[EL] Wisconsin John Doe ruling

Thu Jul 16 06:31:59 PDT 2015

>
> The state's top election official has warned *the ruling could have dire
> consequences for state laws aimed at allowing the public to know who pays
> for election campaigns and how much can be donated by wealthy interests.* Candidates
> in Wisconsin could have direct control over millions of dollars in
> corporate contributions and operate secret committees under a judge’s
> interpretation of campaign finance law that the state Supreme Court
> affirmed.

“Affirming the John Doe judge’s interpretation of Wisconsin law regarding
> coordination *would result in candidate’s direct control over millions of
> dollars of undisclosed corporate and individual contributions without
> limitation on the amounts accepted*,” Kevin Kennedy, the director and
> general counsel of the state’s Government Accountability Board said in the
> court affidavit. “A candidate could operate secret committees and direct
> them to run overwhelming and negative advertising, while the candidate
> remains above the fray and the public would not know the true source of the
> contributions and expenditures.”

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_50f22c3b-27c9-5906-92e8-ded75ed50954.html#.Vaer_5MmWmU.twitter

CMD's Mary Bottari also has great background on this case here:
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/07/12885/disappearance-john-doe

*Tyler Creighton* | tyler at rethinkmedia.org  |  Media Associate
ReThink Media <http://rethinkmedia.org> | (925) 548-2189 mobile
@ReThinkDemocrcy <https://twitter.com/rethinkdemocrcy> | @ReThink_Media
<https://twitter.com/rethink_media> | @TylerCreighton
<http://www.twitter.com/tylercreighton>

On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 9:28 AM, Steve Hoersting <hoersting at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hear! Hear!
>
> What can one add? Except to say these statements cannot be said often
> enough.
>
> Thank you, Eric O'Keefe. Western Civilization owes you a debt of
> gratitude.
>
> Steve
>  On Jul 16, 2015 9:23 AM, "David Keating" <dkeating at campaignfreedom.org>
> wrote:
>
>> ¶133 Our lengthy discussion of these three cases can be distilled into a
>> few simple, but important, points.  It is utterly clear that the special
>> prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to
>> investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing.   In other
>> words, the special prosecutor was the instigator of a "perfect storm" of
>> wrongs that was visited upon the innocent Unnamed Movants and those who
>> dared to associate with them.  It is fortunate, indeed, for every other
>> citizen of this great State who is interested in the protection of
>> fundamental liberties that the special prosecutor chose as his targets
>> innocent citizens who had both the will and the means to fight the
>> unlimited resources of an unjust prosecution.  Further, these brave
>> individuals played a crucial role in presenting this court with an
>> opportunity to re-endorse its commitment to upholding the fundamental right
>> of each and every citizen to engage in lawful political activity and to do
>> so free from the fear of the tyrannical retribution of arbitrary or
>> capricious governmental prosecution.  Let one point be clear: our
>> conclusion today ends this unconstitutional John Doe investigation.
>>
>>
>>
>> David
>>
>> _________________________________________________
>>
>> David Keating | President | Center for Competitive Politics
>>
>> 124 S. West Street, Suite 201 | Alexandria, VA 22314
>>
>> 703-894-6799 (direct) | 703-894-6800 | 703-894-6811 Fax
>>
>> www.campaignfreedom.org
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
>> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *David
>> Keating
>> *Sent:* Thursday, July 16, 2015 9:03 AM
>> *To:* law-election at UCI.edu
>> *Subject:* [EL] Wisconsin John Doe ruling
>>
>>
>>
>> ¶11  To be clear, this conclusion ends the John Doe investigation because
>> the special prosecutor's legal theory is unsupported in either reason or
>> law.  Consequently, the investigation is closed.  Consistent with our
>> decision and the order entered by Reserve Judge Peterson, we order that the
>> special prosecutor and the district attorneys involved in this
>> investigation must cease all activities related to the investigation,
>> return all property seized in the investigation from any individual or
>> organization, and permanently destroy all copies of information and other
>> materials obtained through the investigation.  All Unnamed Movants are
>> relieved of any duty to cooperate further with the investigation.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> http://wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=144525
>>
>>
>>
>> Our statement:
>>
>>
>> http://www.campaignfreedom.org/2015/07/16/ccp-reaction-to-john-doe-decision/
>>
>>
>>
>> "The First Amendment rights of the John Doe victims were trampled on for
>> far too long, and while this decision ends a sorry chapter, great damage
>> was done," said Brad Smith, CCP Chairman. "For three years, American
>> citizens were gagged, intimidated and forced to pay a heavy price for
>> simply speaking out about government. Their speech was suppressed, their
>> lives were disrupted, their reputations were damaged and bank accounts
>> squeezed by legal bills in order to defend their rights in court. The
>> Wisconsin Legislature and legislatures throughout the country should pass
>> reforms to ensure this can never happen to anyone else. This investigation
>> illustrates how campaign finance laws are used to harass political
>> opponents and it shows the need for the Courts to uphold robust First
>> Amendment rights and develop clear, bright line rules for Constitutionally
>> protected political activity, to defend American citizens against such
>> abuses."
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> David
>>
>> _________________________________________________
>>
>> David Keating | President | Center for Competitive Politics
>>
>> 124 S. West Street, Suite 201 | Alexandria, VA 22314
>>
>> 703-894-6799 (direct) | 703-894-6800 | 703-894-6811 Fax
>>
>> www.campaignfreedom.org
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Law-election mailing list
>> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
>> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
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