MILWAUKEE — Volunteers will soon become familiar faces for Milwaukee County criminal court judges.
A local group called ‘Enough is Enough’ just launched a court watch program in Milwaukee County.
The effort is focused on taking a critical look at sentencing decisions for reckless drivers convicted of felony crimes. They’ve identified around 800 cases currently making their way through the court process.
The district attorney’s office and the county’s top judge are aware of the initiative and welcome it.
Ruth Ehrgott is helping lead the initiative. She says it is part of her daughter Erin Mogensen’s legacy. The pregnant 32-year-old was killed by a reckless driver last fall.
“Everyone needs to know Erin Mogensen,” Ehrgott said. “They need to take that personally. That’s why I do it.”
Ehrgott calls it a grueling and time-consuming effort for 15 volunteers.
“It is a full-time job,” she said. “We’ve kind of realized that.”
Carl Ashley’s full-time job is leading Milwaukee County’s judges.
“This group is confident their work could make a difference by giving community impact statements, wearing their badges in the courtroom, and making it known to the judge that they’re monitoring them. Do you think it will make a difference?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
“Well, I hope we don’t need people to sit in court with badges for judges to do their jobs,” Chief Judge Ashley said. “I certainly want to encourage people to come down here. It’s public but I’m hopeful our judges will make the decision regardless of who’s in the courtroom, the best decision they can.”
Jeanne Lupo is leading the court watch program.
"I think that what I see is when there's a reckless driving incident, I look up the person who's responsible and I see a litany of previous charges for that person,” she said.
We took Lupo’s concerns to Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern.
"Everyone is concerned about their safety right now,” he said.
Lovern is running unopposed in an upcoming election to become the next top prosecutor in the county.
“Do you think reckless drivers who are convicted of felony-level crimes are being held accountable by judges?” Jordan asked.
"I think certainly in some cases the recommendations we're making are being followed and we continue to make the recommendations we make,” D.D.A. Lovern replied. “Defense attorneys make the recommendations they make and the courts are the ultimate decision-makers."
Ehrgott and Lupo are on a mission to collect data and analyze average sentences for a variety of reckless driving crimes. It’s something Chief Judge Ashley and D.D.A. Lovern acknowledge isn’t currently tracked by their office.
“What do you hope they find by doing so?” Jordan asked.
“What we want is we want appropriate sentences for crimes that are committed, so the crimes that are hurting other people deserve a strong response,” he said. “There's just no question about that. They deserve a strong recommendation from this office and we hope for a strong decision from courts related to offenses that are endangering other people."
Eventually, ‘Enough is Enough’ plans to share their findings with the public to let people in our community decide whether the criminal justice system is holding reckless drivers accountable.
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