Cameras in the Courts November 18, 1998 Our big story last week, indeed perhaps our biggest of the year, was a story about something that DIDN'T happen. November 16, 1998 Did We Overact? October 10, 1998 He's a cop... September 11, 1998 ...sometimes we can have a positive effect on people's lives even when some readers think we are raking them over the coals. July 25, 1998 They say that in England you are innocent until proven guilty; in France you are guilty until proven innocent; and in America you are innocent until the next edition of the newspaper flies off the presses or the evening news comes on. July 7, 1998 Delgado, who sat in his orange county jail jumpsuit, had tears streaming down his face as he listened to the charges being read the day after his nine-month old son died on a hot summer day, strapped in his car seat, in the backseat of Delgado's broiling Dodge Omni

July 25, 1998 They say that in England you are innocent until proven guilty; in France you are guilty until proven innocent; and in America you are innocent until the next edition of the newspaper flies off the presses or the evening news comes on. While there have been enough acquittals in high profile cases - O.J. Simpson and John DeLorean among others - to belie that maxim, I thought of it today after covering an arraignment for Janet and Mark Shimkus. I went to court after we got a tip that two school district employees had been arrested on drug charges. A check of the staff directory indicated that Mark is a teacher. In court we learned that Janet is a social worker for the district, and has been involved in various anti-drug programs such as the Just Say No program, which she ran at her elementary school last year. Janet looked frightened. Mark seemed agitated and tried to shield his face from me during most of the hearing, but I was able to get a clear photo of him. Janet A. Shimkus, 39, a social worker with the Racine;, Wis., Unified School District, is charged on drug-related charges in Racine County Circuit Court, Thursday July 23, 1998. Photo by Mark Hertzberg - Racine Journal Times (c) 1998 Mark J. Shimkus, 46, a teacher with the Racine, Wis., Unified School District for 23 years, is charged in Racine County Circuit Court, Thursday July 23, 1998, on drug-related charges. Photo by Mark Hertzberg - Racine Journal times (c) 1998

 

The specifics of the criminal complaint are not pretty.

They allege that a man went to police and told them that Mark had gone to his house and threated his son because of money the father owed Mark for drugs. He allegedly told them he had been buying drugs from Mark for many years.

Police recorded two phone conversations he then had with Mark, arranging a buy. They got a search warrant for the Shimkus home, and outfitted the informant with a wire.

Mark allegedly struggled with police, and allegedly tried to wrestle an officer's gun from him.

The complaint also says that neighbors thanked police for finally arresting the two. Fellow teachers indicated in conversations with the newspaper that there had been suspicions about Mark using drugs.

What relatively few people knew about the Shimkus' alleged drug involvement is tomorrow morning's breakfast-time news in Racine, spread out over 36,000 copies of our newspaper. Their names and story will be grist for countless conversations today.

The story was originally going to play on the local news front, and got moved to the top of the front page (though not as the lead story) for several reasons. One, of course, is the Shimkus' profession. The others, which pushed the story to page one, are her work with anti-drug programs; the neighbors thanking police for the arrests; and the unexpected apparent support for the arrests from a number of Mark's fellow teachers. The alleged threat to the customer's son, and the allegations about his struggle to take a weapon from a police officer were other considerations that added weight to the decision to move the story to the front page.

James Ennis, the executive director of the Racine Education Association, the teacher's union, observed that the Shimkus were receiving a trial by newspaper. He said the district acted too hastily in saying the couple would be suspended and discussing the circumstances under which they might be fired. However, he then speculated about what circumstances might lead the union to come to their defense.

The story will end up on radio and then on television. Once the Milwaukee TV stations get hold of the story, it will be beaten into the ground by news anchors who furrow their brows and seem to deepen their voices as they report stories like this. At least one of them will intone, "And today, in Racine, people are asking how could this have happened?" The TV stations will probably send crews to interview neighbors and colleagues, and show pictures of the Shimkus' school and home.

For now, though, the image that people will have of these two people is of them in their orange county jail jumpsuits, one frightened, and the other agitated. The images each took only 1/125th of a second to record, but they will live on for a long time.

July 25, 1998

Mark Hertzberg