July 23, 2015

"The Wisconsin Targets Tell Their Story/After victory in court, conservative activists talk on the record for the first time about their 21-month ordeal."

A must-read in The Wall Street Journal by Collin Levy. (No subscription? Google some text.)
One target did speak up in public in real time— Eric O’Keefe... The director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth knew that violating the gag order put him at personal risk, but he told me then that he had to fight because it was an assault on basic constitutional freedoms and “we have done nothing illegal.”... “I did not want to see the inside of a jail cell,” Mr. O’Keefe says, but “I didn’t want to shirk my duty to confront tyrannical behavior.”...

Now the 60-year-old Mr. O’Keefe is willing to provide more details about his decision. He says he talked it over with his children, and he and his wife, Leslie, discussed “how she should operate if I was arrested for contempt of court.” The maximum penalty in Wisconsin is a $10,000 fine and one year in jail. “She asked if she could bail me out of jail. My position was ‘no.’ ”...

"They were spying on people who were making it tough for them to retain their hold on state government,” Mr. O’Keefe says. “People often ask, ‘What were they investigating?’ That’s the wrong question. It wasn’t the what, it was the who.”

And the “who” happened to be political allies of Scott Walker, who was a political opponent of Messrs. Chisholm and Landgraf. While this story has a happy ending, it still required years of legal expense to fight back and expose the prosecutorial abuses. The targets have been vindicated, but a reckoning for prosecutors and the abusive John Doe machinery is still in order.

92 comments:

Humperdink said...

When are the people going to rise up? When??????

deepelemblues said...

You can also google the URL itself, or the article title. Googling the URL always works, sometimes it doesn't show up if the article was very recently posted and you search by its title.

The Stasi would be proud of the behavior of the John Doe investigators, as described in the WSJ article.

The NKVD would consider them a bunch of weak backsliders. Probably in league with Polish-British-German-Japanese-Trotskyite-Zinovite-Bukharinite-Rykovite imperialist agents, they failed so spectacularly at their John Doe mission.

Meade said...

If I only had half the courage Leslie and Eric O'Keefe have, I would be an extremely brave American.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Charles said...

I would argue that this story does not have a "happy ending" and cannot have a happy ending until all those involved in violating the civil rights of their fellow Americans have been prosecuted, convicted (if the evidence supports the charges), and jailed. There is no happy ending until there are consequences for such a grotesque violation of rights and civic decency.

Such abuses will continue until it becomes too painful to the perpetrators of such abuses.

Anonymous said...

This is happening all over the country, and this isn't the end, it's the beginning.

Tim said...

This is what progressives (and the Democrats for the last 150 years) do. These peole need to go to jail.

Curious George said...

But...but...but it was headed up by Republicans!

Sebastian said...

One small victory in a much larger battle. Ask Rick Perry.

"Such abuses will continue until it becomes too painful to the perpetrators of such abuses."

Progs rule. They like lawfare.

PB said...

Proper order of punishment for public officials complicit in this atrocity:
1. Tar and feathers
2. Disbarment
3. Pay compensation plus pain and suffering
4. Jail
5. Another tar and feathering.

Curious George said...

They were successful in silencing free speech. The fact that it was not enough to turn the election and remove Walker is moot.

Kevin Kennedy and John Chisholm need to be jailed. Will the WI DA have the stones to start a full investigation?

buck smith said...

I am wondering if there is some "pack not a herd way" to fight this with a web application that could help with legal manuvers against out of control DAs and grand juries. I agree this is not the end, it is the beginning.

Matt Sablan said...

Think, if the fines were higher/jail time longer for breaking the gag orders, they may have successfully kept the corruption from coming to light.

I feel like these gag orders, themselves, need to be looked in to to see if they are applied equally and If they pass constitutional muster.

MadisonMan said...

I look forward to some future convictions -- but I doubt they'll happen. My legal predictions aren't very good however.

Matt Sablan said...

"John Doe Judge Neal Nettesheim compelled Mr. Johnson’s attorney to disclose what emails they had reviewed together and told him that attorney-client privilege didn’t apply. “When we sat down for our interview, I was told my attorney couldn’t speak, couldn’t object. I was asked how does my business operate, who are my contacts, how do I make money, what are my percentages, who are my clients? If I didn’t answer I would be in contempt.”"

