November 14, 2015
NAACP WISCONSIN STATE CONFERENCE OF BRANCHES HOLDS ANNUAL STATE CONVENTION IN DANE COUNTY
Frank A. Humphrey elected State Conference President
On Saturday, November 14, 2015 the NAACP Dane County Branch hosted delegates and members of the NAACP Wisconsin State Conference of Branches as they gathered for their annual state convention and training session at the American Family Insurance National Headquarters in Madison, WI.
Guest presentations delivered during the day included: “Foreclosure Prevention & Mortgage Lending” presented by Brent Barry, Regional Diverse Segments Manager, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; and “EPA’s Clean Power Plan, Reflections on Opportunities for Communities of Color” presented by Keith Reopelle, Sr. Policy Director – Clean Wisconsin. Dr. Jerome Reide, NAACP Regional Director, conducted “Voter Empowerment Training” in preparation for the national election cycle.
The organization’s biennial election of State Conference Officers was also conducted during the Convention. The election results were:
Wisconsin State Conference Officers
President
Frank A. Humphrey, Dane County Branch
1st Vice President
Wendell J. Harris, Jr., Milwaukee Branch
2nd Vice President
Beverly Hicks, Racine Branch
Secretary
Veronica King, Kenosha Branch
Newly elected officers were installed as the days’ final order of business, and will serve a two-year term.
NAACP WISCONSIN STATE CONFERENCE OF BRANCHES HOLDS ANNUAL STATE CONVENTION IN DANE COUNTY
Frank A. Humphrey elected State Conference President
On Saturday, November 14, 2015 the NAACP Dane County Branch hosted delegates and members of the NAACP Wisconsin State Conference of Branches as they gathered for their annual state convention and training session at the American Family Insurance National Headquarters in Madison, WI.
Guest presentations delivered during the day included: “Foreclosure Prevention & Mortgage Lending” presented by Brent Barry, Regional Diverse Segments Manager, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; and “EPA’s Clean Power Plan, Reflections on Opportunities for Communities of Color” presented by Keith Reopelle, Sr. Policy Director – Clean Wisconsin. Dr. Jerome Reide, NAACP Regional Director, conducted “Voter Empowerment Training” in preparation for the national election cycle.
The organization’s biennial election of State Conference Officers was also conducted during the Convention. The election results were:
Wisconsin State Conference Officers
President
Frank A. Humphrey, Dane County Branch
1st Vice President
Wendell J. Harris, Jr., Milwaukee Branch
2nd Vice President
Beverly Hicks, Racine Branch
Secretary
Veronica King, Kenosha Branch
Newly elected officers were installed as the days’ final order of business, and will serve a two-year term.
U.S. Court of Appeals Ruling Is Below - PLEASE READ
Federal appeals court allows Wisconsin to enforce Voter ID laws
United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
September 12, 2014
Before
Frank H. Easterbrook, Circuit Judge
Diane S. Sykes, Circuit Judge
John Daniel Tinder, Circuit Judge
Order
On August 21, 2014, this court issued an order providing that the motion for a stay would be considered by the panel assigned to decide the case on the merits. This order further provided that the state was free, in the interim, to implement the changes to the procedures for obtaining (or excusing reliance on) birth certificates, and similar documents, that the Supreme Court of Wisconsin adopted in Milwaukee Branch of NAACP v. Walker, 2014 WI 98 (July 31, 2014).
Having read the briefs and heard oral argument, this court now stays the injunction issued by the district court. The State of Wisconsin may, if it wishes (and if it is appropriate under rules of state law), enforce the photo ID requirement in this November’s elections.
The district court held the state law invalid, and enjoined its implementation, even though it is materially identical to Indiana’s photo ID statute, which the Supreme Court held valid in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, 553 U.S. 181 (2008). It did this based on findings that it thought showed that Wisconsin did not need this law to promote an important governmental interest, and that persons of lower income (disproportionately minorities) are less likely to have driver’s licenses, other acceptable photo ID, or the birth certificates needed to obtain them, which led the court to hold that the statute violates §2 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §1973.
