A few days ago, Jeff highlighted the fact Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser failed to protect children from a pedophile priest in 1979, when Prosser was serving as Outagamie County District Attorney.
The Greater Wisconsin Committee has a new TV ad out highlighting Prosser’s failure to act and protect children during his time as Outagamie County District Attorney.
While some would call the ad a “vicious smear;” the facts are the facts. As Outagamie County District Attorney, David Prosser told a mother he did not want to prosecute a Green Bay priest who had abused her sons because “it would be too hard on the boys.” In 2008, one of those victims, Troy Merryfield, said other children could have been spared abuse. “It wasn’t as if sexual abuse of a child wasn’t a felony back then,” he said. “The laws were on the books, and he (Prosser) should have prosecuted.” (AP 2/5/2008)
Speaking to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Merryfield reasserted his claim Prosser should have prosecuted father John Patrick Feeney, who went on to molest other children before finally being sent to prison in 2004:
“He (Prosser) knows damn well what happened and what was said,” said Troy Merryfield, one of the victims. “He dropped the ball” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/6/2008)
Additionally, there was another victim who came forward in 1978 and told Prosser he had been abused by Feeney. While this victim did not want to testify, Prosser’s knowledge that there were at least three victims should have convinced him to launch a full scale investigation. As is clear by the police investigation in 2002, good police work very quickly tracked down numerous victims of Feeney. Unfortunately, Prosser did not involve the police and instead agreed with the Bishop to simply send Feeney to another community, where he went on to molest more children.
While I understand that Troy Merryfield is now saying he’s fine with how David Prosser handled his case back in 1979, as recently as 2008 Merryfield himself said that prosecuting father Feeney in 1979 could have spared other children from being abused at Feeney’s hand. “It wasn’t as if sexual abuse of a child wasn’t a felony back then,” he said. “The laws were on the books, and he should have prosecuted.”
One thing is for certain: if David Prosser had done his job back in 1979, there’d be fewer victims of father John Patrick Feeney.
Zach when you quote something, please get it right! You have a tendency to misquote, not finish the quote, and take things out of context.
One of Feeney’s victims, Troy Merryfield, on Monday called on Prosser to step aside when cases involving priest sexual misconduct come before the high court.
“He knows damn well what happened and what was said,” said Merryfield, now 43. “He dropped the ball, and he should recuse himself.”
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29510659.html
And why would you not include Troy Merryfield’s latest comments???
If you haven’t read it, here it is:
http://www.cudahynow.com/blogs/communityblogs/118693044.html
Also when you insert something into a quote, you use brackets [ ].
Heh…fitting this got stuck in my spam filter.
I’d love to hear you defend David Prosser’s failure to put a child molester behind bars, especially considering that child molester went on to molest more children after Prosser became aware of criminal behavior and could have taken action.
The fact that you’d rather critique my grammar than defend Prosser says something about how indefensible it is that he chose not to even try to prosecute a man who molested at least two children that he knew of.
It’s incredible the conservatives aren’t upset with Prosser for not prosecuting the pedophile priest who went on to molest more children…but ARE upset with anyone who dares to talk about it. What a backwards world they live in…
Yeah, apparently we’re awful for pointing out how David Prosser failed to do his job as a prosecutor by actually trying to prosecute a pedophile.
Zach –
No, you’re awful for being members of the Party of Child-Molester-Loving-Judges and blogging out your rear end.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to back out of a jury trial and see the look in parents’ faces when I gave them the worst of two worlds: either force your already victimized child to publicly testify in court, under severe, professional cross-examination, with no supporting physical evidence, or let the criminal walk. As prosecutors we don’t “decide” on a whim whether or not to take a criminal defendant to trial. We have to be able to PROVE, beyond a reasonable doubt, to a jury, that the defendant is guilty. If I take a 12-year-old into the courtroom and he stammers, or is even slightly unclear about the facts as he remembers them under cross-examination, then I can’t get a jury to CONVICT. Now matters are worse, as something as terrible as the defendant walking away has happened: that 12-year-old has now been victimized TWICE, along with his family, by the court system — for NOTHING.