-- If I were Mr. Johnson, I would have had nothing to do with that judge and dared them to find me in contempt.

But, I don't have a family to look after.

Birkel said...

Has anybody forgotten about the secret routers?
Eleventy!!

Matt Sablan said...

“Earlier this year I learned . . . David Budde, the lead investigator for Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, was searching our office in Madison. My partner and I were never notified of the search of our office,” Ms. Jordahl says, “and the prosecutors never provided us with a copy of the warrant or an inventory of what was taken.” -- If I were her, I'd argue that without providing a warrant or inventory, there is no proof the taking was legal, and I would report the breaking and entering as a crime.

“Even if they hadn’t heard about the Doe” investigation, he says, “it would have been unethical for me to bring them in blind. So I had to turn down business on that account.” -- This is actual harm, and the foundation of a tort.

Birkel said...

Nettesheim, by that description, should face official sanction from the Bar and the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Violating attorney-client privilege is something up with which the Bar cannot put.

Original Mike said...

"I look forward to some future convictions -- but I doubt they'll happen. My legal predictions aren't very good however."

Hell, Chisholm will probably run for governor.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

I agree, no happy ending here.

The target's speech was successfully suppressed. Same with the IRS' failure to approve legitimate groups prior to an election--the fact that approval came later doesn't matter, the IRS' illegal use of its power for partisan political purposes was successful.

It's pretty clear we can't rely on the professionalism of bureaucrats, judges, or attorneys to protect citizens from improper use of official power for political ends. To me that's a good reason to be a libertarian (reduce the size and scope of gov. and you reduce the power of gov and thus the ability for someone in gov to abuse that power) but it's obvious most Americans disagree. What's the solution? How do we set something up to provide citizens (low cost) recourse in a situation like this?
I'm superficially attracted to the idea bandied about on Instapundit a while back of some Libertarian billionaire setting up a fund and underwriting lawyers and activists to fight this junk, but honestly that's probably not enough.

Unknown said...

what Charles said. This is not a happy ending. It must be only the beginning. There must be consequences - severe consequences or it happens again.

Big Mike said...

Writing from afar, it appears to me that the Wisconsin version of the Democrat party entirely composed of worthless shits.

kcom said...

"But...but...but it was headed up by Republicans!"

You should change your name to Curious Garage Mahal. :)

Anonymous said...

Exactly what Charles said...

Charles said...
I would argue that this story does not have a "happy ending" and cannot have a happy ending until all those involved in violating the civil rights of their fellow Americans have been prosecuted, convicted (if the evidence supports the charges), and jailed. There is no happy ending until there are consequences for such a grotesque violation of rights and civic decency.

Such abuses will continue until it becomes too painful to the perpetrators of such abuses.

Quaestor said...

John Chisholm deserves to spend a long stretch in jail with a large African-American homosexual as a cellmate, one with about 150 pounds of solid muscle advantage. Neal Nettesheim deserves a similar vacation with a similarly interesting social partner.

But of course nothing will happen to them. Chisholm will have his application to the federal Voter Rights section of the Justice Department approved, and Obama will appoint Nettesheim to an appellate bench somewhere as a parting shot, sometime around Christmas, 2016, I should say.

Prosecutors and judges should go in terror of the law, just like the rest of us.

SteveR said...

There are a lot of issues lately that have shut people up.

Original Mike said...

Mark will be along anytime now to condemn Levy's article as slanderous.

Carter Wood said...

Congratulations to Collin Levy and the Wall Street Journal for steadfastly reporting this story. Top-notch journalism about a serious affront to justice, worth a Pulitzer. (Thinking of the WSJ's Dorothy Rabinowitz and her reporting on the Fells Acre Day Care Center persecutions, which helped her win a Pulitzer for commentary.)

Sebastian said...

By the way, apart from our hostess at least paying bloggerly attention, how many faculty or students from the University of Wisconsin Law School assisted the victims of this gross injustice in any way?

Bay Area Guy said...

Really great article, thanks for sharing. The Wisc Dems should pay a serious price for this unjust lawfare.

TRISTRAM said...

