The Department of Justice filed a petition listing reasons the Wisconsin Supreme Court should not choose to hear the case of gubernatorial candidate Mark Green, the Republican representative from Green Bay, concerning $467,000 in campaign finances declared illegal by the Wisconsin Circuit Court.
According to Mike McCabe, executive director for the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a campaign finance watchdog group, Green's defense is trying to get the state Supreme Court to hear the case under ""original jurisdiction.""
McCabe said the term usually describes a circumstance when a case has not passed though a lower court and is heard by the state Supreme Court.
Green is making the request because of the time constraint of the Nov. 7 election, and because he made a weak case in the circuit court, McCabe said.
The petition said the court should not hear the case because it was previously heard in another court.
According to the petition, Green's defense thought the circuit court was ""an adequate remedy"" for the case, but after the judge ruled in favor of the State Elections Board, Green's team ""did not get the result [it was] hoping for"" and is ""forum shopping"" to obtain a favorable outcome.
""They are essentially asking for a do-over."" McCabe said. ""They obviously decided the circuit court was an appropriate venue—until they lost.""
Green's attorney Don Millis refuted these claims.
""It is common to attempt to bypass the Court of Appeals. The normal bypass procedure could have taken several weeks,"" Millis said. ""We are not forum shopping because we are ending up in the place everyone expected us to be.
The Green camp has until Wednesday to file a response petition. The state Supreme Court will then decide whether or not they will hear the case. Millis said the State Supreme Court expects to make a decision later this week or early next week.
