2018 Statewide Board of Directors Ballot

Alonzo Kelly, Green Bay Human Resources and Economics 1. My interests are explicitly concentrated on serving the vulnerable in areas of employment and education. Knowledge is power but powerless if acquired and never used. Since the beginning of time, the separation of people can be found in acquired knowledge and access to capital. I stand before you ready to recalibrate our thinking and service to the most vulnerable amongst us. 2. As the grandson of a single child born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, I have been indoctrinated in the ways of love, race, community, resilience, and forgiveness. My grandmother made my priorities clear; education, faith, family, and community. Being the only Black Male at my College, in my community, in my workplace, and in the C-Suite has prepared me to empathize, advocate, and serve from a place of experience. Today I utilize my formal degrees/education, platforms, private/corporate/government relationships to recognize and respect the civil liberties of all. 3. Enhance the brand of being proactive in areas of civil liberties rather than strictly reactive to violations. Double enrollment of paid members. Host a regional forum/symposium on the brand and initiatives of the ACLU Wisconsin. Host a local/regional/statewide symposium on community relations.

Angela Lang, Milwaukee Executive Director, Electoral work, and organizing 1. For years, civil liberties have been under attack and even more so after the 2016 election. We’ve seen human rights abuses, and racism permeate the fabric of this country for a long time now. As a Black woman in Wisconsin, I’ve seen constant attacks on my community. Wisconsin is the worst place to raise a Black child and home to the most incarcerated zip code in the world. My interests in racial justice and civic participation is more than an interest, but rather a means to survive and thrive in today’s society. 2. As Executive Director of a Black led organization, we work hard to expand civic engagement and make the electoral process accessible to those it has systemically behind. Voting rights work, increasing civic participation and racial justice are all centered in my work. I believe a more educated and informed electorate and community is a more active electorate and community. Making politics accessible for Black folks and expanding civic engagement to not just include voting are all things I am passionate about. 3. I am very interested in continuing to push the board and the organization to be as intersectional as possible. I want to continue the dialogue of racial equity within our work and centering those that are the most marginalized. The ACLU has always had a large platform and I want us to continue to dig deeper into our racial justice work as well as organizing and engaging the new members we gotten since the 2016 election. I want to continue to support the youth programs, of which I am a product of as well as continue to support the expanded advocacy and organizing efforts of the organization.

Ben Marquez, Madison Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. 1. My civil liberties interests are focused on the troubling trend toward intolerance and erosion of our Constitutional rights in Wisconsin and the United States. I am committed to challenging laws restricting the right to vote, reproductive freedom and freedom of expression. I take a special interest in immigration issues and the ways that anti-immigrant attitudes result in the maltreatment of all Latinos regardless of their resident status. The recent attacks on immigrants undermines our values as a nation and subjects all Latino/as to hostility and gross violations of their civil rights. 2. I am proud of the role that the ACLU’s pivotal role in marriage equality and its work countering mass incarceration and police violence, especially in communities of color. I have served on the ACLU of Wisconsin’s Board since 2013. I serve on the development committee, chaired the nominating committee, and served on the special nominating committee. I am also part of the ACLU of Wisconsin’s work to contend with the problem of police shootings and harassment of political activists in Madison. 3. In addition to advancing the above ACLU causes, I want to make sure that the organization broadens its vision of racial justice to fully embrace the cause of Latino/as, the nation’s largest racial and ethnic group. Too often the nation’s politics fails to recognize its new racial and cultural mosaic as well as the civil liberties challenges it presents. It is a mission I embrace in my role as a Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin where I have worked since 1991. I do the same in my role as Director of the Chican@/Latin@ Studies Program.

Brian Thompson, Belleville Retired; former senior executive in arts and government administration 1. I am deeply concerned for the unprecedented assaults on our public institutions, protections, rights and due process, at the national and state level. Wisconsin and our ACLU Affiliate are at the forefront in this fight. 2. In 1983, I was represented by the ACLU National Security Project in Washington, DC in one of the very first challenges to the CIA’s termination of employees for being gay, having begun my Agency employment – and my anticipated career future – working in the White House office of the Director of Central Intelligence. This took place during the early years of the Reagan Administration, which saw similar legal challenges to the firing of gay employees take place across the various foreign affairs and national security agencies. Ten years later, in 1993, I joined the Administration of President Bill Clinton as one of the first-ever openly gay appointees to serve on the White House staff, with the privilege of helping to introduce a reversal of the systematic and systemic discrimination against gays and lesbians in the Federal service. In 2014, I volunteered to help ACLU-Wisconsin organize community action and fundraising in Madison around the marriage equality case. I joined the Board in 2016 and have viewed my service as a meaningful and impactful way to continue my engagement in advocating equality and defending civil liberties, while repaying my own personal debt to this vital organization. 3. I am committed to helping build our Affiliate’s capacity to proactively advocate, educate and mobilize to grow impact and create change.