" Obama will appoint Nettesheim to an appellate bench somewhere as a parting shot, sometime around Christmas, 2016, I should say."

I'd say fortunately, this would require confirmation before the next congress (Jan 2017), but the establishment republicans need chisolms fight the Tea Party insurrectionists, so I'd assume they would hold an emergency sessions to approve him.

Marc in Eugene said...

Lincoln Caplan in the New Yorker yesterday, I think, decrying the 'political' Wisconsin Supreme Court decision and Mr Walker in general etc etc.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Messrs. Chisholm and Landgraf. Why are they not in prison?

Achilles said...

Neither political party is truly interested in reigning in the bureaucracy. They just want to use it when they are in power and they have the same targets: people who want smaller government. Look who the establishment GOP go after every time. I just read Kasich's interview of Hannity where he talked about Hillary coming to his wedding and wouldn't call her a liar. He was going after people to his right, not democrats.

The next political movement will be a widespread refusal to pay taxes.

Richard Dolan said...

This might well be the case that forces courts to reconsider the 'absolute immunity' rule for prosecutors. Unless there are consequences for such egregious misconduct, it will not stop -- just take another form.

If so, perhaps that could be a first (and, frankly, large) step in repairing the damage this political vendetta dressed up as a criminal investigation has caused, to the targeted victims, to the rule of law and to the reputation of Wisconsin.

traditionalguy said...

Seeing how Walker attracted thug terrorists disguised as District Attorney's in semi-civilized Madison, Wisconsin raises fears for Ann and Meade if they are seen supporting Walker. Cruel Neutralitysounds like wisdom in the Gulag of Wisconsinwhere the Judicial system is just a big pretense for exterminating political opponents.

Anthony said...

The main problem -- or at least a major one as I see it -- is the news media. Demi can get away with stuff like this because they have the vast bulk of the media on their side, so hardly anybody knows about it outside of Wisconsin, and even when it does make it out into the larger news media (this article excepted) it's spun to the Dems' advantage.

They get away with it because they can.

MadisonMan said...

Hell, Chisholm will probably run for governor.

It would such a great choice (NOT) if the Republicans put Robin "Government is never secret enough" Vos up as their Candidate!

HoodlumDoodlum said...

"Have you no shame?!" is supposed to be rhetorical, but the sad truth is that unethical bureaucrats who abuse their power for political ends just don't--and a complaisant (to the Left) Media won't ever willingly give them reason to be.

gerry said...

Writing from afar, it appears to me that the Wisconsin version of the Democrat party entirely composed of worthless shits.

Garage Mahal was a big supporter of this suppression of liberty. And you are correct. He is a worthless shit.

If I only had half the courage Leslie and Eric O'Keefe have, I would be an extremely brave American.

I feel the same about myself. Very well said.

Rusty said...

Garage Mahal was a big supporter of this suppression of liberty. And you are correct. He is a worthless shit.

I can't give him credit for being Machiavellian. I don't think he's that deep. At worst I think he's just a tool. There are a lot of them in the democrat party. They believe the bumper sticker level platitudes that make up the lefts talking points.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Great phrase from that New Yorker article you linked, Marc Puckett:

The highly political nature of the election, or reëlection, of the court’s conservative justices, between 2007 and 2013,

Yeah, see, when conservative justices run for election it's political--hell, it's HIGHLY political--but when non-conservatives justices run it's just sweet non-political bliss. The author, of course, is a senior research scholar at Yale Law, so she knows a thing or two about when things are and are not "political."

Leftists aren't extreme, they're boldly on the vanguard standing on principles. Opposition to them shouldn't be understood as political, just as the fact that although their decisions might just so happen to benefit one particular political "side," the decisions themselves are based purely on solid legal reasoning.

Non-leftists, of course, are extremists and highly political, even when supported by majorities of voters. Non-leftist are self-evidently wrong since their views are so polarizing--opposition to non-leftists proves just how unpopular and dangerous non-leftist beliefs are. If non-leftists manage to get something done (a law, a court opinion) through the normal political or legal process that fact is itself evidence that non-leftists are cheaters.

It's all very obvious, really.

Rusty said...

Meade said...
If I only had half the courage Leslie and Eric O'Keefe have, I would be an extremely brave American.


