Three state legislators and a political aid will stand trial for political misconduct in office after the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision not to dismiss complaints against them Wednesday.
State Rep. Scott Jensen, R-Brookfield, and former legislators Chuck Chvala and Steve Foti had argued the district attorneys who originally charged them were part of the executive branch and thus charging them was a violation of the government’s separation of powers. But the Supreme Court ruled 4-0 prosecutors had the authority to charge the legislators for their alleged misconduct.
Justices Jon Wilcox, David Prosser and Louis Butler did not participate in the ruling.
“The court is unanimous in determining that the charges against the [defendants] do not violate the doctrine of separation of powers,” the four justices presiding in the ruling, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and Justices Patience Roggensack, Patrick Crooks and Ann Walsh Bradley, said in the court’s decision.
Lower courts rejected the legislators’ appeal to discard the complaints, but after a further appeal by the defendants, the state Supreme Court eventually decided to hear oral arguments in January of 2005.
Formal charges against the lawmakers arose in 2002 following a widespread investigation into fundraising efforts conducted by the state’s partisan Republican and Democratic caucuses.
Chvala, a Democrat from Madison, was charged with 20 felonies in the fall of 2002 relating to illegal campaign fundraising, with one felony charge later dropped by a Dane County Circuit Court judge. The former Senate majority leader did not seek reelection last fall.
Foti, an Oconomowoc Republican who served as the Assembly majority leader, was charged with one felony, and Jensen with three felonies and one misdemeanor. Both are charged with a possible connection to hiring a staff member Sherry Schultz, who allegedly worked on taxpayer money for campaigning purposes.
Defendants also argued they did not have advanced warning their actions were illegal because current law is ambiguous in stating how lawmakers must act. They contended the Wisconsin statute does not clearly prohibit the actions they are accused of in the criminal complaint. The Supreme Court justices split 2-2 for these arguments with three abstaining.
“While I am disappointed the charges against me weren’t dismissed … I am pleased that half of the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed with our key argument in seeking dismissal of the charges,” Jensen said in a release. “One more vote in our favor would have brought this case to a happy and just conclusion.”
Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, is concerned a similar political scandal could occur in the state because all of the “loopholes” in state law still exist. Campaign-finance reform is needed to stop political corruption, according to Heck.
“While the players are different, all the same rules are in place,” Heck said.
Former state Sen. Brian Burke, a Milwaukee Democrat, and state Rep. Bonnie Ladwig, a Republican from Racine, were also involved in the caucus scandal and charged with political corruption but were not involved in Wednesday’s ruling. Burke faces a tentative trial date set for October.
The trial dates for Jensen, the other former legislators and political aide have not yet officially been set.
