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Today — 23 May 2025Main stream

In May 2025, were all Milwaukee County teens under county authority in youth prisons Black or Hispanic?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
22 May 2025 at 17:15
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

As of May 21, all Milwaukee County teens who are the responsibility of the county and held in Wisconsin’s youth prisons were Black or Hispanic.

There were 28 teens (96.4% Black) under “non-serious juvenile offender” court orders.

That includes teens age 17 and under sentenced to the state-run Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake schools – where costs approach $500,000 per year per youth – or the Mendota mental health facility.

Milwaukee County official Kelly Pethke said the county pays for non-serious juvenile offenders; the state pays for juveniles who are sentenced for more serious felonies. Pethke said in early May there were 35 Milwaukee County teens under serious orders, but she didn’t have a racial breakdown. 

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections said May 22 it tracks racial data by region. Nine of 66 youths (13.6%) in the southeast region were white.

Researcher Monique Liston cited the racial disparity in a social media post.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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In May 2025, were all Milwaukee County teens under county authority in youth prisons Black or Hispanic? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Before yesterdayMain stream

Is being transgender classified as a mental illness?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
20 May 2025 at 22:25
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Transgender people – those who have a gender identity that differs from the sex assigned to them at birth – are not considered by medical authorities to have mental illness simply because they are transgender.

In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association revised its mental disorders manual and no longer listed being transgender as a mental disorder. 

“Gender identity disorder” was eliminated and replaced with “gender dysphoria.”

Gender dysphoria is a diagnosis for the distress experienced by some whose gender identity conflicts with their sex assigned at birth.

Numerous medical groups, including the World Health Organization, have stated that being trans is not a mental disorder.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., suggested May 17 at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention that being trans is a mental illness. She said “women shouldn’t be forced to share” facilities such as bathrooms “with mentally ill men.” 

Her campaign spokesperson did not provide information to support Mace’s reference to mental illness.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Is being transgender classified as a mental illness? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Are most American news media ‘radical leftists’?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
20 May 2025 at 18:40
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Studies have found some evidence of liberal leanings among journalists, but not radical viewpoints.

Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab said everyone has a different idea about what constitutes news.

Media Bias rates most media in a range of “strong left, skews left, middle, skews right or strong right.” 

Of the remainder, media rated “hyper-partisan right” or “most extreme right” outnumber those rated “hyper-partisan left” or “most extreme left.”

AllSides, which rates online U.S. political content, rates most media as “lean left,” “center” or “lean right.” 

A 2022 Syracuse University survey said 52% of 1,600 U.S. journalists identified themselves as independent, 36% Democrat, 3% Republican.

A 2020 study by researchers from three U.S. universities concluded that “a dominant majority of journalists identify as liberals/Democrats,” but exhibit “no bias against conservatives” in what they cover.

The office of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., didn’t provide evidence to back his May 9 claim that “most” American news media are “radical leftists.”

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Are most American news media ‘radical leftists’? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Is the US one of only two nations that allow direct advertising of prescription drugs? 

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Margaret Shreiner ／ Wisconsin Watch
14 May 2025 at 14:50
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

The U.S. and New Zealand are the only two countries that allow direct advertising on prescription drugs, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy professor Dr. David Kreling, a pharmaceutical policy and marketing expert.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration approves marketing of prescription drugs through the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The act also prohibits using false or misleading information in advertisements.

The FDA requires advertisements to present the statement on a drug’s side effects in a “clear, conspicuous, and neutral manner.”

Most countries prohibit direct advertising of pharmaceuticals because some available drugs aren’t tested enough to guard against rare but potentially severe side effects.

While the U.S. has never had a federal law banning direct advertising of prescription drugs, companies did not publicize prescription information through direct advertisements until the 1980s. Previously only doctors and pharmacists received that information.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., made the claim April 21.

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Is the US one of only two nations that allow direct advertising of prescription drugs?  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Does Medicare Advantage cost more than traditional Medicare?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
8 May 2025 at 16:55
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

The federal Medicare program spends more per beneficiary for a person on Medicare Advantage than if the person were on traditional Medicare.

The difference is projected at 20% higher, or $84 billion, in 2025, compared with 22% and $83 billion in 2024, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

The independent congressional agency says a key reason is Medicare Advantage uses a fixed monthly payment per beneficiary, rather than fee-for-service. 

Medicare is federal health insurance mainly for people age 65 and over. Medicare Advantage is a private alternative paid for by Medicare. Advantage enrollees can get more benefits, but are restricted on providers they can see.