For that you have to have balls.










































just messin' with ya.
Sometimes courage comes from just being tired of being pushed around.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Still from the New Yorker: omeday, a novelist with Wisconsin roots will tell the story of Walker’s engagement in squalid politics—and whether it carried him to the White House.

Gov. Walker, a politician, engaged in "squalid politics!" How very awful, how unforgivable! I mean, say what you will about Chicago-style politics, of the kind that saw the current President of the US cruise to easy election for two different seats by coincidentally having his opponent's private documents unsealed and made public (by a very happy press) shortly before the elections, but at least it wasn't squalid. Why, this Gov Walker is on record in leaked and unsealed emails from this investigation, and he and his staff are---gasp!---fundraising! They're trying to collect money from prospective contributors, and are discussing the legal way to do so!
Dirty, low, squalid. When a non-Leftist does it, anyway.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Charles said...

There is no happy ending until there are consequences for such a grotesque violation of rights and civic decency.

If you've got $100 I've got a masseuse who says otherwise.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Humperdink said...

I would encourage the citizens of Wisconsin to encircle the DA's office building in protest, after he enters for work. Stay there 24 hours/day. Working in shifts. Carrying torches for light (also to keep the tar hot). Really.

Humperdink said...

It will continue to happen until we stop it.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Under the legal theory the New Yorker author seems to be putting forward it would be illegal for a candidate to say publicly - I hope organization XYZ, which promotes issue UVW that I also believe in, approves of my candidacy and I believe everyone should donate to them so they can continue to make ads furthering their cause." Once the candidate did so any money given to organization XYZ would then have to count as a contribution to the candidate's campaign and be subject to strict campaign finance law (limits, disclosure, etc). That's so obviously ludicrous an outcome I wonder how it can be put forward with a straight face.

A candidate directing an organization to run certain ads or include certain language, etc, might be coordinating. A candidate encouraging others to support an organization that happens to agree with the candidate on an issue is not coordination. The "damning" email excerpts the NY Mag author included are mostly Walker campaign staff telling him to remind potential donors that they can also donate to Club For Growth. Since Club For Growth is an independent organization that happens to believe the same things Walker believes (and/or thinks Walker was the best candidate) that makes sense, and is in no way contrary to the common sense understanding of what campaign finance law should do nor to 1st Amend. protections.

Marc in Eugene said...

HoodlumDoodlum, "Yeah, see, when conservative justices run for election it's political-- hell, it's HIGHLY political-- but when non-conservatives justices run it's just sweet non-political bliss." Precisely! my reaction on reading that, too; sauce, goose, gander, whatever the expression is. "That's so obviously ludicrous an outcome I wonder how it can be put forward with a straight face." Because 'corporations' aren't 'people', only 'people' are 'people', and the Constitution and the laws ought to further only partisan activity on behalf of 'the people'. Words mean what I mean for them to mean because I am the arbiter of meaning.

Marc in Eugene said...

That 'Wisconsin novelist and squalid Walker' was a decent line, though, I thought. AA has cited him (Lincoln Caplan) often enough; and while this matters only in a sort of Who's Who in the Ruling Class sense, is he married to Judge Carney of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, or not? He's Lincoln Caplan at the New Yorker; Judge Carney's spouse, online, always seems to be Lincoln W. Caplan, II.

furious_a said...

"Such abuses will continue until it becomes too painful to the perpetrators of such abuses."

See "Nifong, Mike, Durham County DA, Disbarred".

furious_a said...

I am wondering if there is some "pack not a herd way" to fight this with a web application

In meatspace it used to be known as a "free, energetic and engaged press", but not so much anymore.

Theranter said...

Blogger SteveR said...
"There are a lot of issues lately that have shut people up."
Yup, and on campuses on through to courthouses, the intimidation increases daily.

Rick said...

In a Jan. 24, 2014, filing with John Doe Judge Gregory Peterson, Special Prosecutor Schmitz wrote that “the Wisconsin Club for Growth (hereafter WiCFG), acting through Eric O’Keefe, has demonstrated contempt for the John Doe process, secrecy order, and Wisconsin legal system.”

Judge Peterson: Let me express my contempt also, to these groups and to both John Chisholm and yourself.

furious_a said...

