Milwaukee Rising

The Common Council went on record last week opposing a bill backed by some Milwaukee Democrats that would prohibit housing discrimination based on arrests or convictions that are more than three years old.

“My office, in meeting with landlords, regularly advises that one of the things that landlords can do to make sure their properties are not facilitating drug dealing or gang activity is to screen their tenants,” Assistant City Attorney Adam Stephens told the council’s Judiciary and Legislation Committee ealier this month.

“That would be a problem” if the landlords had to worry about becoming criminals themsleves, he said.

Under the proposed legislation, a felon who served four years in prison for a serious crime would be protected under the law because the conviction would be more than three years old, Stephens said.

“Obviously, that’s a very practical concern,” he said.

A less serious offender serving probation on a more recent conviction would not be protected, he said.

“I’m a little confused as to the point of this legislation,” Ald. Ashanti Hamilton said.

The major sponsor of the draft legislation, which has not yet been introduced,  is State Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids). Assembly co-sponsors  include Milwaukee Democrats Annette Williams, Tamara Grigsby and Fred Kessler, city officials said.

Schneider has long been concerned about the misuse of electronic court records in employment screening, and other legislators believe that convicted criminals need a place to live and deserve a second chance, city lobbyist Jennifer Gonda said.

“There’s sort of a sympathetic factor there,” she said.

Ald. Jim Bohl said he was confident the vast majority of constituents would support him in door-to-door debates with the legislation’s sponsors over the proposal’s merits.

“This is not something that would be positively viewed by most of their constituency,” he said.

Bohl predicted the committee’s recommendation to oppose the measure would sail through the full council.

It did — unanimously.