[EL] Wisconsin John Doe ruling

Thu Jul 16 07:34:54 PDT 2015

This is the third time in the last few years that either the 7th Circuit or the Wisc Sup Court has found him wrong big time about the law. Jim

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Note® 4, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

-------- Original message --------
From: Tyler Creighton <tyler at rethinkmedia.org> 
Date: 07/16/2015  9:54 AM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: Steve Hoersting <hoersting at gmail.com> 
Cc: "law-election at UCI.edu" <law-election at uci.edu> 
Subject: Re: [EL] Wisconsin John Doe ruling 

Just to be clear, this is the interpretation of the law by the general counsel of the Wisconsin state agency charged with enforcing the state's election laws.
Tyler Creighton | tyler at rethinkmedia.org  |  Media Associate
ReThink Media | (925) 548-2189 mobile @ReThinkDemocrcy | @ReThink_Media | @TylerCreighton

On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 9:38 AM, Steve Hoersting <hoersting at gmail.com> wrote:
Tyler,
Don't you know you are not only wrong on the law of coordination,  you're on the wrong side of history?
By all means, do keep speaking.
It's your right do so...
And others need to understand: Some actually condone the acts in Wisconsin. 
Cordially,
Steve Hoersting
On Jul 16, 2015 9:32 AM, "Tyler Creighton" <tyler at rethinkmedia.org> wrote:
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 | (925) 548-2189 mobile @ReThinkDemocrcy | @ReThink_Media | @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 Politics124 S. West Street, Suite 201 | Alexandria, VA 22314703-894-6799 (direct) | 703-894-6800 | 703-894-6811 Faxwww.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 Politics124 S. West Street, Suite 201 | Alexandria, VA 22314703-894-6799 (direct) | 703-894-6800 | 703-894-6811 Faxwww.campaignfreedom.org
_______________________________________________

Law-election mailing list

Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu

http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election

_______________________________________________

Law-election mailing list

Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu

http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20150716/bdd2c500/attachment.html>