It's pretty clear we can't rely on the professionalism of bureaucrats, judges, or attorneys to protect citizens from improper use of official power for political ends.

You forgot to include local media. Milwaukee JS let themselves be used for selective leaks by the Doe investigators, gag orders be damned.

kcom said...

Quote from above:

"Someday, a novelist with Wisconsin roots will tell the story of Walker’s engagement in squalid politics—and whether it carried him to the White House"

And, after a little presto change-o:

"Someday, a novelist with Chicago/Arkansas/New York roots will tell the story of Hillary Clinton's engagement in squalid politics—and whether it carried her to the White House"

Question: Which of the above rings more true?

My vote is for sleazy Hillary Clinton, who revels in squalid and has for decades. She can't even imagine life without it. I'm certain Scott Walker can.

And one more point. Notice how it will take a novelist to tell Scott Walker's story, i.e. someone versed in making up fiction. You don't need a novelist, just a biographer with access to public documents, to tell Hillary's sleazy story.

furious_a said...


There's a Pulitzer innit for some local Jimmy Olsen willing to do the shoe-leather truth-to-power journalism of exposing the top-to-bottom corruptions and collusions of the Doe investigations.

Owen said...

Big Mike said (at 10:30)

"...entirely composed of worthless shits."

But of course. You can't join --you can't even APPLY to join-- unless your biomass has been lab-certified as 100% Non-GMO, Fair-Trade, Kiln-Dried, Artisanal, Heirloom Progtardic Shit.

kcom said...

"Eric O’Keefe has demonstrated contempt for the John Doe process"

If he wants to give it more respect than it deserves, that's his call. For me, it's beneath contempt.

And on a slightly more serious note, he should be lauded up and down the land. Someone needs to give him a high-profile prize or award of some kind for standing up for all of us. He's earned it. Thank you, sir. Patrick Henry would be proud.

AllenS said...

I've told this story before, but back in the 1970's I took a lawyer in front of the bar association and got $5,000 out of him.

If any of this bullshit from Chisholm and Landgraf happened to me, I'd take then before the WI bar and have them fined and disbarred.

I'm a high school graduate, and that's as far as my schooling went. When you want it bad enough, you go for it.

You'd be surprised, but right is right and wrong is wrong, and there's not much more to it than that.

caseym54 said...

People who do what Chisholm &co did would be executing political opponents in a basement if they thought they could get a way with it. Disbarment, jail, penury, never to darken the public square again.

Rick said...

Once news of the subpoenas was leaked to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a favorite venue for prosecutors, his business was in the cross hairs.

Here's something Chisholm could go to jail for. The reporter he leaked to wouldn't voluntarily give up his name of course, but what if he became the subject of a John Doe investigation? This JD violated attorney client privilege, why couldn't the next one violate press privacy?

james conrad said...

The targets have been vindicated, but a reckoning for prosecutors and the abusive John Doe machinery is still in order.

Yes it is, very much so. At the end of the day, lawlessness begets lawlessness which is why i believe the second amendment and the right to bear arms is VITAL to preserve the American way of life. Hopefully, Wisc state govt will see the errors made in this clusterf**k and take action against govt agents who seek to weaponize politics, if not the road ahead could be very grim indeed.

kcom said...

"who seek to weaponize politics"

Probably better to say "who seek to weaponize the law in service of partisan politics".

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Because 'corporations' aren't 'people'

One wonders how this will affect "freedom of the press" then.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Haven't seen Bitchtits posting on this subject, isn't that odd?

His favorite topic, after all. Now that the SECRET ROUTERS! conspiracy is not going to end with Walker getting frog-marched out and Garage's masterbatory fantasy of the John Doe probes will not happen, did he finally commit suicide?

One can only hope.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Because 'corporations' aren't 'people'

Hey, then Unions and Associations aren't people either. Think of all the NGOs we could shut out of the "national conversation" with this train of logic. Train? Hell, it's a bullet train of logic!

Fen said...

Meade: If I only had half the courage Leslie and Eric O'Keefe have, I would be an extremely brave American.

I can't tell if he's serious or if this is merely passive-aggressive metrosexual snark.

Chuck said...

