The Wisc. Legislature needs to kill or severely cripple the John Doe law.
"A state Senate committee heard testimony Wednesday on a bill that would alter the scope and implementation of John Doe investigations in Wisconsin. Prosecutors have recently used John Doe provisions to investigate Gov. Scott Walker's campaign twice.
The bill's authors — Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, and Rep. David Craig, R-Big Bend — say it's designed to provide additional layers of accountability and transparency to a process they say has been abused.
The state's John Doe law dates back to Wisconsin's days as a territory and is unique to the state. It allows a prosecutor, under supervision of a judge, to investigate whether a crime has been committed and, if so, who committed it. The prosecutor can compel people to testify and turn over documents.
John Doe investigations are often conducted in secrecy. Both witnesses and targets are prevented from talking about the investigation with anyone but their attorney.
This bill would limit the secrecy aspect of the law, allowing secrecy orders to be placed only on judges and prosecutors. It would also limit the length of investigations to six months. A probe could be extended for additional six-month periods, with no cap on the number of extensions, provided a majority of 10 judicial administrative district chief judges find good cause.
It would also limit the scope of crimes that can be investigated in a John Doe probe to the most severe felonies and some violent crimes......"