Failure to immediately comply with an open records request could cost the Dane County District Attorney’s office thousands of dollars in legal fees. A Michigan education group is suing district attorney Ismael Ozanne to recoup upward of $5,000 in legal costs it incurred while pursuing an open records request tied to Wisconsin’s new collective bargaining law. At a court hearing ...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two animal rights groups have asked the Dane County district attorney to investigate whether University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers broke the law in their studies of aggressive behavior. UW scientists have been studying fights involving mice. But, the Alliance for Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals say UW scientists violated a state law that ...

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge weighed arguments Tuesday about whether an order she issued intended to temporarily block the state’s divisive new collective bargaining law was still in place, or whether Republican leaders had again outmaneuvered their opponents by using a legal loophole to achieve their goals. During a hearing into one of ...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin prosecutor says it would be premature for an appeals court to review whether an emergency order blocking publication of the state’s new collective bargaining law was properly issued. Democratic Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne has accused Republican lawmakers of violating the state’s open meetings law during debate on the plan. Judge Maryann Sumi ...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin prosecutor says a judge properly blocked publication of a contentious new collective bargaining law. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne has accused Republican lawmakers of violating the state’s open meetings law during debate on the proposal. Judge Maryann Sumi on Friday issued an emergency order halting publication of the law, the last step before ...

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press The Republican-controlled state Assembly passed the bill the next day and Walker signed it on March 11. Ozanne’s lawsuit contends Republicans didn’t give the proper 24-hour public notice that the committee planned to meet, violating Wisconsin’s open meetings law. Sumi said that’s a crucial point as she justified the emergency order during a hearing last ...

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge plans to decide Friday whether to block the state’s new and contentious collective bargaining law from taking effect. Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi on Thursday set aside nearly five hours for a hearing Friday morning and indicated she was willing to go beyond that time to ensure she ...

TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican lawmakers violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law when they amended a contentious plan that bars most public employees from collective bargaining, a Madison prosecutor alleged in a lawsuit Wednesday. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne’s legal challenge is the second from a county official since Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill into ...

By DAVID LIEB and 
SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The showdown over collective bargaining rights for public employees is just the first step in a contentious debate over how to solve Wisconsin’s budget woes, with newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker also seeking to dismantle an array of social policies enacted under his Democratic predecessor. On the ...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Democratic Party has filed an ethics complaint against Republican Gov. Scott Walker over statements he made during a recorded prank call. In their complaint filed Monday with the Government Accountability Board, the Democrats claim Walker violated campaign finance laws by apparently asking for support for politically vulnerable Wisconsin Republican lawmakers from a caller who ...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne says he won’t launch a criminal investigation into either Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker or the 14 Democrats who fled the state. Ozanne said there’s no evidence that Walker broke the law when he said “we considered” planting agitators in the crowd of protesters. Walker made the statement during a recorded ...