Naturally, I love the reporting from the Journal (Collin Levy is wonderful) and I am most appreciative of our blog hostess's continued attention to this Wisconsin political vendetta.

But I am a bit perplexed at the idea of leaving this all with the simple notion that Democrats abused their prosecutorial power with the assistance of Democrat-sympathetic judges.

My real question is how the hell has Wisconsin's John Doe law survived all of this? I speak as a foreign-state lawyer (Michigan in my case) and the Wisconsin John Doe law is quite unlike anything I know in this state or others. Do residents of the Badger state understand just how weird this is? Is there serious talk now about repealing the law? Procedurally, it is a nightmare. It almost doesn't matter who is in charge to be able to abuse it; it is ready for abuse no matter who is in charge.

Curious George said...

"Chuck said...
Do residents of the Badger state understand just how weird this is? Is there serious talk now about repealing the law? Procedurally, it is a nightmare. It almost doesn't matter who is in charge to be able to abuse it; it is ready for abuse no matter who is in charge."

Not the Democrats, of course it's just another weapon to use against their enemies. And they know that the press would never tolerate it being used against a Democrat. And because of that, yes, their is talk about repealing it, although the WI Supreme Court defanged it. The GOP would have no problem with appealing it.

Curious George said...

"furious_a said...

You forgot to include local media. Milwaukee JS let themselves be used for selective leaks by the Doe investigators, gag orders be damned."


"...let themselves be used?"

LOL like a common street whore allows herself to be used.

No, they knew exactly what was going on. They knew their role. aAnd did it willingly. Without regret.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Matthew Sablan said...7/23/15, 10:21 AM

This is actual harm, and the foundation of a tort.

Isn't it pretty difficult to sue prosecutors?

I think there'd be more success in suing the state of Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, they can also try to get a bill for compensation through the legislature.

The prosecutors - maybe you can try for disbarment.



Sammy Finkelman said...

This case, albeit it involved a distortion of a bad law, shows the importance of not letting Democrats tamper with the First Amendment.

Of course to actually do that would require a really, really, big supermajority across the nation, but this is philosophically flawed..

Achilles said...

Chuck said...

"Do residents of the Badger state understand just how weird this is? Is there serious talk now about repealing the law? Procedurally, it is a nightmare. It almost doesn't matter who is in charge to be able to abuse it; it is ready for abuse no matter who is in charge."

The only way to get that done would be to start using it on democrats. Wont happen. The republicans will use it on the tea party first.

Curious George said...

"Achilles said...
Chuck said...

The only way to get that done would be to start using it on democrats. Wont happen. The republicans will use it on the tea party first."

Don't draw comparisons between national GOP House and Senate leadership and the leaders of the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly. Their are some squishy members of both here ibn Wisconsin, but leadership is pretty strongly conservative.

Curious George said...

They're...sheesh

Curious George said...

By the way, O'Kefefe's attorney made it known that lawsuits have been filed, and there is more to come. He pretty much said that Chisholm et all fucked with the wrong guy when the decided to screw with Eric O’Keefe.

Achilles said...

Curious George said...

"Don't draw comparisons between national GOP House and Senate leadership and the leaders of the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly. Their are some squishy members of both here ibn Wisconsin, but leadership is pretty strongly conservative."

It isn't about progressive vs. conservative. It is about government vs. people. Too many republicans and all of the democrats are siding against freedom. It is the most conservative republicans that seem to be the most interested in using government and bureaucracy to push their world view.

Moneyrunner said...

One of the issues that appears so often in this case as well as many others is this thing called a "gag order." The idea that your house can be raided, your property taken and your neighbors alerted to the police's interest in you, but you can be ordered to remain silent about it is Orwellian. I'm fairly sure that the issue of gag orders has been adjudicated but I still wonder what ruling by the Supremes made gag orders legal? Perhaps our hostess can enlighten us.

I Callahan said...

They're...sheesh

I like the "ibn" slip better. Freudian???

:)

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rich Vail said...

You want to gain respect from the Left? Then use the same tools that Islam has used to cow the moral cowards of the Liberal Elite...if these Fascists won't face any sort of legal remedies because they acted under the "colour of office" and thus have "immunity"...then take it a little further. Assinate those who were incharge and leave a clear message that this is going too far. If they want to abandon the US Constitutional protections, then they'll face far harsher retribution.

