Letter to Milw J-S regarding killings of young black men:Excuse me, but I beg to differ with the impression left in your Local Section article on the Darius Williams/Spooner case on July 16th. I quote, "...including the lack of a Wisconsin stand-your-ground law or a self-defense claim in on Spooner's part". This was apparently a statement made by the (uneducated? Really?) lawyer for Darius William. The article is not clear on whether the lawyer said it or it's a Journal statement. Correction: there is indeed a Wisconsin "stand-your-ground" law, modeled exactly after the Florida law, and it was passed 2 years ago. Both Wisconsin's and Florida's, and 28 other states, were instructed by ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC is a group of corporations and big businesses that wines and dines our legislators and then hands them pre-written laws, written by a corporation representative working with an agreeable legislator, only to see the light of day if the corporation counsel agrees with the final product. They consider themselves educational, and have claimed 501c3, or tax-deductible, status, even though they are writing our laws. 19 of 32 ALEC written laws were passed by our Wisconsin legislature this last session. ALEC is especially great for young or new legislators who don't know how to write laws yet. (Think of term limits here, and what they could mean against our democracy.) As Tommy Thompson said in 2002, "Myself, I always loved going to (ALEC) meetings because I always found new ideas. Then I'd take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that 'It's mine.' " The Wisconsin Castle Doctrine law is AB69. It is referred to as Wisconsin's Castle Law, and the Journal-Sentinel mentioned it in the article on the Slinger killing of an innocent young black teenager who was hiding on someone's porch when he was shot dead, not just injured, by the owner of the house. So, the Journal-Sentinel is not unaware of the law. I hope this was just an oversight on the part of all 3 who read the article before publication: writer, proofreader, and editor. The impression left by your article Monday begs for correction: we do indeed have a Castle Law, or Stand your Ground law, in Wisconsin, unfortunately. Mary Laan Chair, Move to Amend of S.E. Wisconsin3302 No. Bremen Street Milwaukee, WI 53212414 491 3871 cell #
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