes a look at a pro-Michael Gableman spot produced by the conservative Club For Growth:
"Criminals threaten our communities. Oddly enough, so do some judges who return them to the street," the ad says. "But not Judge Michael Gableman. He's a former prosecutor who has gone toe to toe with the arsonists, sexual predators, domestic abusers and white-collar criminals who belong in jail."

A closer look at Gableman's record shows limited experience in these types of cases. Gableman was the district attorney in Ashland County from 1999 to 2002. He only prosecuted one arson case, which was ordered an acquittal.

In 19 felony child abuse cases, three were dismissed, 13 pleaded out to misdemeanor crimes, two were found not guilty at trial and only one was sentenced to prison time.

In felony sexual assault of children cases, Gableman got 11 convictions out of 31 cases, and 15 cases were pleaded to misdemeanors.
Tough on crime? Since when did conservatives consider prosecutors bargaining felonies (more than a year in State prison) down to misdemeanors (less than a year in county jail) tough on crime?

Not knowing the details, Gableman may have accepted a misdemeanor guilty plea rather than pursuing a felony conviction at trial in order to, for example, protect a child victim from testifying under cross examination, often not a pretty sight.
The focus on criminal cases in the ad mischaracterizes the job of a Supreme Court justice. The Supreme Court decides constitutional questions, and it doesn't hand out sentences like a Circuit Court.
Isn't that cute, misrepresenting the very job you're presenting your man as eminently qualified for (while sales-puffing his experience).

Also, "countless" = 23.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

In fact, "countless" = 21. But naturally it's hard to count. ;-)

illusory tenant said...

Actually I was going by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's database, but now that you mention it, the database counts four police chiefs two times each. So what turns up as 23 police chiefs there is really only 19 (as of 2/21).

Anonymous said...

So they're getting easier to count by the day!

Maybe the claim was only that none of the police chiefs who support Gableman is a count. That is, they don't wear a long black cloak and a monocle and have a huge fortune and an aristocratic title and maybe sleep in a coffin and drink blood.

But I suspect that too would turn out false if one looked into it...

Anonymous said...

" . . . Judge Michael Gableman. He's a former prosecutor who has gone toe to toe with the arsonists, sexual predators, domestic abusers and white-collar criminals who belong in jail."

He'll be well-qualified to prosecute his fellow jurist, Annette Ziegler, for her white collar crimes.

Anonymous said...

I have a case, CV-2006-108, which judge Gableman continues to leave open in order to deny us our right of access to our property, this case will be going to the federal courts to enforce my easement "right-away", which the adjoining propety owner moved into an illeagly filled wetland,,,,and the judge turns a blind eye to.
never invest money in Burnett County with Gableman sitting as a judge.