Sen. Jon Erpenbach goes to bat for Capitol protesters

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/steven_elbow/sen-jon-erpenbach-goes-to-bat-for-capitol-protesters/article_35e6eae1-c200-5a16-a304-2105b78281e5.html

As the crackdown continues at the Capitol, state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, is asking state officials to stop arresting protesters.

In a letter to Department of Administration Secretary Michael Huebsch, Erpenbach calls on Huebsch to put a stop to the practice of handcuffing protesters and hauling them to the Capitol basement for "processing."

"I would suggest that you abandon the current permit policy, and stop the arrests of noon-time singers," Erpenbach writes. "Because if the goal was eliminating the singing — your policy is producing the direct opposite."

Like previous crackdowns, the current one — which since July 24 has resulted in about 300 citations at $200.50 a crack — has boosted the numbers of those participating in the event.

Erpenbach also takes Huebsch to task for engineering a double-digit pay increase for Capitol Police Chief David Erwin and his second-in-command that was made legally possible by shuffling them to phantom jobs at the Department of Administration, then back to their current positions.