A personal gripe I have of coverage of legal and judicial topics is the lack of research.

Few appear to read the briefs, focusing on judicial doctrine, without getting an editorial rebuke for writing “legalese,” thought to alienate a chunk of readership.

Gadfly Michael Horne has a well-researched piece out topical to Milwaukee’s race for City Attorney.

Horne digged out a case that blew up in City Atty Grant Langley's face, awarding a bank $400,000, paid by Milwaukee taxpayers.

Besides the $400,000 judgement, the judge, Ralph Adam Fine, denounced the City Atty's office under Langley's administration, for calling the bank’s legal position: "Hogwash," "Ludicrous," "Crazy," and "Obstructionistanarchist".

Writes Judge Fine:

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.

Faced with the prospect of answering to Milwaukee citizens, those running for city-wide office should be offering creative and proactive ideas to address critical City issues.

Forget your turf wars, and the politicians’ it’s-not-my-job excuses, get off your ass and do something. Right?

Make coalitions with city-wide officials, make inaction a dirty word. Do something to be part of the solution.

At least all agree with that, right? Wrong.

State Representative Pedro Colon kicked off his campaign for Milwaukee City Attorney “from the same southside community center where he learned to box as a young man.”

I was very happy to read this. 

I don’t care for most elected officials. Most seem to be out for themselves; the same with most prosecutors and, frankly, with most people in government generally. They forget the service in public service.

But Pedro Colon is different; he’s one of those people who actually believe in public service in the great tradition of “Fighting Bob,” Robert M. La Follette Sr.