State v. Forbush, 2011 WI 25, 332 Wis. 2d 620, 796 N.W.2d 741

Wisconsin long recognized that if the State charged a person with a crime, and the person had retained or appointed counsel, the 6th Amendment precluded the police from questioning him or her. This case addressed a new United States Supreme Court decision, which held that the 6th Amendment permits police to question a person charged with a crime unless he invokes the right to counsel. Wisconsin’s justices could not agree on a majority opinion. Abrahamson, one of the nation’s leading proponents of “new federalism,” filed a concurrence arguing that Article I, §7 of the Wisconsin Constitution should be interpreted to continue the longstanding rule because it better protects the right to counsel.