Is that what you want, Zach? To have children raked over the coals and their families given false hope over cases that don’t have sufficient proof to win? I’ve had defense attorneys accuse the PARENTS of being the actual molesters to deflect from their own clients!!! Read the victim’s statement COMPLETELY AND IN FULL (my own emphasis added): “The prosecution in 2004 was successful due to the discovery of new evidence by the police and the special prosecutor. Also, as adults, my brother and I were much more comfortable being able to publicly testify about some VERY SENSITIVE INFORMATION. AS ADULTS, MY BROTHER AND I WERE ABLE TO REMEMBER MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE ABUSE THAT WAS NOT MADE KNOWN TO THE POLICE AND PROSECUTOR BACK IN 1979.
Got it? Not made known to the prosecutor? Information that might have very well made the difference in the courtroom!
We don’t agree and never will on politics. If you want to blog away and make reasoned, substantive points about Justice Prosser’s ideology in the arena of ideas, go for it. It’s fair debate and the voters of your state deserve their voice in deciding who judges their laws and court cases. But unless you were his prosecutorial supervisor and have personally read the probably dozens of pages and notes taken and filed when you were probably a toddler, perhaps you should avoid commenting on whether he “had done his job back in 1979”. As if he WANTED this monster to walk. His JOB is to represent and protect the VICTIMS of crime, and in an imperfect world sometimes that means holstering your weapons because a mother and a 12-year-old boy are in the crossfire.
And for the record, it’s the judges to the LEFT of center that give these predators the lightest sentences the law allows in the name of “compassion” for that poor guy who just couldn’t HELP but sodomize a child or two. It was always a bad day for me when we would take a case all the way to conviction, with solid physical evidence, just to have a liberal judge go soft in the sentencing. I had one father threatened with jail time by the judge who didn’t appreciate that father’s emotional reaction to the ridiculous sentence for his toddler’s rapist. Why do you think so many law enforcement officers and district attorneys have endorsed Justice Prosser? Because they KNOW who won’t let all their hard work go to waste. You obviously want JoAnne Kloppenburg to win this upcoming race next week. Great. An environmental lawyer background, she sounds REALLY tough on crime. Zach, your bio says that you “like spending time with your wife and kids” and God love you for that. My own daughter is herself 12 years old. Pray that your chosen Justice Kloppenburg doesn’t someday spring a “reformed” molester from prison for early release back into the Milwaukee area, based on some appeal for an overly cruel sentence that makes it to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
I suppose if she does, as long as it’s not one of YOUR kids, it won’t matter. As long as that Nazi Walker gets his bills stopped in the courts, instead of your having to work to overturn it all next election. No, that’s much too hard. Besides, your side might lose once the radicals with their Hitler signs and threats of “You’re F—ING DEAD” have left the Capitol, and the conflict starts to fade. Can’t risk THAT.
Hey, it’s all for THE CHILDREN…
so what has he done that makes him even a remotely credible candidate.
The ad is painful to watch…but no matter how painful it is to watch the facts remain. There is *no doubt* that Prosser failed to protect innocent children from a known pedophile priest by refusing to prosecute the pedophile priest when the Merryfield brothers reported their molestation to him in the 1970s. It’s really too bad the conservatives choose to defend Prosser’s actions just to score political points…and get their guy elected. It’s about winning for them…not about the victims. Shame!
Also…I want to make one more point. I don’t know why Troy Merryfield has changed his mind about Prosser…maybe he’s just so upset over the political ad he spoke in anger…I don’t know. But…he is one of many victims…and even though it is his case that highlights Prosser incompetence and negligence there were other victims after Troy Merryfield…and they may feel completely different about Prosser. Those victims deserve to be heard too.
This is bullcrap Zach. Completely dismissing – the victim’s current and completestatement directly on the issue is just dishonest. So I guess he’s lying now, huh? That’s what you’re saying, so have the guts to actually say it.
