Posted on 03/12/2015 9:07:12 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The “John Doe” law in Wisconsin is unique in that is sets up an investigative tool which, while nominally under the supervision of a Judge, gives prosecutors wide ranging power to conduct secret investigations. Targets and those from whom records and evidence is gathered are required to stay silent about what is being done to them.
The Wisconsin John Doe law has been around for a century, but recently has come under intense criticism because it has been used by Democratic prosecutors as a political weapon against Scott Walker and conservative activists. Scroll through our John Doe (WI) tag for more background.
The short version is that there have been two John Doe investigations of Scott Walker, neither of which has found any wrongdoing by Walker. John Doe No. 1 concerned Walker’s time as Milwaukee County Executive, and is closed.
John Doe No. 2 concerned alleged illegal coordination between conservative activists and groups and the Walker campaign during the 2012 Recall Election. John Doe No. 2 has been the subject of multiple litigations in which conservative groups allege that prosecutors used meritless legal theories to intimidate and harass the conservative movement into political silence through raids on homes and seizure of emails, texts and other electronic evidence. A whistleblower stepped forward to claim that the investigation was promoted if not instigated by the union-operative wife of the lead prosecutor, something he denies.
John Doe No. 2 is currently stalled, as both state and federal judges have found the legal theories behind the investigation are invalid as matters of law.
Nonetheless, the Democratic prosecutors are attempting to push forward and reignite John Doe No. 2, and to continue to target Walker and those politically aligned with him. John Doe No. 2 reeks of the political use of a powerful non-political investigative process. With Walker rising in the Republican presidential hopeful ranks, there is every reason to believe Democrats will seek to exploit John Doe No. 2, or perhaps start a John Doe No. 3, in the hopes of damaging Walker’s presidential chances.
Accordingly, Republicans who control the Wisconsin legislature are moving to take the politics out of the John Doe law. Wisconsin Reporter reports:
>>>>>The predawn, paramilitary-style raids with children present. The assaults on free speech. The gag orders. The partisan witch hunts.
State Rep. David Craig, R-Big Bend, knows all about the latest John Doe investigation into Republican Gov. Scott Walker and dozens of conservative groups, and he says he’s no longer going to stand by as district attorneys and political speech regulators “trample on the constitutional rights” of some citizens.
Craig confirmed he and Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, are expected to introduce legislation Thursday afternoon that will significantly change Wisconsin’s unique John Doe law to ensure more transparency and accountability….
“Because of that enhanced power that our prosecution has in Wisconsin … it opens the door for potential abuse and we want to make sure that abuse doesn’t happen again in the future,” Craig said early Thursday when contacted by Wisconsin Reporter.
Craig’s and Tiffany’s bill would still allow a judge to enter a secrecy order, but it would only apply to district attorneys or other prosecuting attorneys, law enforcement personnel, interpreters and court reporters.<<<
The Journal Sentinel reports on the hearings:
Republican lawmakers championed a bill Wednesday to end prosecutors’ ability to conduct John Doe investigations for many crimes, with one legislator taking a swipe at Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm for how he ran a now-stalled probe into the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker and conservative groups backing him.
Alluding to Chisholm without mentioning him by name, Sen. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) told the Senate Judiciary Committee the Democratic prosecutor had engaged in “abuse” and been “obsessed with getting involved in the political process.”
Democrats are not happy.
[snip of tweet]
If the legislature does pass a reform of the John Doe law, it will help permanently limit the use of the John Doe process as a political weapon.
In fact, it's costing Wisconsin taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend the Milwaukee DA (and others) who pursued this case.
$775,000 and rising — Wisconsin taxpayers’ bill to defend John Doe prosecutors MADISON, Wis. — Taxpayers conservatively have spent north of $775,000 defending the prosecutors of a politically charged John Doe investigation driven on a legal theory that even the prosecutors have rejected.
The state, as of Monday, had paid $368,654.60 for the legal defense of Francis Schmitz, the special prosecutor for the multi-county John Doe probe into dozens of conservative organizations and Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign, according to information obtained by Wisconsin Reporter through an open records request.".............
It absolutely galls me to see how conservatives are dissected down to the granular level while dems get no media challenges at all.
That’s what has been discussed all along, and really needs to happen. Do you realize that Walker aides and others were subjected to pre-dawn full SWAT-style raids at their private homes with kids present, etc. as part of what turned out to be nothing more than a political witch hunt? If the truth were known about the John Doe investigation, you would see a sizable number of hardcore Democrats opposing it on a national scale, but in Wisconsin it was the only tool left for desperate progressives who hated Walker so much they’d resort to such tactics.
Democrats used something similar that eventually elevated costs so high for Alaska that Sarah Resigned to save the state millions of dollars. This is a tool Democrats used to attack taxpayers of the state and the state itself in order to overturn the democratic process of elections. I guess you could say it’s a bloodless coup. It’s interesting that democrats hate the democratic process of an election so much they will do anything to destroy it
Reminds me of the id beast/krell machine attacking and defending Morbius in Fantastic Planet.
"Others" being groups that advocate for conservative positions, i.e. private citizens exercising their 1st amendment rights.
The hacks running the John Doe also contemplated seizing records and putting gag orders on local talk radio personalities.
The intensity of the attacks by the Yellow Dog Democrat/ Union Thug/Progressive axis tells me these people are scared sh*tless that Scott Walker might be the next president. They KNOW he will move quickly to devolve the federal behemoth and restore sanity to government.
“Democrats used something similar that eventually elevated costs so high for Alaska that Sarah Resigned to save the state millions of dollars.”
I thought that Alaska did not pay for the lawsuits at that time?
Another aspect of the John Doe proceedings not mentioned in this report is the effect it has had on conservative political donations. Major conservative groups immediately became wary of donating to Wisconsin Republicans and their Pacs when it became apparent that the John Doe investigation could reach them. And all while sworn to secrecy, so they couldn’t even complain publicly of the treatment, hence the court cases, which the Dems appear to be losing.
That’s “Forbidden Planet”!
They flooded the State Government with FOIA requests (the Alaska equivalent of FOIA). The state had to spend big bucks servicing these requests, with no end in sight. The RAT party actually declared war on and attempted to paralyze a state government just to get at Palin.
oops, yes, of course it is. Fingers did not type what the brain sent. Or the other way around.
They did. All the lawsuits were dismissed. but democrats were initiating 10 per month. All unfounded but by Alaska Law each one had to be investigated. Democrats were costing the taxpayers millions
Yes!
Texas Democrat DA's went after Tom DeLay and are now going after Rick Perry.
Here is an FR thread about the media witch hunt on Sarah Palin:
June 11, 2011: Sarah Palin's emails underscore polarizing effect
This is exactly what Democrats did with Alaska's even more far-reaching ethics law, that forced Sarah Palin to resign her office. The Alaskan law was brand-new, however, and written by the 'Rat legislature specifically to cripple Palin's term of office by tying her up in document searches and legal responses to meritless political complaints alleging wrongdoing.
Moreover, by targeting Palin personally with ethics and corruption complaints, the "RatRoots" and associated local Alaskan "ankle biters" (self-named), all directed by Rahm Emmanuel (then Obama's chief of staff), hoped to exhaust Palin financially with legal fees and drive her and her family into bankruptcy and penury.
(This was a technique used in the past by rich Communists like Lillian Hellman, e.g., against Mary McCarthy.)
The complainers, of course, were publicly supported and counseled.
They should talk anyway...,with so many folks talking the judges would be wary of trying to jail literally hundreds of people!
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