Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.
~Edmund Burke

The race for Milwaukee City Attorney is off and running.

Longtime City Attorney Grant Langley versus State Representative Pedro Colón (D-Milwaukee) in what promises to be a spirited race for a heretofore obscure office.

Colón is out to change the position, with an activist’s approach.

Colón has made some enemies and stepped on some toes as an activist attorney and state representative, but he brings a broad coalition in his campaign for the April 1 election.

As has been widely noted, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, District Attorney John Chisholm, the incoming president of the Milwaukee Bar Association and the Wisconsin Trial Lawyers Association and almost all of Milwaukee’s legislative delegation have endorsed Colón’s hard-line approach to flushing out destructive policy, and becoming part of the solution in addressing city-wide problems.

As Greg J. Borowski of the Journal Sentinel wrote in a column from December.

Colón, a Democratic member of the Assembly, sees the office as a bully pulpit, the job as that of an aggressive advocate for the city on policy matters. For instance, he envisions a greater role in fighting crime. …

"It's your duty to represent the people of Milwaukee," Colón said. "You cannot not have an opinion if the case is so clear. Lawyers are advocates. Judges are objective."

To borrow from Harry S. Truman [Address at the National Archives Dedicating the New Shrine for the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, December 15, 1952]:

“We have discovered that the Constitution does not prevent us from correcting social injustice, or advancing the general welfare.”

Colón is betting that voters agree that the City’s Attorney’s charter likewise allows contributions to problem solving and advocacy for Milwaukee citizens’ welfare.

That may prove a difficult argument for City Attorney Langley to overcome.

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