Lawmakers, advocates renew calls to pass missing and murdered Black women and girls task force bill

Erika Brown, a spokesperson for Robinson’s Family and director of the Sade's Voice Foundation, said that Sheena, Sade’s mother “has been thrust into a nightmare — one marked by anger, disappointment and profound grief.” (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

Democratic lawmakers, family members of victims and advocates renewed the call Thursday for the creation of a task force on missing and murdered Black women and girls in Wisconsin. 

The proposed task force, which is inspired by a task force within the Department of Justice on missing and murdered Indigenous women, would examine the factors that contribute to violence against Black women and girls. 

A bill to create the task force was passed by the state Assembly in February, but it never received a vote in the Senate. Under that bill, the task force would include 17 members including state legislators, representatives from certain law enforcement organizations, from certain legal organizations and from groups that provide services to Black women and girls. 

Coauthor Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) called on the Senate to meet for a floor session to vote on the bill at the Thursday press conference in the Capitol. 

“This bill has yet to be given a date in the Senate. They came back on Tuesday for vetoes. Why don’t they come back now and do this bill?” Stubbs said. Senate Democrats tried to bring the bill, along with four other bills, to the floor on Tuesday but were unsuccessful. 

“I’m standing here demanding that the Senate reconvenes to give Assembly Bill 615/Senate Bill 568 a day to be heard on the floor in a day, to be voted on,” Stubbs said.

Stubbs said that she had reached out to Senate President Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) to ask him to bring the Senate into an extraordinary session. 

Advocates held up photos of Black women and girls who have gone missing in recent months and years at the press conference including Lasheky Hill, a 46-year-old who went missing in Racine in March 2023; Joniah Walker, a 15-year-old who went missing in Milwaukee in June 2022, and Sade Carleena Robinson, a 19-year-old who was murdered and dismembered in Milwaukee last month.

A 2022 investigation by the Guardian found that the homicide rate for Black women and girls in the U.S. increased 33% in 2020 and that the rate in Wisconsin doubled that year, making it the state with the highest homicide rate for Black women and girls.

Erika Brown, a spokesperson for Robinson’s Family and director of the Sade’s Voice Foundation, said that Sheena, Sade’s mother “has been thrust into a nightmare — one marked by anger, disappointment and profound grief.” 

Brown said the task force would play a “vital role” in addressing the root causes of violence against women of color by collecting data and helping to implement measures that would help prevent crimes against Black women.

“The goal is to foster collaboration and leverage collective expertise to work towards a safer and more just society for everyone,” Brown said. “This isn’t a Black, white, brown, male or female issue. It is a public safety issue.” 

Tanesha Howard, the mother of Joniah Walker, said the task force would be vital for ensuring families have support that they need. She said the support wasn’t there for her when her daughter went missing.

“I pleaded for assistance, but instead of support, I received dismissive remarks. I was told she didn’t fit the criteria to have an Amber alert and she didn’t fit the criteria to be listed as critically missing. That was the consistency I got from the Milwaukee Police Department… It’s heartbreaking,” Howard said. 

It appears unlikely that Senate Republicans will heed the call to reconvene and take up the issue. 

Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) sent a letter to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul minutes before the press conference, saying that he would leave it up to Kaul to decide whether to create the task force. He said that he thought that would be the best course, in part because the task force on missing and murdered Indigenous women was created by the DOJ after a bill failed to do so, and because of “Evers’ repeated demonstration of his aversion to the Legislature overtly directing Executive Branch agencies.”

“The Department of Justice, with the breadth of its knowledge on criminal justice matters and investigative needs in Wisconsin, is indeed best positioned to determine the prudence of any task force established under its jurisdiction,” Stroebel said. “Accordingly, I leave it to the Department of Justice to consider the creation of such a task force pursuant to your priorities and discretion.” 

In a follow-up statement after the press conference, Stroebel said the best way forward would be for Kaul to create the task force since it would use his budget and be under his discretion. He added that it would be the only remaining opportunity for the task force to be created this year. 

“Kaul has previously created a similar task force for missing and murdered indigenous women. He could do the same for missing and murdered African American women and girls right now with the stroke of a pen,” Stroebel said. “I encourage Rep. Stubbs and all of the stakeholders who are passionate about this proposal to contact the Attorney General’s office to do the same.”

Stubbs said that she met with Kaul about two weeks ago and that he remained supportive of the legislation, but she said that she knows that funding is an issue.

“Whoever needs to do it, let’s just get it done,” Stubbs said. “I don’t want to wait another six months.”

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