Advantage enrollment has been increasing, but some enrollees find it difficult to switch to traditional Medicare when they get older and sicker.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents the Madison area, claimed in April that Medicare Advantage was created to save money but costs more than Medicare. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Does Medicare Advantage cost more than traditional Medicare? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Does the federal government recommend more than 70 vaccines for children?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
7 May 2025 at 18:47
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2025 general recommendations are that children receive about 19 vaccinations and other immunizations.

Those include vaccines against polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis, tetanus and diphtheria. The range is from one to five doses from birth through age 18.

Total doses could exceed 70. That’s mainly from annual recommended doses of the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

Wisconsin requires seven immunizations (19 doses) for schoolchildren. COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are not included.

Before vaccines, many children died from diseases such as measles and pertussis (whooping cough), according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. 

The viruses and bacteria that cause these diseases still exist, and some are deadly, the department says.

Attorney Mary Holland, head of Children’s Health Defense, an organization founded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. that questions vaccines, said May 1 on Wisconsin radio the federal recommendation is for “at least 77 vaccines.”

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Does the federal government recommend more than 70 vaccines for children? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Could the Wisconsin Legislature remove Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan from office over her ICE case?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
1 May 2025 at 17:27
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Wisconsin’s constitution gives the Legislature two methods for removing judges from office.

Impeachment starts with a majority Assembly vote based on “corrupt conduct in office” or commission of a crime. A two-thirds Senate vote following a Senate trial would result in removal.

“Removal by address” occurs through a two-thirds vote of each chamber, based on misconduct. The judge would have an opportunity to make a defense. 

Wisconsin judges run in nonpartisan elections. Both chambers of the Legislature have a simple Republican majority. 

Republicans called for the Legislature to remove Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan after the FBI arrested her April 24. She is charged with two crimes for allegedly obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement from arresting a criminal defendant in her courtroom.

Democrats criticized the arrest.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court temporarily suspended Dugan. The Supreme Court can also remove judges for misconduct, based on a state Judicial Commission investigation.

Judges can also be removed by recall election.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Could the Wisconsin Legislature remove Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan from office over her ICE case? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Did Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers tell state employees not to assist federal immigration officials?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
30 April 2025 at 21:04
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

A memo issued by Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration directs state employees to contact an attorney before offering any cooperation if they are encountered in the workplace by a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

ICE enforces immigration laws, including seeking and deporting individuals in the U.S. illegally.

The April 18 memo directs employees to:

Not answer the ICE agent’s questions.

Not give consent for the agent to enter a nonpublic area.

Call the attorney who represents their office and, if that fails, ask the agent to return later.

Not give the agent data without approval from the attorney. 

Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil of southern Wisconsin criticized Evers after the April 25 arrest of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. She is charged with obstructing immigration authorities from arresting a criminal defendant in her courtroom.
Evers said he did not encourage state employees to break the law.

GOP lawmakers asked him to rescind the memo.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Did Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers tell state employees not to assist federal immigration officials? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Was a World Trade Center building destroyed on 9/11 by ‘controlled demolition’?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
23 April 2025 at 21:20
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Fire was the primary cause of the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 in New York City, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Fires were caused by debris from one of the center’s Twin Towers, according to NIST, a federal agency that investigates building failures.

The towers were struck by airplanes as part of a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

More than 200 people, including scientists and engineers outside of NIST, produced the 2008 NIST report on the center attacks.

The consensus among them and other investigators was fire was the primary cause of the Building 7 collapse, international engineering academics wrote in 2020.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, suggested April 21 that the 47-story building was felled by a “controlled demolition” and that the government has covered up something. He cited a film that raised the demolition conspiracy theory.

NIST said it found no evidence of a blast.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Was a World Trade Center building destroyed on 9/11 by ‘controlled demolition’? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Does Canada impose 200% tariffs on US dairy products?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
23 April 2025 at 20:06
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

U.S.-Canadian trade of agricultural products, including dairy, is generally done without tariffs.

Tariffs are taxes paid on imported goods.

Canada has set tariffs exceeding 200% for U.S. dairy products.

But the tariffs are imposed only when the amount imported exceeds quotas.

The U.S. “has never gotten close to exceeding” quotas that would trigger Canada’s dairy tariffs, the International Dairy Foods Association said in March.

The Washington, D.C.-based group blamed Canadian “protectionist measures” for the U.S. not exporting enough dairy to reach quotas.

Canada-U.S. trade is tariff-free for almost all agricultural products, the U.S. Agriculture Department said in February.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents most of northern Wisconsin, said March 13 “Canada is tariffing us 200%” on dairy.

President Donald Trump made a similar claim March 12 in support of his tariff proposals.

Wisconsin exported $1.4 billion in agricultural products to Canada in 2023, more than double the amount of any other country, according to the latest statistics.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Does Canada impose 200% tariffs on US dairy products? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Did billionaire George Soros spend $100 million on the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
3 April 2025 at 21:17
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Spending on the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court race approached $100 million or more – in total – according to reports leading up to Election Day.

