David Nevala
Ismael Ozanne
In a May 2012 Isthmus cover story about Ismael Ozanne, author Nathan Comp recounted a promise the Dane County district attorney had made a few months before at a Women in Focus banquet.
"I'm working to... better protect our children from neglect and abuse," he said, "and in doing so keeping them from becoming delinquent and entering our criminal justice system."
In two to five years, Ozanne continued, to applause, "People will no longer be able to say that racial disparities in Dane County are the worst in the nation."
As the latest candidate to declare for Wisconsin Attorney General, Ozanne might just be called on to defend that promise to voters.
In an announcement of his candidacy issued Thursday, Ozanne told of his family's "deep roots" in Wisconsin and their commitment to labor rights and civil justice. And he called himself an "experienced front-line prosecutor" who has "handled hundreds of cases, from first-time drunk driving to first-degree intentional homicide."
The Isthmus profile explores Ozanne's views on the racial gap in Dane County's criminal justice system and his onetime dreams of playing pro soccer.