Christine Munson, Stevens Point         Director of Advising and Student Success; Experience in Indigenous social justice, environmental justice, and access to education. 1. I believe democracy does not exist without an informed electorate. I see this is a critical issue for the United States at this point in time. A responsibility exists to ensure the public has access to multiple sources of accurate, unbiased accounts of news and information so people can make informed decisions. Equally important is protection of voting rights. Access to quality public education from K-12 through post-secondary is a related interest. This not only promotes a healthy democracy, but also works toward a level playing field for those who have been disenfranchised and oppressed. Accurate and authentic information; having a voice in policy; and equal access to resources are necessary to shift our nation to a more inclusive, diverse, and socially just society. 2. I am active with Wisconsin Indian Education Association and am a governance board member for Point of Discovery School. This is a public charter school that promotes student inquiry, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, innovation, and service. I also volunteer with the “Indian” Mascot and Logo Taskforce, a non-for-profit organization working to eliminate race-based mascots and logos from Wisconsin public schools through education, legislation, and advocacy. 3. If selected to serve of the ACLU of Wisconsin board for another term, I look forward to supporting the organization through committee work and promoting sponsored events. I will also continue to work with the board around topics of equity and diversity. For the coming year I will widely share the work of ACLU-WI in central Wisconsin.

James Hall, Milwaukee Attorney 1. I have reviewed the recruitment prospectus and I understand that board members are expected to participate in membership recruitment and fundraising. I have been a practicing lawyer in Milwaukee since 1979, almost 40 years. My areas of practice include, but are not limited to, civil rights, employment, not for profit organizations and litigation. 2. I have been directly involved with various civil liberties matters and issues over the years as a lawyer or advocate, including, but not limited to: education issues such as integration and school choice (vouchers); housing issues, including as co-counsel in a major insurance redlining case; voting rights matters and the recent partisan gerrymandering case; and other matters. 3. In the coming year, my priorities continue to include voting rights, addressing police misconduct, education and fair housing. I would also like to see increased membership in the ACLU and more diversification of membership.

Paul Williams, Milwaukee Communications 1. My major civil liberties interests include protecting the right to vote and ensuring equitable access to the voting process; freedom of speech; the Smart Justice campaign to reduce mass incarceration; the right to privacy; LGBT rights and protections; freedom of religion; and the elimination of racial, ethnic and gender disparities. 2. I have worked for over 25 years to assist marginalized communities in gaining access to quality housing, education, employment, health care, civic participation, and other measures of good quality of life. I am a long-time employee of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, where I have worked in resident services, communication, and neighborhood revitalization leadership roles to connect low-income Milwaukeeans to housing and other vital services. Since 2012 I have been honored to serve on the statewide board of the ACLU of Wisconsin and am exceedingly proud of the accomplishments of the organization during that time. I have also served in leadership roles with other organizations, including: Milwaukee LGBT Community Center board of directors from 2012-2018 (co-president for five years) and 2002 – 2005; United Way of Greater Milwaukee advisory committees; Milwaukee PrideFest board of directors; and the Human Rights League Political Action Committee (now the Fair Wisconsin PAC) board of directors (6 years as president). 3. My top priorities for the organization are to continue building a comprehensive statewide network of citizen champions who can mobilize effectively to defend civil liberties and advance civil rights. The organization must also continue its strategic planning and capacity building to maintain fiscal strength and mission effectiveness for generations to come.

William F. Sulton, Waukesha, Trial lawyer that enforces the laws on civil and constitutional rights and anti-discrimination through litigation. 1. Reforming police practices, Rights of whistleblowers, Rights of protesters, Immigrant detentions, Youth incarceration, Mental health care in jails and prisons, Government surveillance, Racial inequality in schools, Racial inequality in criminal justice, Bail reform, Voter suppression, Gerrymandering, Nondiscrimination in the workplace, and Drug Policy reform. 2. I am a trial lawyer. My practice focuses on civil, constitutional and employee rights. I have sued police for unlawful stops, frisks, arrests and excessive force. I have sued jails and prisons for inadequate medical care. I have sued city, state and federal officials for denying hearings or providing inadequate hearings. I represented an immigrant that was unlawful detained. I have sued businesses for failing to provide equal access to the disabled. I have sued employers for discrimination based on race, sex, disability and age. I am the treasurer of the Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers (WAAL). WAAL advocates for legal and judicial reform that advances equality. I am a past chairman of the Center for Self-Sufficiency (CSS). CSS serves low-income residents in the greater Milwaukee area with a variety of programs, including successful transitions for the formerly incarcerated. I am a consultant for the legal redress committee of the Milwaukee Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The legal redress committee directs legal resources to complaints of discrimination. 3. Support efforts that make voting more accessible and convenient. Support efforts to redraw the voting maps in Wisconsin. Get a commitment from the Milwaukee Police Department that the shot spotter technology, by itself, does not create reasonable suspicion to stop and frisk citizens in black neighborhoods. Get a commitment from the Milwaukee Police Department that a no-knock search warrant, by itself, does not create a right to throw flash bangs into black neighborhoods. Support efforts to ban-the-box on employment applications inquiring about arrest and conviction history. Support efforts to challenge government surveillance technologies. Support drug treatment programs as an alternative to imprisonment. Support efforts to achieve equal pay for women workers. Support efforts to achieve equality in applications for leases and mortgages.