ASHANTI FIGURE IN PROBATE CASE

MOM TURNED GRANDPA'S HOME INTO HER CRACK HOUSE
CITY MOVES TODAY TO SHUT IT DOWN

Special to the readers of milwaukeeworld
By Michael Horne

[Dear Readers: Since the Journal Sentinel's courthouse reporters are taking off for a week, and mindful that although the wheels of justice move slowly, they do not completely grind to a halt to accommodate the vacation requirements of journalists, Milwaukeeworld humbly presents you with the following legal brief, in a feature we call "Spoof and Heresy." Regrettably, however, the facts are all true.--Ed.]

The City of Milwaukee is in the courtroom of Judge Timothy G. Dugan at this moment, asking the 1978 Marquette University Law School grad for an injunction declaring a residence at 138 E. Auer St. a drug house.
The tax-delinquent, $59,200 home is listed in court documents as the residence of Myra Hamilton Horton, (the mother of Ald. Ashanti Hamilton, and daughter of the late Clance Hamilton, who died of cancer on March 26th, 2007.) This is not entirely accurate, since Myra moved to the House of Corrections on November 5th to begin a six-month drug sentence with no work-release privileges. She told the judge in that case the worries of tending to her ill father had led her back to crack after seven clean years.
Although the alderman is not named in this case, he is the petitioner in a recently filed and related probate case in Milwaukee County. On Friday, November 16th, 2007, Hamilton received a temporary injunction in the matter of "In the Estate of Clance Hamilton." The injunction hearing included testimony from Milwaukee Police officer Robert Garcia, which seems odd, since civil authorities usually are not deposed in probate hearings, but then how often does a personal representative have to deal with a crack house in the estate inventory?
To avoid a possible conflict of interest, the City hired Catherine La Fleur [Marquette '88] to be an independent prosecutor in the drug house case. She also filed correspondence in the probate case.
Although Clance, a Milwaukee Public Schools System retiree, died in March, his will was not filed until October. The home on Auer also carries a $1,096 delinquent tax bill, which might give the city yet another cause for legal action.
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