WI Gov Walker Appoints Judge That Self-Identifies as a "Child Sex Crimes Defense Lawyer"

[RandySF]

Ahhh, another day, another jaw-dropping hire / appointment by Walker.

In the midst of a national scourge of child sexual predators coming to light, Walker has appointed attorney Jennifer Dorow, who specializes in defending such child predators, as the new Waukesha County judge.

Jennifer Dorow doesn't just rely on word-of-mouth, she explicitly advertises on her firm's website, under the heading "Areas of Practice," that defending child sexual predators is her specialty:

Child Sex Crimes
Waukesha Child Sex Crimes Defense Attorneys When You or Your Child Are Accused of a Child Sex Crime
Years in prison. A criminal record. A social stigma that will be with you for the rest of your life. These are only a few reasons to fight your child sex offense charges with an experienced, aggressive criminal defense attorney.

The Waukesha child sex crimes defense lawyers at Huppertz & Dorow, S.C., have more than 35 combined years of experience defending clients against serious child sex crime charges. Send us an e-mail or call us at 262-549-5979 as soon as possible. The first meeting is on us and you can pay any future fees with a credit card. We will clearly explain the pricing for our services, which is normally a flat fee.

Not sure? How about this hard sell:

Our Waukesha / Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Internet Crimes and Child Pornography Lawyers
Our lawyers have an impressive track record: attorney Matthew Huppertz has argued hundreds of cases in front of Wisconsin's judges and juries, including five cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Attorney Jennifer Dorow is a former Waukesha County Prosecutor who has firsthand knowledge about how prosecutors handle child sex abuse cases. Both lawyers have been AV Rated* under Martindale-Hubbell's Peer Review Rating Process. Attorney Mark Powers is also a former prosecutor for Waukesha County with extensive criminal defense experience.
We defend against child sex crime accusations involving:
Child pornography
Child solicitation, including Internet solicitation of a minor
Child enticement
Statutory rape
Sexual assault of a minor
Sexual exploitation of a minor
Prostitution and Internet stings

Of course, everyone deserves to be represented in court by a qualified attorney, but I have never seen a defense attorney advertise their wanting to do this putrid task!

The kicker? This all comes at the same time that Walker is announcing nearly a million in cuts to the state's management of the same sex offenders that Dorow specializes in defending.



http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/walker-appoints-judge-self-identifies-child-sex-crimes-defense-l

[LAGC]

1. As distasteful as the idea of advertising to accused sex offenders is...

I actually think its a good idea to appoint more defense attorneys to the bench.

I mean, most judge appointments are solely former prosecutors, so I have to question how objective they can really be when they have never argued from the perspective of the accused.

In this case, it sounds like she was both a former prosecutor as well as a an expert defense attorney, so she might actually make a decent judge.

Walker should still be recalled though.

[COLGATE4]

2. I agree with your conclusion, but

disagree that it's "distasteful...advertising to accused sex offenders". The key word here is "accused". Anyone accused of a crime, regardless of the nature of that crime is entitled to and should have the best representation possible in order to guarantee a fair trial. The moment we start making moral judgments as to it being distasteful to represent people accused of a certain crime we diminish our entire judicial system.

[LAGC]

3. Fair enough.

Point taken.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

4. I will echo and add to your comments.

Cases involving children, such as child sex crimes but also including other things like custody disputes, generally have unique procedural and evidentiary rules, and an attorney who is experienced in these rules is generally more effective than one who doesn't know the particular ins and outs.

Add to that the additional expertise required to elicit testimony or cross-examine a child, who most likely is scared to be on the stand in the first place. A good attorney needs to know how to get the required testimony without antagonizing the child or coming off as the "bad guy." That kind of finesse takes years to develop.