Wisconsin SD 5: Tom Reynolds Fighting for the Right to Neglect His Children
This week’s 2,151 word Capital Times story on strange State Senator Tom Reynolds, while recounting most of his greatest hits in strangeness, missed one of the more troubling episodes in his political career.
This one is not quite as visually disturbing as the fingers and butts episode we shared with you some weeks ago. This one nearly constitutes child neglect.
You see Reynolds believes it is his God-given right to not buckle up his 5 children (ages 2 to 17) when they’re riding in his car. After being ticketed for driving his children around unbuckled, Tom Reynolds demanded a jury trial, but was found guilty by a judge because the evidence was so convincing.
And Reynolds didn't stop there: he then directed his state taxpayer-paid staff to develop legislation to eliminate "directed verdicts" by a judge in open and shut cases like his.
Here's a recounting of the case from Spivak and Bice:
And just take a look at some of the proposals the first-termer has been working on behind the scenes, including:
...Outlawing directed verdicts - when judges toss a case before it goes to a jury - even though they have been around for centuries. His proposal came after a Milwaukee County judge issued a directed verdict ordering Reynolds to pay nearly $140 in fines and court costs for not buckling his or his children's seat belts.
A transcript shows an annoyed Judge Carl Ashley urged Reynolds on three occasions to hire a lawyer instead of trying the case himself, advice Reynolds ignored. "It's the only seat-belt jury trial that I ever heard of anybody doing," said Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Resar, who won this slam dunk of a case. He added, "Directed verdicts are as about old as the legal system."
Tom Reynolds. Not fit for public office.