Anything to win.
Locke, are you saying the victim was lying in every other statement he made before yesterday? Go ahead and say it…it you have the guts.
I’ve read Merryfield’s statement, which is precisely why I acknowledged the fact that despite his previous attacks on how Prosser handled his case, Merryfield now seems to be okay with how things went down.
And for the record, I’m not saying Merryfield is lying. He’s certainly entitled to change his mind about this issue; I’m just pointing out that as recently as 2008 Merryfield wasn’t so hunky-dory with the way David Prosser handled his case.
And ultimately the issue here is the fact that David Prosser made a choice not to try to prosecute father Feeney, which is a decision that resulted in even more victims than there were in 1979.
Hey Locke,
There were more than one vic here.
And the DA acts in the interests of the community, NOT just one victim who 30-some years later may have something to say about a political ad.
The ad is correct on the facts.
I grew up in the Fox Valley in the 1970s-80s, and I sure would not have wanted a preditor running around; neither would we all, except for you?
All of Merryfield’s statements should be considered. But I submit that a complete statement specifically on the ad – with the passage of time and presumably less emotion should bear more weight than past quotes taken out of context and susceptible to the emotions of a horrible experience. But that’s something open for interpretation – we all use our own judgment to weigh things like that. For some, the letter next to the name or ideology of a person is a filter through which only things that support their view is allowed to pass. My gripe with Zach is that the post is entirely one sided, with half a dismissive sentence treating the other as if it is meaningless. Not even a link to the statement itself for readers to use their own judgment – much better to just dismiss it and pretend it doesn’t even exist and hope others don’t find out about it either.
The ads are clearly using the events of Merryfield and his brother’s life to gain political points. Merryfield specifically calls out the ad as inaccurate, and his brother has stepped forward and said he is “completely supportive” of the statement. I’ll take the words of two individuals directly involved over those of anonymous message board posters and hack partisans who care about nothing more than winning an election.
The fact that this is portrayed as him basically bullying the family into backing out is pathetic. The whole thing was a horrific situation – but none of you people have any clue as to what his interactions with the family were like. Of course everyone wishes Feeney would’ve been stopped sooner. Hell, the world would be a better place had he never been born. No one knew then all that we know today. Pretending that you or anyone else would have handled things differently from over 3 decades and a thousand miles away is the height of arrogance.
If I wanted to pretend Merryfield’s statement didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have written that Merryfield seems to now be fine with how Prosser handled things back in 1979. The omission of a link to Merryfield’s statement was an oversight on my part, but it’s not as if I ignored the existence of that statement.
Locke… your post leaves the reader with the impression that you are angry. Just the facts that previously Troy stated (accurately) if Prosser would have prosecuted the priest, more victims would have been spared. He seems to have been able to forgive Prosser for his inaction and now supports him. That’s his right. However, for him to say the ad is inaccurate and misleading, is, itself inaccurate and misleading. Based on Troy’s own previous statements, he was ready to testify, but Prosser didn’t want to prosecute and was willing to go along with the church in letting the priest go. Prosser even used intimidation toward Troy. according to: http://www.prosserfacts.com/docs/press_prosser_feeney_victim_statements.pdf – Prosser, along with a deacon and another member of the church went to the victim’s home and said it would be too hard on the kids. Troy stated “he (Prosser) said it would be too embarrassing for a kid my age and said what jury would believe a kid testifying against a priest? Then he said, what really makes it bad is that Feeney’s brother, Joe, sang on the Lawrence Welk show and everybody watched that back then.”
The truth is the truth. Prosser didn’t want to prosecute Feeney, and when Merryfield’s mother wanted to press charges, he used intimidation along with a deacon and another member of the church to prevent pursuing the charges further.
Fact is, had Prosser investigated further, other children would have been saved from being molested. In my opinion, Prosser’s failure to do his job brings question to his thought process and ability to judge fairly and morally.