The WisPolitics news outlet tally was $107 million, including $2 million contributed by billionaire George Soros to the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

The party, in turn, funneled donations to the liberal candidate, Susan Crawford. 

The Brennan Center for Justice tally was $98.6 million, enough to make the nonpartisan Wisconsin contest the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.

According to the center, a program at New York University Law School that tracks campaign spending:

The largest amount spent, $28.3 million, was by Crawford’s campaign.

Crawford defeated conservative Brad Schimel, whose campaign spent $15 million.

Schimel was backed by billionaire Elon Musk. The Musk-founded America PAC spent $12.3 million. That’s also a national record for outside spending in a judicial race.

Social media posts claimed that Soros spent $100 million supporting Crawford.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Did billionaire George Soros spend $100 million on the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Are a medical bill and school identification legally enough to be issued a Social Security number?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
2 April 2025 at 18:54
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Official proof of three things — identity, age and citizenship or qualifying immigration status — is required to obtain a Social Security number.

For U.S.-born adults, required documents include a U.S. birth certificate or a U.S. passport, though most U.S.-born citizens are issued a Social Security number at birth.

Noncitizens can apply if they have U.S. permission to work in the U.S. or permanent resident status (U.S.-issued green card). Less common are nonworking immigrants, such as those issued a student visa, who need a Social Security number.

“Merely showing a bill or a school ID is not sufficient,” Kathleen Romig, a former senior adviser at the Social Security Administration, told Wisconsin Watch.

Elon Musk claimed March 30 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that “basically, you can show … a medical bill and a school ID and get a Social Security number.”

Trump administration officials did not reply to emails seeking comment.

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Are a medical bill and school identification legally enough to be issued a Social Security number? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Is it illegal in California to require identification to vote?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
2 April 2025 at 18:30
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

In September, California adopted a law that prohibits local governments from requiring voters to present identification to vote.

The law states that voter ID laws “have historically been used to disenfranchise” certain voters, including those of color or low-income.

The law says California ensures election integrity by requiring a driver’s license number or Social Security number at registration and verifying the voter’s signature with the voter’s registration form.

Voter ID supporters say requiring a photo ID helps prevent voter fraud and increases public confidence in elections.

California is among 14 states that don’t use voter ID. They verify voter identity in other ways, usually signature verification, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. 

Wisconsin has required photo ID since 2016. On April 1, voters approved a referendum adding that requirement to the state constitution.

Elon Musk alluded to the California law during remarks March 30 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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Is it illegal in California to require identification to vote? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Did Milwaukee election officials at the end of ballot counting ‘find bags of ballots that they forgot’?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
28 March 2025 at 20:20
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

City of Milwaukee election officials process absentee ballots at one location on Election Day, which sometimes means ballots are still being fed into tabulators late that night or early the next morning. Results are reported once processing finishes.

Conservative Brad Schimel, who faces liberal Susan Crawford in the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, suggested the late counting was malfeasance, a long-debunked claim.

Schimel on March 18 urged supporters to vote early “so we don’t have to worry that at 11:30 in Milwaukee, they’re going to find bags of ballots that they forgot to put into the machines, like they did in 2018, or in 2024.”

Schimel lost his attorney general re-election bid in 2018. Republican Eric Hovde lost to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in the Nov. 5, 2024, election.

State law prohibits municipalities from preparing absentee ballots before Election Day. A bill that would allow an earlier start has stalled.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Did Milwaukee election officials at the end of ballot counting ‘find bags of ballots that they forgot’? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Has Elon Musk’s PAC in the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race set the record for outside spending on state court elections?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
25 March 2025 at 16:46
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

The Elon Musk–founded America PAC has spent at least $11.5 million on the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, WisPolitics reported March 24.

That doesn’t count another $3 million the PAC gave to the Wisconsin Republican Party, which can funnel unlimited funds to candidates.

Both support conservative candidate Brad Schimel over liberal Susan Crawford.

The nonprofit campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets tracks cumulative independent group spending in state supreme court and appellate court races through 2024.

Its figures indicate the biggest spender nationally is the Citizens for Judicial Fairness, which spent a total of $11.4 million in the 2020 and 2022 Illinois court races.

OpenSecrets’ data cover about two-thirds of the states; not all states report independent expenditures.

The progressive A Better Wisconsin Together has spent $9.2 million on ads backing Crawford, according to ad tracker AdImpact.

Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler said March 18 he believed Musk’s spending might be a national record.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Has Elon Musk’s PAC in the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race set the record for outside spending on state court elections? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Is the majority of federal government spending mandatory?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
20 March 2025 at 20:07
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

About 60% of federal spending is mandatory — appropriations are automatic.

