Republican Lawmakers, Conservative Groups Praise John Doe Ruling

Republican politicians and one of the independent groups that was a target of the John Doe investigation are praising Thursday’s ruling as a vindication of their free speech rights.

In a written statement, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce President Kurt Bauer called the ruling a clear message that the probe was an abuse of power by prosecutors seeking to intimidate law abiding citizens who were participating in political debate. Bauer said WMC and the other groups who challenged the probe deserve an apology from district attorneys who led it.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel called the ruling the end to a divisive chapter in the state’s history and an assertive recognition of First Amendment rights.

Meanwhile, Republican legislators are busy drafting bills to reform the John Doe law to prevent such probes in the future. They’re also drafting bills to rewrite the state’s campaign finance laws from the ground up.

In a news release, Racine Sen. Van Wangaard called the state’s campaign finance laws a “jumbled mess” that must be updated to reflect Thursday’s ruling.

Wangaard also called for replacing the Government Accountability Board and it’s leadership.The GAB cooperated with the John Doe investigators. He accused the board of “advancing criminal theories to meet partisan goals.”

GAB Director Kevin Kennedy said in a statement that the board was a not a party to the cases decided by the court settled today. He said the board has been operating under a 1999 ruling that the Supreme Court overturned Thursday. Kennedy said he’s ready to work with a legislative council committee to review and revise the state’s campaign finance rules and make them consistent with the court’s ruling.

But groups that support limiting the role of money in elections say the ruling paves the way for more secret money to pour into election campaigns. Matt Rothschild of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said, “it just makes the system more out of reach for the regular voter. We don’t have an equal voice and we will have much less of a voice after this decision.”

“It’s a field day for the super rich and corporations,” he added. “But for regular citizens who thought we had equality of political opportunity in this country, you gotta think again because that was taken away.”

Rothschild said the only hope for rolling back the influence of corporate funding in elections is to pass a constitutional amendment that will reverse the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United case that granted corporations the same free speech rights as individual citizens.