I don’t know about the angry part – I have no attachment to anyone involved (though I do now live in the community where it took place, I’ve only been here for about 2 years). I could probably be considered a lapsed Catholic – not over this specific issue, though I believe the church’s handling of these cases was nothing short of reprehensible.
But in this case, the hindsight, armchair quarterbacking and feigned moral superiority is frustrating.
My third-grade daughter has been working on fact & opinion in school. That you believe that to be a fact tells me she understands the difference better than you. These are facts:
– Prosser believed there was not enough evidence to win in court.
– Putting the Merryfields through that wringer – and losing would have been horrid – and meant that he could never be convicted of what he did to them.
– Prosser believed the church when they told him they would deal with Feeney and prevent him from doing it again.
Maybe he was wrong about the case – maybe they could have won. But I sure as hell trust his assessment of that likelihood more than just about else.
Clearly he was wrong in believing the church. Hindsight is 20/20. Much tougher call at the time.
You know nothing about what Prosser did to investigate this then – so to make that judgment is just foolish. Merryfield talked about the additional evidence that came out in the years following. He even specifically mentions that as an adult, years later, both he and his brother were able to provide additional details that they were not able to in 1979. Not sure what you think Prosser should have done to investigate further – maybe he could have somehow forced them to remember more. That’s usually a good idea for rape victims, right?
The fact is, Prosser failed to act and more children were victimized.
Again that’s not a fact at all. You simply cannot say for a fact that prosecuting would have made the slightest difference. In fact – it’s possible that Feeney would not have been convicted. The guy who knew the case better than anyone believed they didn’t have enough to secure a conviction. You believe otherwise. Again a really strong opinion isn’t a fact no matter how much you wish it to be.
Had they tried Feeney in 1979 and lost, it is a fact that he would not have been convicted in 2004. Justice delayed is unfortunate – but it’s better than justice denied.
No one knew then all we know today because people like Prosser kept giving them free passes. The people in charge were supposed to protect the kids from this kind of stuff but refused to do the hard work that was necessary. Now we have a major scandal that we cant seem to get rid of.
Prosser, of ALL people. should get that this is unacceptable and he is NOT qualified to be serve the public. We now have a chance in WIsconsin to right a wrong!
All the reports about how Prosser handled the Merryfields case prior to this political ad being made back the facts stated in the ad.
I wish someone in the media would ask the Merryfields what caused them to change their minds about Prosser.
You people make me sick!!!!!!!!!! Anyone who supports Kloppenberg for judge is EVIL. She is PRO-ABORTION, PRO-GAY RIGHTS, AND A PRACTICING WITCH!!!!!!! EVERYTHING THAT IS AGAINST THE CHRISTIAN AMERICAN WAY!!!!! I AM NOT A REPUBLICAN OR A DEMOCRAT, I VOTE ACROSS PARTY LINES, AND I AM AGAINST UNIONS, AS THEY DRIVE UP PRICES, AND THEREFORE WE CANNOT COMPETE WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD WITH CHEAP ENOUGH PRICES TO KEEP US AFLOTE, THAT IS WHY OUR COUNTRY IS SO FAR IN DEBT!!! IF YOU PEOPLE HAD A BRAIN, YOU WOULD DO THE RESEARCH AS I HAVE, AND FIND OUT THE TRUE NATIONAL DEBT, IT IS A STAGGERING 121.7 TRILLION DOLLARS BY THE TIME WE PAY ALL THE INTEREST OFF, ALONG WITH THE PRINCIPLE!!!!!! OBAMA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 70% OF THAT DEBT!!!! BUSH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 20% AND THE AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR 10%!!!!
