Unidentified Individuals Allegedly Disclosed a Confidential Draft Regarding Abortion Decision by Wisconsin Supreme Court
A fresh take:
Hot damn, it seems the leak of that Wisconsin Supreme Court abortion decree last year was bloody no accident, according to a report out this week. But alas, the investigators couldn't pinpoint who the culprit was.
The leak, which happened in June, concerned a case brought by Planned Parenthood to protect abortion access under the state constitution. After the leak, the court promptly issued the order to accept the case. The shady draft got its hands on by online news outlet Wisconsin Watch[1].
The Supreme Court's seven justices, in a united front, denounced the leak as a breach of trust that had never occurred in their court's history. All seven viewed this leak as a despicable act[2].
June's leak came in one of the two abortion-related cases the court was handling. The court also heard a second case challenging the 1849 abortion ban, brought by Attorney General Josh Kaul[2]. The judgment in that case is still pending.
As of now, the court hasn't set a date for oral arguments in the Planned Parenthood case associated with the leaked memo.
The investigators grilled 62 witnesses, including all seven Supreme Court justices, staff, interns, and folks with access to the court during a brutal two-week period covering June from the release of the draft to Wisconsin Watch's posting[3].
Network logs, emails, printer data, and other relevant info were scrutinized during the investigation. Yet, despite an intense investigation, no clear suspects have been identified[3]. The report declared that there was no evidence suggesting the leak was due to a computer system breach[3].
The damning report did conclude that Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, one of the liberal justices on the court, received the draft order on her personal email[3]. Her law clerk justified it as standard practice. The draft was sent to an email outside the state court system only once, before Wisconsin Watch's article[3].
Justice Bradley didn't respond to an email regarding the report. Wisconsin Watch remained tight-lipped on the matter[3].
Between now and August, Justice Bradley, who is retiring, will be replaced by Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford. With this change, liberals will keep their 4-3 majority[3].
Data shortcomings hampered the investigation, as the logs showing websites visited in the two weeks leading to the Wisconsin Watch story were incomplete[4]. Only logs from June 26 and June 27 were available, and the article was published on June 26[4].
The court had to hire an independent investigator because they don't have an independent law enforcement agency[4]. The report, however, doesn't specify who led the investigation[4].
Three ex-police detectives, at a cost of $165,740, took charge of the probe and wrote the report[4].
Audrey Skwierawski, the director of state courts, plans to establish a review task force to implement the report's recommendations and prevent similar incidents in the future[4].
Covert operations within the Wisconsin Supreme Court don't happen often or smoothly. The 2011 incident involving Justice David Prosser choking Justice Ann Walsh Bradley led to an investigation, with the Dane County Sheriff's Department taking the reins[5]. The case took an unexpected turn when the chief of Capitol Police stepped down due to a supposed conflict[5]. Republicans cry-bullied the sheriff for having a conflict due to his endorsement of Bradley[5]. In the end, the Sauk County district attorney declined to press charges[5].
[1] Wisconsin Watch[2] Wisconsin Supreme Court[3] Investigative Report[4] Wisconsin State Court System press release[5] Wisconsin State Journal
The investigative report regarding the leak of the Wisconsin Supreme Court abortion decree revealed that there was no evidence suggesting a computer system breach was the cause, but did suggest that Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, one of the liberal justices, received the draft order on her personal email, raising questions about policy and legislation relating to confidential documents.
The media, including Wisconsin Watch, played a significant role in the leak as they acquired and published the confidential draft before the investigation could complete. The general news and crime-and-justice sectors have since been following the ongoing investigations, but no clear suspects have been identified.
Politics and media findings show that the leak of the draft order was unusual for the Wisconsin Supreme Court's history, with the event bearing similarities to war-and-conflicts scenarios, where breaches of trust and confidential information can have far-reaching consequences.
With Justice Bradley retiring and being replaced by Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, it remains to be seen if this incident will influence policy-and-legislation surrounding the confidentiality of court documents and if there will be a shift in power within the court.