About 27% is discretionary spending, and about 13% pays federal debt interest.

On mandatory spending, more than half is for Medicare and Social Security. 

About 69 million people receive monthly Social Security retirement or disability payments. About 68 million get Medicare, which is health insurance for people 65 and older, and some people under 65 with certain conditions.

Discretionary spending requires annual approvals by Congress and the president. About half is for defense. The rest goes to programs such as transportation, education and housing.

Projected total federal spending in fiscal 2025 is $7 trillion, up about 58% from $4.45 trillion in fiscal 2019.

President Donald Trump pledged March 4 to balance the budget “in the near future.” But the federal debt is projected to grow about $2 trillion annually through 2035.

On March 12, U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., said most federal government spending is mandatory.

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Is the majority of federal government spending mandatory? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Does the Social Security Administration estimate that 30,000 Americans die annually waiting for a decision on their disability benefits?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
13 March 2025 at 19:50
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

The Social Security Administration’s actuary estimated that 30,000 people died in 2023 while waiting for a decision on their application for disability benefits.

That’s according to testimony given to a U.S. Senate committee Sept. 11, 2024, by Martin O’Malley, who was then the Social Security commissioner.

O’Malley said disability applicants wait on average nearly eight months for an initial decision and almost eight more months if they are denied and request reconsideration.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) makes monthly payments to people who have a disability that stops or limits their ability to work. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pays people with disabilities and older adults who have little or no income or resources.

Social Security announced Feb. 28 it plans to cut 7,000 of its 57,000 workers, part of the Trump administration’s initiative to reduce the federal workforce.

The deaths claim was made March 9 in Altoona, Wisconsin, by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

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Does the Social Security Administration estimate that 30,000 Americans die annually waiting for a decision on their disability benefits? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Did Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel say he had ‘no objection’ to Capitol riot pardons issued by Donald Trump?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
6 March 2025 at 18:20
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel has said he supports presidents using pardons, but that violent rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, should not have been pardoned.

Schimel’s opponent in the April 1 election, Susan Crawford, claimed Schimel “went so far as to say he had no objection” to President Donald Trump’s “blanket pardons” for the rioters.

On Jan. 20, 2025, Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or vowed to dismiss cases against all 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the riot, including people convicted of assaulting police.

On Jan. 27, Schimel told reporters “I don’t object to (presidents) utilizing that power.” Later that day, he said “anyone convicted of assaulting law enforcement should serve their full sentence,” but didn’t say Trump shouldn’t have issued the pardons.

In a subsequent interview, Schimel said anyone who committed violence Jan. 6, “I don’t think, on a personal level, they should have been pardoned.”

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Did Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel say he had ‘no objection’ to Capitol riot pardons issued by Donald Trump? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Are Wisconsin sheriffs required to check the immigration status of people in jail?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
5 March 2025 at 19:15
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Wisconsin sheriffs have discretion on whether to report a person booked into county jails to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Racine County Republican, alluded to the background checking Feb. 25.

Vos spoke about an Assembly bill he co-sponsored that would require sheriffs to request proof of legal presence status from individuals jailed for a felony offense.

Former Brown County Sheriff John Gossage, executive director of the Badger State Sheriffs’ Association, said most Wisconsin sheriffs report to ICE a person who is jailed on a felony charge and doesn’t have proof, such as a Social Security number or immigration visa, of legal presence in the U.S.

ICE can ask, but jails are not required, to hold a person for 48 hours if ICE wants to pick up that person for an alleged immigration violation. 

Milwaukee County doesn’t report inmate immigration status to ICE. Dane County also doesn’t assist ICE.

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Are Wisconsin sheriffs required to check the immigration status of people in jail? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Has Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford supported stopping deportations and protecting sanctuary cities?

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Tom Kertscher ／ Wisconsin Watch
26 February 2025 at 19:15
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

There’s no readily available evidence Susan Crawford has supported stopping deportations of illegal immigrants or protecting sanctuary cities, as a Republican attack ad claims.

Sanctuary communities limit how much they help authorities with deportations.

Crawford, a liberal, faces conservative Brad Schimel in the nonpartisan April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

The attack on Crawford was made by the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national group that works to elect Republicans to state offices.

The group provided Wisconsin Watch no evidence to back its claim. A spokesperson cited Democratic support for Crawford and Democratic opposition to cooperating with deportations, but nothing Crawford said on the topics. Searches of past Crawford statements found nothing.

The ad also claims Crawford would “let criminals roam free,” referring to a man convicted of touching girls’ private parts in a club swimming pool. Crawford sentenced the man in 2020 to four years in prison; a prosecutor had requested 10 years.

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Has Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford supported stopping deportations and protecting sanctuary cities? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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