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New Supreme Court Cases

By: dmc-admin//June 29, 2009//

New Supreme Court Cases

By: dmc-admin//June 29, 2009//

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has voted to grant review in two cases. The case numbers, issues (provided by the Office of the Clerk of Supreme Court), and counties of origin are listed below.

2008AP552-CR State v. Scott R. Jensen

In this case, the Supreme Court has been asked to review whether Wis. Stat. § 971.19(12), which provides that defendants charged with certain election and campaign violations are to be tried in the county where the defendant resides, applies to the facts of this case.

Background: In October 2002, Scott R. Jensen was charged in Dane County Circuit Court with misconduct in public office for allegedly using state resources for political campaign purposes in violation of Wis. Stat. § 946.12(3) . Jensen, a Republican who represented the 32nd Assembly District, was Assembly Speaker at the time.

The Court of Appeals concluded, in part, that while the elections and ethics chapters provide one source of Jensen’s overall duties as a public officer, Wis. Stat. § 946.12(3) is a criminal statute found under an entirely separate chapter. The Court of Appeals concluded that if the legislature had intended to include misconduct in public office charges within the final category of § 971.19(12), it could have easily done so by including that statute in the enumerated statutes. Jensen has argued that his case is a matter involving elections and ethics and falls under § 971.19(12). He also contended that the terms “the investigation” in the statute is not limited to GAB investigations, but rather must mean any investigation, because there is no limiting language in the statute. He asserts that to interpret “the investigation” to mean only investigations authorized by the GAB improperly inserts “GAB” into the statute, to make it read “the GAB investigation.”

Justice David T. Prosser did not participate.

From Dane County.

2008AP967 Schill v. Wisconsin Rapids School District

This certification from District IV Court of Appeals asks the Supreme Court to determine whether the personal e-mails of public employees that are maintained on publicly owned computers are subject to disclosure under the public records law.

Background: In April 2007, a private citizen, Don Bubolz, filed a request with the Wisconsin Rapids School District under the public records law, Wis. Stat. §19.31 et seq., for all e-mails sent from the computers assigned to five teachers for the period of March 1, 2007, through April 13, 2007.

The Court of Appeals’ certification memorandum notes that the first issue to be decided is whether the personal e-mails are “records” under the public records law. According to the parties and the Court of Appeals, there is no published case in Wisconsin that addresses whether purely personal e-mails kept on a public computer constitute public records under the statute.

If the e-mails are found to constitute “records” under the public records law, the Supreme Court will be called upon to decide whether the presumption favoring disclosure of public records is overcome by the public interest in protecting the privacy and reputational rights of its citizens? This question will essentially involve a balancing of the relevant public policies. From Wood County.

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