Wisconsin has over 1,600 jury instructions, and all are now available online at no cost. Law librarian Carol Hassler discusses the basics of Wisconsin jury instructions, and how to stay on top of the latest updates.
Wisconsin has over 1,600 jury instructions, and all are now available online at no cost. Law librarian Carol Hassler discusses the basics of Wisconsin jury instructions, and how to stay on top of the latest updates.
These forward thinkers are advancing the legal profession and serving the public. This year we honor Lifetime Innovator Michael Rust and other lawyers whose innovations focus on technology and access. 95 Wis. Law. 34 (November 2022)
These forward thinkers are advancing the legal profession and serving the public. This year we honor Lifetime Innovator Michael Rust and other lawyers whose innovations focus on technology and access. 95 Wis. Law. 34 (November 2022)
California nonprofit pushes states to make jury instructions more broadly available
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Since his early days as a lawyer, Wisconsin criminal defense attorney Chad Lanning has been troubled that the state’s jury instructions were not freely available to the legal community or the general public.
He has also long thought it was odd that the materials essential to the functioning of the justice system could be copyrighted by the University of Wisconsin.
“It just always seemed wrong on the most basic level,” Lanning says.
As Lanning rose to leadership in the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in recent years, he renewed the group’s efforts to raise concerns about the state’s handling of jury instructions.