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 Abstract

Excerpted From: Felicia L. Owen, Wisconsin Law Reinforces White Supremacy Through Article Xiii, Section 3 of the State Constitution, 23 Marquette Benefits & Social Welfare Law Review. 59 (Fall, 2021) (112 Footnotes) (Full Document)

Wisconsin law reinforces white supremacy through the constitutional provision barring individuals convicted of a felony or misdemeanor violating public trust from holding public office. Article XIII, Section 3(2) and (3) states:

(2) No person convicted of a felony, in any court within the United States, no person convicted in federal court of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under federal law as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust and no person convicted, in a court of a state, of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under the law of the state as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust shall be eligible to any office of trust, profit or honor in this state unless pardoned of the conviction.

(3) No person may seek to have placed on any ballot for a state or local elective office in this state the name of a person convicted of a felony, in any court within the United States, the name of a person convicted in federal court of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under federal law as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust or the name of a person convicted, in a court of a state, of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under the law of the state as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust, unless the person named for the ballot has been pardoned of the conviction.

Subsection 2 prohibits an individual from seeking public office, while Subsection 3 prohibits an individual from being placed on a ballot. It is through these two subsections of the State Constitution that white supremacy is upheld in the State of Wisconsin. It is because of white supremacy in Wisconsin, that the state once known for its progressive leadership has now become a national leader for some of the worst disparities in racial equity.

This Comment will explain how the above constitutional provision upholds a power structure designed to maintain the power of white Americans over communities of color in the State of Wisconsin. Part II will explain what white supremacy is and theories on why it persists. Part II will also explain how national and state laws have changed throughout the nation's history to maintain white supremacy. Part III will explain how the constitutional provision reinforces white supremacy currently. And finally, Part IV will explain how this state can begin to address this problem. It is the goal of this Comment to enlighten readers on how Wisconsin law has historically, and continually, maintained white supremacy, while also offering solutions to consider such as the repeal of the above-mentioned constitutional provision.

[. . .]

Wisconsin was once known as a progressive state. In 1851, the state adopted the official state motto “Forward” as a nod to Wisconsin's continuous drive to be a national leader. In 1859, the Wisconsin Supreme Court famously declared the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional. In 1911, Wisconsin introduced “the nation's first workers compensation program, a progressive state income tax, and more stringent child labor laws.” The following year, in 1912, then New York Senator, but future President, Theodore Roosevelt called Wisconsin a “laboratory for wise experimental legislation aiming to secure the social and political betterment of the people as a whole.”

Sadly, the laws that have been written and enacted in this state over the last 100 years have led our state from a progressive leader in the country, to a state that continues to end up on list after list of worst state to live for people of color. The state is a long way from rectifying the problems created by white supremacy but as our country is in a moment of reckoning, it is hopeful that we are headed in the right direction. By acknowledging the history that created these problems, changing what we can and going forward conscious of how our laws and policies affect different communities, Wisconsin can once again become the progressive leader once worthy of the state motto, “Forward!”

Felicia Owen is a graduate of Marquette University Law School where she served as the President of the Hispanic-Latino Law Student Association, the Student Liaison for the Milwaukee Bar Association, a student member of the University of Marquette's Committee on Diversity and Equity and a Staff Editor for the Marquette Benefits and Social Welfare Law Review.

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