THE 10% IS CREDIT DEBT OWED TO FOREIGN OWNED COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!! AND THAT IS WELL OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS ALONE!!!!!!!! AND NOW OBAMA WANTS TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING? OBAMA NEEDS TO BE A 1 TERM PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!! AND UNIONS NEED TO PERISH!!!! TWO WEEKS AGO, A TAPE WAS LEAKED TO SEVERAL T.V. NEWS STATIONS, ONLY TWO DECIDED TO RUN THE AD, ONE WAS FOX NEWS, AND THE OTHER WAS CNBC, CNBC IS A DEMOCRATIC OWNED STATION, AND A UNION STATION, IT WAS A TAPE RECORDING OF THE NATIONS UNION HEAD, HE STATED THAT THE UNION DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN, DOES NOT CARE IF YOUR CHILDREN HAVE GOOD SCHOOLS, DOES NOT CARE IF YOU HAVE A GOOD PAYING JOB OR NOT, THE ONLY THING THE UNIONS CARE ABOUT IS THE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DUES THEY COLLECT FROM UNION MEMBERS AS IT BUYS POWER IN WASHINGTON!!!!!! HE FLAT OUT STATES THAT IS ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS THE POWER THEY GET FROM COLLECTING DUES FROM UNION MEMBERS.
Wow, you should really learn to turn the caps lock off….
“You people make me sick!!!!!!!!!!” Then why did you come here…even you have to know it’s a LIBERAL blogsite!
Zach, and all you who blame Judge Prosser for letting the pedophile off, do your F*#@ing homework, I did!!!!!!! Judge Prosser’s hands where tied due to lack of evidence in the case of the pedophile priest!!!!! It was not his fault he could not get a conviction!!!!!!
I do not vote for REPUKLIKINS, OR DUMOCRATS according to party, I VOTE FOR THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS!!!!!!! Judge Kloppenburg approves of the murder of millions of unborn babies a year, she is in favor of abortion!!!!!! Not only that, she is for GAY MARRIAGE, and a practicing WITCH!!!!!!!!!!! So ask yourself what one you want determining the letter of the law??
A women who is for the killing of unborn babies, PRO gay, and a basic devil worshipper? Or a man who upholds the law according to the constitution!!!!!!! He is a respectable man!!!!!!
As a Christian, Jesus teaches, JUDGE NOT, LEST YE BE JUDGED!!!!!!!! I have no right to judge either one based on their past, and can only vote for who i think is the best person for the job, and pray to GOD that I voted correct!!!! So all of you people stop talking about the evil in everyone, as I demonstrated above, and look for the good in the one who won the election, and pray for him that GOD will guide him in determining the law of the land!!! Instead of judging him for his past mistakes, PRAY FOR HIM, AND ASK GOD TO GUIDE HIM!!!!!! Peace too all of you who blog on here, and may GOD guide your heart, mind and soul!!!!!!! P.S. First post was just a demonstration of what you people sound like, so please quit being quick to judge and pray for him instead!!!!!!!!!!
Ed, I am not a conservative or a liberal, I vote across party lines, and I am here, because it is a liberal blog, and the only way I can tell it like i see it is if I tell the liberals why they are WRONG!!!!!!!! Prosser’s hands where tied by lack of evidence!!!!!! So before you people say Prosser is a bad man, do your fing research!!!!!!!!!! Prosser’s boss at the time stated that Prosser did not have enough evidence to get a conviction!!!!!
I’d love to see some proof that JoAnne Kloppenburg is a witch.
Go ahead and provide me some proof, since you’re all about TRUTH.
Choxy…please support even one of your intimations with some facts.
And I am suggesting you do your research about AAG Kloppenburg…I have been hard pressed to find any quotes from her concerning her political leanings…she keeps talking about novel ideas like judges should hear the pleadings before the court and then rule based on facts and the law. I have warned the ‘liberal left’ a number of times that they might not get exactly what they were hoping for if AAG Kloppenburg were to be elected.
And for the record it’s JUSTICE Prosser…you come on here decrying the ranting and perceived incivility on this blog and then refuse to lead by example…anonymous IDs are so comforting aren’t they?
