“Lack of Urgency,” “No Pressure,” “Proud”- Behind the Scenes of Brad Schimel Delaying Justice for Victims

MADISON, Wis. — While Backlog Brad tries to rewrite the history of his failure to promptly test thousands of backlogged rape kits in Wisconsin, Schimel’s excuses couldn’t be further from the truth: Brad Schimel made the choice to ignore thousands of untested rape kits until he was running for reelection, delaying justice for survivors while violent offenders walked free.

Reporting covering Brad Schimel’s failures at the time showed his Department of Justice “lacked a sense of urgency” in locating and testing idled rape kits, with one agent telling a local police department there was “no pressure” to find untested rape kits. Brad Schimel himself appeared before the State Legislature in March 2017 to say he was “proud” of the progress made toward clearing the backlog—despite his DOJ having only tested nine out of 6,000 backlogged kits.

Here’s the full picture how Brad Schimel failed survivors in Wisconsin:

• Brad Schimel showed a remarkable lack of urgency in seeking justice for victims of sexual assault in Wisconsin.
• Despite receiving a $4 million grant to start testing rape kits in 2015, two years later Brad Schimel’s Department of Justice had only tested nine out of over 6,000 untested rape kits.
• Brad Schimel outright lied about the rape kit backlog, falsely claiming “a few hundred” backlogged kits had been tested before earning a “pants-on-fire” rating for pretending that no backlog existed at all.
• Brad Schimel chose to delay getting justice for survivors to “wait for a bargain price” to hire private labs to test rape kits instead of asking the Legislature for more resources to clear Wisconsin’s backlog.
• While bargain hunting for justice, Schimel spent $10,000 in taxpayer funds on commemorative coins emblazoned with his own personal motto: Kick Ass Every Day.
• Brad Schimel even stooped so low as to blame survivors of sexual assault for his failure to process untested rape kits, suggesting that “victim choices” were a leading cause of the kit backlog.
• But even as Waukesha County District Attorney, Brad Schimel allowed 26 kits to remain untested, including over 20 cases involving children.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.