Common Cause in Wisconsin, a non-partisan citizen advocacy group, has moved forward with a lawsuit to prevent the state’s payment of legal fees accrued during the caucus investigation.

Members of the group have said they believe the payment of legal fees during the investigation is unconstitutional. The law states that legal fees are to be repaid when a state employee is acquitted. The legislature voted to overturn this law for the caucus investigation.

In the suit, Common Cause claims the payment of the attorney’s fees — now totaling more than $700,000 — is not serving a political purpose

“We continue to strongly believe that the payment of the attorneys’ fees with taxpayer dollars for legislators and staff under criminal investigation is not in the public interest. In fact, these payments are detrimental to the interests of the citizens of Wisconsin.” said Jay Heck, executive director of the groupSta.

Steve Baas, spokesman for Rep. Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha, said the Common Cause lawsuit will have little effect on the investigation but will happen separately from the issue.

“[This will have] only peripheral relation to the John Doe investigation and the separation of powers and the legislative authority,” Baas said. “We don’t know [the effect of the suit]. That is for the court to find out. There will be other briefs from the clerks also.”

Baas said he believes the suit is far-fetched and suggested the wording in the suit compares illegal campaigning to more serious offenses.

“They are stretching it a bit here when they compare allegations of legislative staff campaigning on state time with rape,” he said. “I think anyone would agree that it is offensive.”

The language of the suit, Baas said, is showing that Common Cause is more interested in publicity than a discussion.

“It shows the hysterical lengths to which Common Cause will go to try and sensationalize the issue and grab headlines,” he said. “At the end of the day Common Cause is always more interested in getting attention for Common Cause than any actually discussing points of law because that is how they raise money.”

Baas said he supports paying the legal bills of accused caucus employees.

“In America we have a presumption of innocence until proven guilty and that is why almost every private employer does what the state is doing,” he said, “They tread very cautiously in overturning the presumption of innocence ? the allegations challenging the behavior of those state employees be subjected to financial and legal harassment and that the state should be prohibited from protecting them until they are presumed innocent ? is wrong.”

Attorneys for the chief clerks have argued it is important to attract good quality people to work for the legislatures and that legal costs incurred by legislative employees and legislators should be shouldered by taxpayers because such a “job perk” will attract quality people.

But Bruce Ehlke and Aaron Halstead, the attorneys from the law firm Shneidman, Hawks & Ehlke who are retained by Common Cause, disagree.

“Criminal conduct is not among the prescribed duties of any caucus employee or elected public official,” the lawyers said in a statement.

They said such possible criminal conduct does not fall within the scope of employment of a legislative employee or legislator and that the defendant’s argument “would justify the payment of legal expenses of an accused public employee rapist or the purchase of a luxury yacht for each of the legislative leaders.”

Heck said the group filed the taxpayer lawsuit in the Dane County Circuit Court after Gov. McCallum denied Attorney General James Doyle authorization to sue to stop the payment of the attorneys fees when the Department of Justice concluded that such payments were illegal.

The legislative leadership authorized the payment of the fees in late September and early October of 2001 without the vote and approval of the full State Assembly and State Senate.

On January 18, Common Cause subpoenaed Jensen and Sen. Chuck Chvala, D-Madison; requesting information about their role in the authorization of legal fees.

Both have claimed immunity from compliance with the subpoena while the legislature was in special session to work on a budget-repair bill.

Earlier this week, Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, asked Jensen to change the policy that allows legislators under investigation to keep their latest legal bills in the caucus scandal investigation secret.

In a letter, Black asked Jensen to instruct the chief clerk not to pay legislator’s legal bills for pre-election legal services unless they are submitted by the Friday before Election Day.

“The truth, and the whole truth, about legislators’ legal fees needs to come out before the election so voters can be informed before they cast their ballots, instead of becoming victims of a November 6 surprise,” Black said.

“Voters have a vital interest in knowing how much of their tax money is being used to hire lawyers for their legislators. It’s very odd that the chief clerk hasn’t reported receiving or paying any new bills related to the caucus investigation for quite some time,” Black said.

Chvala’s office did not return phone calls Thursday.