{"id":1313704,"date":"2026-01-29T13:55:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/?p=1313704"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:21:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T21:21:53","slug":"wisconsin-lake-michigan-private-beach-access-judge-ruling-milwaukee-shorewood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/01\/wisconsin-lake-michigan-private-beach-access-judge-ruling-milwaukee-shorewood\/","title":{"rendered":"Municipal judge rules against man challenging private beach access","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/b><\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>\n

A Shorewood judge ruled Wednesday that a man who deliberately tested the boundaries of public access along Lake Michigan\u2019s shoreline in late July trespassed on private property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Paul Florsheim grew up just a few houses away from where a Shorewood resident who lives in a prominent lakeside home recorded him walking on the beach adjacent to his house multiple times and called police. Florsheim was eventually fined $313 for trespassing after walking past signs marking private property north of the public beach and cordially ignoring warnings from the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He previously told Wisconsin Watch<\/a> that, despite Wisconsin law, the stretch of beach along Lake Michigan just north of Milwaukee had long been treated by locals like a public right of way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipal Court Judge Margo Kirchner found Florsheim guilty and ordered him to pay a $313 trespassing fine, citing Wisconsin precedent that limits public access along privately controlled Lake Michigan shorelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other states bordering Lake Michigan like Michigan and Indiana, Wisconsin law does not <\/a>guarantee public access to the beach up to the point where sand typically meets vegetation.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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Public property. No trespassing? Man hopes his $313 ticket will reshape Lake Michigan shoreline access<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t
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Under a 1923 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling, private property owners adjacent to the shoreline are granted \u201cexclusive\u201d use of the beach, even though the land is publicly owned. The court held that Wisconsinites may walk along the shoreline only if they remain in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florsheim previously told Wisconsin Watch he hopes to appeal the case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where a favorable ruling could reshape public access along Wisconsin\u2019s Lake Michigan shoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wisconsin Watch<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our\u00a0newsletters<\/a>\u00a0for original stories and our Friday news roundup. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Paul Florsheim is trying to take his case all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn a 1923 ruling.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":1141,"featured_media":1313004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"gigafact_has_fact_brief":false,"gigafact_remote_fact_brief_post_id":0,"gigafact_remote_sync_timestamp":"","gigafact_remote_sync_status":"","gigafact_remote_sync_response":"","gigafact_has_been_published":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"large","newspack_post_subtitle":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Paul Florsheim is trying to take his case all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn a 1923 ruling","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[25,89],"tags":[1595,3656,5079,3617],"partner":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[19077],"class_list":["post-1313704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-government","tag-lake-michigan","tag-news","tag-shorelines","tag-wisconsin-watch","entry"],"fact_brief":null,"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/01\/wisconsin-lake-michigan-private-beach-access-judge-ruling-milwaukee-shorewood\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Municipal judge rules against man challenging private beach access","url":"http:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/01\/wisconsin-lake-michigan-private-beach-access-judge-ruling-milwaukee-shorewood\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/01\/wisconsin-lake-michigan-private-beach-access-judge-ruling-milwaukee-shorewood\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/asse20260108-Great-Lakes-Property-Timmerman-006.jpg?fit=140%2C93&quality=100&ssl=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/asse20260108-Great-Lakes-Property-Timmerman-006.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=100&ssl=1"},"articleSection":"Environment","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noe Goldhaber \/ Wisconsin Watch"}],"creator":["Noe Goldhaber \/ Wisconsin Watch"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wisconsin Watch","logo":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ww-logo-footer-1.png"},"keywords":["lake michigan","news","shorelines","wisconsin watch"],"dateCreated":"2026-01-29T19:55:04Z","datePublished":"2026-01-29T19:55:04Z","dateModified":"2026-01-29T21:21:53Z"},"rendered":"