Waukesha Suspect’s Previous Release Agitates Efforts to Reduce Bail
The New York Times
Darrell Brooks, accused of plowing his S.U.V. through a Wisconsin parade, had been freed on $1,000 bail for a different charge in Milwaukee County, where there is a backlog of cases.
In early November, prosecutors in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office made a fast, fateful decision, asking that bond for a 39-year-old repeat offender accused of brutalizing his girlfriend, then running over her with an S.U.V., be set at only $1,000.
That call, one of many made in the city’s bustling criminal court that day, initiated a succession of events that ended, according to the police, with that man, Darrell E. Brooks Jr., ramming his maroon Ford Escape through the barricades of a Christmas parade in nearby Waukesha, killing six people and injuring dozens more.
The bail decision has brought criticism raining down on Milwaukee County’s district attorney, John T. Chisholm, a Democrat who has tried to reduce high rates of incarceration and racial disparities in the justice system. Longtime critics, led by Wisconsin’s previous governor, Scott Walker, blamed Mr. Brooks’s release on Mr. Chisholm’s “radical” liberal ideology.
The disgraced New York politician is considering a run for City Council. But even in an era of political comebacks, this might be pushing it.
Conservatives in Florida have moved from explosive politics to subtler tactics to uproot liberal “indoctrination” in higher education by removing classes like Sociology from core requirements.
A document prepared by federal investigators bolsters claims by women who say they were hired for sex by Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice for attorney general, who denies wrongdoing.
Joanna Smith-Griffin was charged with lying to investors about revenue and her customer base, which she claimed included some of the nation’s largest school districts, including New York City’s.
Ms. Tisch, a member of a prominent New York family who has held several positions in city government, will take over the nation’s largest police department.
The verdict followed a four-day bench trial in which prosecutors detailed a violent attack that became a flashpoint in the bitter national debate over immigration policy.
Now that New York City and surrounding counties are under a drought warning, officials are asking residents to save water and help prevent more wildfires.
The return to power of President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has vowed to confront China on tariffs, has created deep uncertainty about the U.S. role in avoiding global conflicts.
G.O.P. lawmakers whose leaders have pressed to roll back transgender rights around the country moved to bar Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, from women’s rooms on Capitol Hill.
The billionaire has rapidly transformed parts of the state, shocking even development-friendly officials: “It was like, ‘Voilà, Elon is here.’”
School districts serving more than two million elementary-school children would be able to adopt a curriculum that draws on the Bible.