But seriously though, it seems like these days, they only way to gain any sort of respect from the Left is to punish those invovled far beyond what is necessary. Sue the crap out of them personally, sue the city/county/state under who's laws/rules/administrative regulations this was done. Sue the judges who approved this legalized witch hunt. Publish EVERYTHING then put them in stocks in front of the State Capital!

Because they've abandoned the protections of the US Constitution by using the power of the state to coerce their political enemies...we're getting perolously close to "eye for an eye" territory. After all, if someone bashes in my front door at 3 am, there's a pretty good chance that shots will be exchanged...and that's what happened to the people here.

Their good names were dragged through the mud for political purposes...so it's time to do the same exact thing to those who intitiated this.

kcom said...

"By the way, O'Kefefe's attorney made it known that lawsuits have been filed, and there is more to come. He pretty much said that Chisholm et all fucked with the wrong guy when the decided to screw with Eric O’Keefe."

Here's an example of where they fucked with the wrong guy. The case was just settled today after eight years for $900,000 because the plaintiff didn't let it drop. And FIRE was there to help. Persistence sometimes has rewards.

A Big Victory in Georgia Points the Way to Ending Abuses of Freedom of Speech on Campus

Rich Vail said...

My comment above is a rather extreme response. However, with the weaponization of the IRS, DoJ...Wisc political prosecutions, we're getting into extreme territory. We kicked out Geo III for this kind of thing...are we lesser men and women than our ancestors were?

JackWayne said...

I don't understand the angst expressed here. In an unlimited government, which is what we have according to the Federalist Papers, this progression by government and bureaucracy to despotism is baked in. If you don't like what's happening all over America, not just in Wisconsin, you need a new Constitution. The current one is a complete failure. Suggesting that tar & feathers or jail sentences will fix the problem is childish.

Michael K said...

"Hell, Chisholm will probably run for governor."

Martha Coakley ran for the Senate in Mass and only Scott Brown stopped her.

Coakley was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014, but lost to Republican Charlie Baker.

Maybe even Mass voters had enough of her.

In 2001, Coakley successfully lobbied Acting Gov. Jane Swift to deny clemency to Gerald Amirault, a defendant in the Fells Acres Day Care Center preschool trial, whom many regarded as a victim of day care sex abuse hysteria. Prior to this, clemency for Amirault had been recommended unanimously by the Massachusetts Parole Board,

If only I believed in hell, I would feel better about what she has coming.

Michael said...

This guy should crowd fund his legal fees, raise a few million to pursue that asshole to the poorhouse.

geokstr said...

Sammy Finkelman said...
This case...shows the importance of not letting Democrats tamper with the First Amendment. Of course to actually do that would require a really, really, big supermajority across the nation.


No it wouldn't. It just requires the long, slow march through the institutions that the Democrats/Progressives/Marxists (but I tripeat(tm) myself) have been engaged in for at least 70 years.

Political correctness is built into the national psyche already, leftwing campus speech codes rule nearly every university, hate speech laws are on the books, "net neutrality" is the trojan horse for controlling content on the 'net, the left shouts down and/or has disinvited speakers they disagree with and personally destroys those who donate to the wrong causes, say the wrong thing or even wear a shirt the SJWs don't like, and much more.

Now they're coming for the part about freedom of religion, and the freedom of the press hasn't existed since the left took over journalism decades ago.

Most of the 1A has been gone for a long time now. Luckily, we still have the 2A but they're working furiously on that one too right now.

MadisonMan said...

kcom, that is excellent news, and great to read. Thank you for the link!

Laura said...

Rubio has a great campaign slogan (21st century problems vs. 20th century ideas) but I'm with Achilles. Both parties have entrenched interests in maintaining deadwood bureaucracy. I love David Brat's campaign tactics, but politics rarely attracts those persons most committed to relinquishing power.

320Busdriver said...

Can O'Keefe go back to scotus now with his prior suit?

2)whether, as this Court left unresolved in Hartman v. Moore, officials may be held liable for subjecting citizens to investigation in retaliation for First Amendment-protected speech and association, particularly where non-retaliatory grounds are insufficient to support the investigation.