Bascom Hill is the heart of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the highest point on campus and home to university administration. From the hill, once the site of near-daily Vietnam War protests and now host to less frequent protests of another war, you can see the Capitol Building about a mile away. The two landmarks are connected by a pathway that’s nearly straight, but not quite–and the campus’ master planner has been known to joke that they were placed on a crooked axis so the university would never see eye to eye with state legislature.
Helgeland v. Wisconsin illustrates that rift in the ultra-progressive college town. The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of Jody Helgeland, a research specialist and grad student at UW-Madison; her female partner of more than 10 years; and five other similarly situated lesbian couples. They seek benefits such as health insurance and family leave rights for their partners, claiming because the state refuses to budget for them, their equal protection rights under the state constitution are being violated.
