State v. James T. Kettner, 2023AP160, 161, 162, 11/28/23, District 4 (one-judge case, ineligible for publication); case activity Kettner, pro se, appealed from three traffic forfeiture judgments and claimed that an open records violation prevented him from presenting video evidence that would have proved [his] innocence. The court of appeals rejects his claim and affirms the… Read more
27. Open records
Demonta Antonio Hall v. Wisconsin Department of Justice, 2020 WI App 12; case activity (including briefs) In a decision that will certainly benefit some people who were arrested for a crime but never charged, the court of appeals orders the Department of Justice to expunge its records showing Demonta Hall was arrested for two felony… Read more
Bill Lueders v. Scott Krug, 2019 WI App 36; case activity (including briefs) Here’s a non-criminal case that may nevertheless prove useful to your criminal practice, if you seek information via the open-records law. Lueders (a reporter) sent an open records request to Krug (a state legislator)’s office, asking for emails referring to a particular… Read more
SCOW scolds DOJ for releasing erroneous criminal history reports, but justices don’t agree on remedy
Dennis A. Teague v. Brad A. Schimel, 2017 WI 56, 6/8/17, reversing a published court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) Dennis Teague has no criminal record, but if you ask DOJ to run a criminal background check on him DOJ will hand over a lengthy rap sheet showing someone else’s criminal history. Why? Because that someone… Read more
Voces de La Frontera, Inc. v. David A Clarke, Jr., 2017 WI 16, reversing a published court of appeals opinion, 2/24/107; case activity (including briefs) Voces filed an open records request for immigration detainer forms (aka I-247 forms) for persons held at the Milwaukee County Jail. It wanted to confirm that Sheriff Clarke was following federal law… Read more
Democratic Party of Wisconsin v. Wisconsin Department of Justice, 2016 WI 100, 12/28/16, reversing a summary disposition of the court of appeals; case activity (including briefs) Before the November 2014 election, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed an open records request for videos of two training presentations made by Brad Schimel, the DA running for Attorney… Read more
Review of a published court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) Issues (from petition for review): Does Wis. Stat. §19.356 preclude petitioners from seeking a declaratory judgment that the DOJ’s alias name policy violates Wisconsin’s public records law? Don’t be misled by the bland statement of the first issue. Teague has asked SCOW to decide… Read more
On review of a published court of appeals opinion; case activity (including briefs) Issues (from petition for review): Does Wisconsin Open Records Law require the records custodian of a local law enforcement agency to produce federal immigration detainer hold documents (I-247s) received from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite the specific prohibition contained in… Read more