After the district court’s decision, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin revised the procedures to make it easier for persons who have difficulty affording any fees to obtain the birth certificates or other documentation needed under the law, or to have the need for documentation waived. Milwaukee
Branch of NAACP v. Walker, 2014 WI 98 (July 31, 2014). This reduces the likelihood of irreparable injury, and it also changes the balance of equities and thus the propriety of federal injunctive relief. The panel has concluded that the state’s probability of success on the merits of this appeal is sufficiently great that the state should be allowed to implement its law, pending further order of this court.
The appeals remain under advisement, and an opinion on the merits will issue in due course.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2014
The Forward Together Wisconsin coalition will Stand Together to Challenge Injustice and Regressive Public Policies during a Moral Week of Action at the Wisconsin State Capitol
Other States Are Holding Similar Campaigns across Nation
Madison, WI –The statewide coalition of religious, social justice and labor organizations, Forward Together Wisconsin, is mobilizing for a Moral Week of Action at the Wisconsin State Capitol from August 21–28 to stand up against the flood of regressive social policies pushed and passed by legislators in the past two years.
Across the nation, coalitions in other states will stand in solidarity with the Moral Week of Action by undertaking similar campaigns at their legislative houses to protest extremist lawmakers who champion laws that devastate the country’s most vulnerable communities.
“The policies and actions undertaken by the Wisconsin state legislature have set the stage for a path of pain and destruction that will be felt by the people of Wisconsin for years to come. Wisconsin, once a national leader in political reform and improving the human condition, has fallen short of the virtues of the Wisconsin Idea,” said Gregory Jones – NAACP Wisconsin State Political Action Chair.
Each day at the Wisconsin State Capitol East Entrance, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., the coalition will lift its voices for certain urgent issues while still recognizing the inherent connections between all social justice struggles and movements. A march around the Capitol Building will immediately follow the days’ speeches.
The issues that this Moral Week of Action will emphasize are:
August 18, 2014
The Forward Together Wisconsin coalition will Stand Together to Challenge Injustice and Regressive Public Policies during a Moral Week of Action at the Wisconsin State Capitol
Other States Are Holding Similar Campaigns across Nation
Madison, WI –The statewide coalition of religious, social justice and labor organizations, Forward Together Wisconsin, is mobilizing for a Moral Week of Action at the Wisconsin State Capitol from August 21–28 to stand up against the flood of regressive social policies pushed and passed by legislators in the past two years.
Across the nation, coalitions in other states will stand in solidarity with the Moral Week of Action by undertaking similar campaigns at their legislative houses to protest extremist lawmakers who champion laws that devastate the country’s most vulnerable communities.
“The policies and actions undertaken by the Wisconsin state legislature have set the stage for a path of pain and destruction that will be felt by the people of Wisconsin for years to come. Wisconsin, once a national leader in political reform and improving the human condition, has fallen short of the virtues of the Wisconsin Idea,” said Gregory Jones – NAACP Wisconsin State Political Action Chair.
Each day at the Wisconsin State Capitol East Entrance, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., the coalition will lift its voices for certain urgent issues while still recognizing the inherent connections between all social justice struggles and movements. A march around the Capitol Building will immediately follow the days’ speeches.
The issues that this Moral Week of Action will emphasize are:
- Thursday, 8.21 – News Conference with Wisconsin Clergy and Moral Leaders
- Friday, 8.22 – Labor Rights, Fair and Living Wages, and Economic Justice
- Saturday, 8.23 – Education and Criminal Justice
- Sunday, 8.24 – Equal Protection under the Law: Call for Respect in the Law and in the Community regardless of race, creed, class, gender, sexual orientation and immigration status
- Monday, 8.25 – Youth Moral Monday
- Tuesday, 8.26 – Women’s Rights
- Wednesday, 8.27 – Medicaid Expansion, Health Care and Environmental Justice
- Thursday, 8.28 – Voting Rights
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