Yes. In a statement, Madison Police Department Public Information Officer Stephanie Fryer said the department has stopped identifying the race of suspects in incident reports if “it is not believed (race) will assist in the apprehension or identification of a suspect.”
Category: Fact briefs
Wisconsin Watch is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.
Posted inFact briefs
Did former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker stop automatic payments from teachers to their unions?
Yes. During former Gov. Scott Walker’s tenure, the passage of Act 10 prohibited employers from deducting “labor organization dues from a general employee’s earnings.”
Posted inFact briefs
Would a proposed flat tax give Wisconsin taxpayers earning more than $1 million a year a $100,000 tax cut?
Yes. The Republican leader of the Wisconsin Senate recently proposed a flat tax that would reap annual savings for millionaires in excess of $100,000.
Posted inFact briefs
Have tax cuts saved Wisconsin taxpayers nearly $22 billion over the last 12 years?
Yes. Tax policy changes adopted since January 2011 in Wisconsin have cumulatively saved state taxpayers approximately $21.9 billion in the 12-year period between 2011-12 and 2022-23, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
Posted inFact briefs
In 175 years, has Wisconsin ever elected an African-American justice to the state’s Supreme Court?
No. One African-American person, Louis Butler Jr., has served as a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice since Wisconsin became a state in 1848.
Posted inFact briefs
Did Scott Walker try to ‘raid’ the Wisconsin retirement system?
No. Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker did not try to “raid” Wisconsin’s retirement system.
Posted inFact briefs
Did Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz identify as a ‘progressive’ on certain issues?
Yes. In response to a question about being called progressive, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz replied:
“In regard to the progressive label, I embrace that, when it comes to issues such as gerrymandering, when we talk about the maps, when we talk about marriage equality, when we talk about women’s rights and women’s rights to choose.”
Posted inFact briefs
Have 14 cities in Wisconsin banned conversion therapy?
Yes. As of January 2023, an ordinance banning licensed mental health practitioners from using conversion therapy on minors was in effect in 14 Wisconsin cities: Appleton, Cudahy, Eau Claire, Glendale, Kenosha, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Shorewood, Sun Prairie, Superior and West Allis.
Posted inFact briefs
Did Scott Walker author a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage?
No. While former Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin called for an amendment banning same-sex marriage on multiple occasions in 2015, he never authored such an amendment.
Posted inFact briefs
Did a Wisconsin election official say he’s ‘proud’ of depressed voter turnout in Milwaukee?
Yes. Robert Spindell, the Vice Chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, wrote in an email,
“We can be especially proud of the City of Milwaukee (80.2% Dem Vote) casting 37,000 less votes than cast in the 2018 election with the major reduction happening in the overwhelming Black and Hispanic areas.”
Posted inFact briefs
Can TikTok track a user’s location?
Yes. TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform, collects location information on its users, which now total over one billion.
Posted inFact briefs
Does Tony Evers want to use 10% of the Wisconsin state budget surplus to cut taxes?
Yes. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has proposed to earmark $600 million of Wisconsin’s large surplus for tax relief. The state Department of Administration’s latest projections place Wisconsin’s surplus at around $6.58 billion. Evers’ plan includes a 10% tax cut for “working families.”