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While Senate Vote Is Delayed, Assembly Passes Bill Rewriting John Doe Law

Legislation Would Stop Investigations Of Election Crimes, Official Misconduct

By
Wisconsin State Capitol
Jake Pfaffenroth (CC-BY-NC-ND)

Republican state lawmakers appeared poised to pass a bill on Tuesday that would rewrite Wisconsin’s John Doe law. But, while the measure passed the Assembly, it was delayed in the state Senate.

The Assembly passed the bill 60-36 on Tuesday. The Senate moved one step away from final approval of the measure earlier Tuesday.

In the Senate, minority Democrats objected to a final reading of the bill after a four-hour debate Tuesday. The final reading is the last step before the chamber can vote on a measure. The move means the chamber can’t take the bill up until the next calendar day.

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Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told members they’ll be back on the floor at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

The legislation’s changes would prevent prosecutors from using the law to investigate misconduct in public office. The plan would put a six-month time limit on future John Does and remove the gag order that’s placed on subjects of an investigation.

The effort to alter the existing law was borne out of Republican frustrations with a John Doe investigation involving Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and conservative groups. The state Supreme Court ended that case in July.

State Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said he believes that case was unconstitutional.

“That’s like 1939 Germany. Well, we’re the United States of America. We’re not going to allow this to continue,” he said.

The plan would allow John Doe investigations to continue for many crimes, like violent felonies. However, it would prevent prosecutors from using the law to investigate election crimes and political misconduct in office.

State Senator John Erpenbach, D-Middleton, said that he disagrees with the plan.

“You wonder why people don’t like politicians,” he said. “It’s this crap.”