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Green files with Wisconsin Supreme Court

Gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., filed with the state Supreme Court Wednesday, responding to allegations from the state Department of Justice that he is delaying the return of illegal campaign money.

Green's campaign attorneys appealed directly to the Supreme Court last week, requesting the court decide whether the campaign must rid itself of $467,844 in donations from political action committees not registered in Wisconsin. The donations are part of nearly $1.3 million Green transferred from his congressional campaign account to his gubernatorial campaign account in January 2005.

The State Elections Board ordered Green to divest the donations after an Aug. 30 meeting, saying the transfer violated campaign-finance law.

"The Election Board's late decision to apply the expired Emergency Rule retroactively left [Green] with no time to correct a mistaken temporary injunction ruling and left him with no choice except to ask [the Supreme Court] to exercise its original jurisdiction," Green's attorneys said in their legal brief.

One day after Green's transfer, the board enacted an "emergency rule" stating gubernatorial candidates may use only donations from state-registered PACs.

Green first went to the Dane County Circuit Court to stop the enforcement of the board's order. After losing in that venue, Green's attorneys repealed the lawsuit and applied directly to the state's highest court. Since the Dane County ruling against Green, his campaign has placed the disputed donations in a separate account, pending appeal.

"The board majority chilled Mark Green's right to speak to voters and changed the rules of the game just as the contestants neared the finish line," Green's attorneys said, referring to the restricted use of campaign money that could otherwise be used for public activities such as advertisements.

And though the DOJ attorneys representing the Elections Board said Green is "forum shopping" to receive a ruling he wants, Green's attorney Don Millis said they did only what was necessary to get a ruling before the Nov. 7 election, when Green will face Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle.

Four of the seven justices must agree to take the case before a decision can be made, but Millis said he expects the court will decide the case either late this week or early next week.

"Only swift action by the court can restore public confidence in this election," he said.