I think Mike McCabe over at the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign rated this ad the sleaziest of the campaign. I, for one, would like to see these kinds of ads disappear from Wisconsin politics. McCabe acknowledged that it wasn’t as bad as Gablemans despicable ad against Butler, but he called it sleazy nonetheless.
Ed, I am not sure what kind of research you have done, but JoAnne Kloppenburg admits she is PRO-ABORTION!!!!!! She also admits that she would not rule against a late term abortion case if it ever came to her court room, and what I mean by that is, if someone wanted to have a late term abortion up to the day of birth, and the states DA decided to prosecute for murder, she would dismiss the prosecution of the mother, now according to GOD’s term of birth, it begins the very second the sperm penetrates the egg!!!!!! Here is a link to an article about Kloppenburg VS: Prosser please copy and paste in a new browser window, and read the article!!! http://themilwaukeedrum.com/2011/03/16/the-real-joanne-kloppenburg/ This explains how she supports Planned Parenthood, who in turns supports late term abortion, and also both have been asked about their stance on after birth abortion, in case you do not know what that means, I will explain!!!! After birth abortion means: If you give birth to a baby, and then decide you do not want it, the doctor can take a scalpel and stab it in the skull and kill it without it being called murder!! Also if the baby is born with something wrong with it, such as downs syndrome, the doctor can kill it without it being called murder!!! Do you people really want a woman who is for this in such a high court position? Now lets get to Prosser, and the case of the molester priest, the victim’s family was on T.V. and stated that Prosser DID NOT have a choice in letting the priest go due to lack of evidence, Prosser was not given all the evidence in the case, including testimony from the victim, and so he could not get a conviction!!!!!! So before you blame Prosser for letting the Child Molesting Priest off, GET ALL THE FACTS!!!!!
I’m still waiting for your irrefutable proof that JoAnne Kloppenburg is a witch.
As for your comments about Planned Parenthood, it’s a stretch to say that simply because an individual supports Planned Parenthood they must also support partial birth abortion.
My research include the two times I met AAG Kloppenburg….
I will let your rant about Planned Parenthood stand on its own merits…it’s total lack of lucidity speaks volumes about the author with greater clarity that I can attend this evening.
As for your statement, “now according to GOD’s term of birth, it begins the very second the sperm penetrates the egg…”
I would really like to see the citations that support this belief…in general terms when the sperm penetrates an egg, it becomes a zygote, not a BIRTH. And quite frankly, I remember few or actually I remember no passages in the Bible relating the mechanics of procreation…and I am betting if there were any beyond the usual begatting stuff…that prepubescent boys would have learned them by heart and shared them in junior high locker rooms through out the country.
Ed, If you read the bible, and have read Jeremiah 1:5 God said “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Therefore, You are human the second the sperm reaches the egg!!!! If it was not so, God would have not stated that he knew us BEFORE he formed us in the womb!! Now I have given you proof to back up what i am saying about the bible and abortion!! Also I am not sure if anyone here knows this, but Kloppenburg was asked if she supported government funds to go to planned parenthood to pay for abortions if they allowed it? Her answer was, YES I DO!!! Abortion is murder no matter when it is performed, and Kloppenburg also was asked about late term abortion, and she said she supported it 100% and that women should have that option available to them right up until the delivery day. When she was asked about what she meant by that, she said if a women decides not to keep the baby, the doctor should be able to pierce the baby’s scalp as soon as the baby’s head pops out, and then pull the dead baby out of the womb. So before you defend her, do your homework!!!! I DID!!!!!!!
dude…you gave me a bible verse that can be interpreted a dozen ways from the Sabbath…but you haven’t provided actual documentation to support your statements about AAG Kloppenburg. If you did the research you have the support doc!
Zach, First of all if you read my answer to Ed on the abortion deal, you will find that!!!!
As far as the Witch proof, I did not want to disclose my source, but if you give me a direct e-mail address to reach you at, I would be happy to tell you how i found that out!!!!!!!!
So in other words, you have no proof she’s a witch.
Gotcha.