Anti-Establishment Civil Rights Movement Notch Victory - Walker Happily Signs Bill

[maxparrish]

For those who have long forgotten the ideals of the old left generation whot fought against the State, and the use of the establishment's lawfare repression, might not know how they became enlightened - they now see that repression is a good idea when you are the repressor.

Much to the disappointment of the few civil libertarians still alive among the left of center, every single Wisconsin Democratic Legislator voted against Wisconsin reform of their much abused John Doe laws. Fortunately that was not enough to stop its passage by the State Legislator and Governor Walker signed the bill a few days ago, leading to one of the rare roll-backs of the authoritarian tide of statism.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down much of the John Doe law, writing:

http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/0...john-doe-investigation-against-conservatives/

¶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.

Such abuses should never happen again, in Wisconsin. The Chicago Tribune reports:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...hn-doe-investigation-bill-20151023-story.html

Gov. Scott Walker...signed a bill Friday doing away with the (John Doe) probes into political misconduct.

The Republican-controlled Legislature this week passed the bill eliminating John Does for...political misconduct, including bribes, theft and campaign finance violations...

John Does are like a grand jury, but are done before a judge who ultimately decides whether a crime has been committed. Witnesses are under gag orders, and prosecutors can compel people to testify, obtain search warrants and collect evidence in secret.

Christian Schneider writes that the new law conforms the statute to the Supreme Court decision:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/john-doe-law-government-gone-bad-b99600967z1-335170531.html

In shutting down the John Doe investigation into Walker’s supporters in July, the Wisconsin Supreme Court not only took a brickbat to the secretive Doe process, it also upheld the ability of third party issue groups to coordinate with candidates, as long as those issue groups didn’t engage in “express advocacy.”

Republicans are now codifying that ruling in statute, even though it was patently clear that such third-party groups were never covered under state campaign finance regulations in the first place. Ironically, in the most recent John Doe, prosecutors were relying on outdated laws that had been struck down by courts but were still on the statute books — which I have dubbed “zombie laws.” Actually changing the law to explicitly reflect modern court rulings will lessen such confusion.

Apparently Wisconsin Democrats, oddly, don't oppose rogue prosecutors detaining citizens while officers raid their homes; the leaking of damaging information while victims are under a gag order (unable to defend themselves), and denying citizens the right to contribute to issue advocacy of their choice.

It is rare that the left authoritarians are checked, and even rarer that one of their tools of repression is rolled back; hence the disbelieving screams from the Democrats and their media (i.e. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

 

[laughing dog]

Of course Walker reformed the very laws used to bring his backroom deals to light. Nor is it a surprise that a Republican dominated state supreme court would strike the laws down.

 

[Trausti]

Of course Walker reformed the very laws used to bring his backroom deals to light. Nor is it a surprise that a Republican dominated state supreme court would strike the laws down.

For a moment set aside your political beliefs and consider whether a state should have the "john doe" power that Wisconsin just tossed. Okay, you don't like Scott Walker or Republicans. But should the state be able to wield a coercive power set to the whims of a politically motivated prosecutor? The "john doe" cases in Wisconsin illustrate why we have the 4th Amendment and jurisprudence invalidating the arbitrary and capricious enforcement of laws.

 

[Trausti]

Agree or disagree?

¶64 The special prosecutor has completely disregarded
these principles. The lack of clarity in Ch. 11, which the
special prosecutor relies upon, leads us to the unsettling
conclusion that it is left to government bureaucrats and/or
individual prosecutors to determine how much coordination
between campaign committees and independent groups is "too much"
coordination. In essence, under his theory, every candidate, in
every campaign in which an issue advocacy group participates,
would get their own John Doe proceeding and their own special
prosecutor to determine the extent of any coordination. This is
not, and cannot, be the law in a democracy.

http://www.prwatch.org/files/07-16-15_ruling.pdf

 

[arkirk]

For Walker there is no such thing as too much coordination between well funded independent groups and his campaign committee. There just is no limit on the help he will accept to fight unions and democracy.

 

[ksen]

John Doe investigations as I've read about them here sound stupid and dangerous to a free society.

Walker, stopped clock, blahblahblah

eta: But then I have to wonder why Assemblyman Walker never introduced legislation to get rid of the John Doe laws? Maybe they weren't so bad back then and only got bad when aimed at his friends and associates?

 

[laughing dog]

Of course Walker reformed the very laws used to bring his backroom deals to light. Nor is it a surprise that a Republican dominated state supreme court would strike the laws down.

For a moment set aside your political beliefs and consider whether a state should have the "john doe" power that Wisconsin just tossed. Okay, you don't like Scott Walker or Republicans. But should the state be able to wield a coercive power set to the whims of a politically motivated prosecutor? The "john doe" cases in Wisconsin illustrate why we have the 4th Amendment and jurisprudence invalidating the arbitrary and capricious enforcement of laws.

Except that a truly independent judiciary did not set aside those laws. It is an example of the state wielding its power set to the whims of a political party to clearly protect itself. So, setting aside your ideological bias, can you understand why this outcome is neither expected nor desired?

If a Federal judge had made such a ruling or even the SCOTUS, you'd have a point. But that is not what happened.