Attorneys for gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., and for the State Elections Board provided the state Supreme Court with further information it requested about whether Green should rid his campaign of nearly $468,000 in donations.
Both Green's campaign and the Wisconsin Department of Justice responded to 11 questions the justices posed by the court's 2 p.m. Thursday deadline.
But the court said the questions were not an indication "as to whether or not the court intends to grant jurisdiction in this case." Four of the seven justices must agree to take the case before a decision can be rendered.
The latest round of questions came after both parties submitted answers earlier this week to a series of other questions the court posed last week. Each set of questions deals with technical and procedural aspects of the case.
In his petition, Green is asking the court to block an Aug. 30 Elections Board order that he divest $467,844 from political action committees not registered in Wisconsin. He contends the order was illegal and unfairly targeted his campaign against Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle using a retroactive rule.
According to Green's lawyers Thursday, the order interfered with Green's rights to free speech and "it slandered his good name."
"This dispute is ripe for decision now before the election — when relief matters," they said in their legal brief. "Later, it will be a spoiled opportunity lost forever."
However, the DOJ attorneys representing the Elections Board asserted the board cannot enforce the order and would only be able to through filing a lawsuit in circuit court.
"In most cases of an administrative agency referral for prosecution, it would seem that a person's substantial interests are not adversely affected until the agency enforcement action is brought, in which case the person would assert his or her defenses of the enforcement," DOJ attorneys said in their brief.
A Dane County judge upheld the board's order after Green first sued to try to block the order. Green's attorneys then dismissed that lawsuit so they could directly file with the Wisconsin Supreme Court in an attempt to settle the matter before the Nov. 7 general election.
Green has since set aside the disputed amount of money in a separate account, pending appeal.
The nonpartisan political watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed its own amicus brief Thursday, attesting Green is delaying the return of illegal donations. The WDC was the first organization to bring the disputed campaign donations to light, sending a formal complaint to the Elections Board for review.
"The Petition for original jurisdiction filed by Green for Wisconsin and Mark Green … is unprecedented. If the Supreme Court grants Green's petition, it will have sanctioned forum shopping, thereby encouraging plaintiffs to 'try their luck' in the circuit court … before attempting to invoke the Supreme Court's jurisdiction through an original action," attorneys for the WDC said in their brief.
The court must first determine whether to accept and then would need to decide it on the merits.
Green faces Doyle today in La Crosse for their final debate before the election.
