A Dane County judge has quashed subpoenas for former Supreme Court Justices Pat Roggensack and Jon Wilcox in a lawsuit over Assembly Speaker Robin Vos seeking advice on whether to impeach liberal Janet Protasiewicz.
Judge Frank Remington noted both Wilcox and former Justice David Prosser have indicated to the court they have already submitted their input to Vos and don’t expect to meet again. Meanwhile, Roggensack’s attorney indicated during a Zoom hearing yesterday that the former chief justice had orally relayed her opinion to Vos, R-Rochester.
The decision came in a lawsuit Washington, D.C.-based American Oversight filed over the panel of former conservative justices that Vos assembled to advise him on the possibility of impeaching Protasiewicz because of GOP complaints she had prejudged the redistricting issue. The suit argues the panel amounts to a governmental body that is subject to state laws on open meetings and records.
Remington had scheduled a motion hearing for today and heard arguments yesterday on whether Wilcox, Roggensack and Vos general counsel Steve Fawcett should be compelled to testify. He quashed the subpoenas to all three.
Ahead of the hearing, Roggensack had filed a motion to quash the subpoena, which she called “unreasonable and oppressive.”
Her attorney, Bob Shumaker, argued Roggensack had a First Amendment right to speak with Vos. Shumaker also argued several times that Roggensack wasn’t a named defendant in the suit and that it was inappropriate that American Oversight was seeking to force her to give public notice before calling a friend and colleague.
“Mrs. Roggensack, who’s not a party to this action, has the right to call Justice Wilcox about anything in the future and say, ‘Hey, Jon, what do you say about this?’ and to discuss that. She also has the right to call anyone in theory and say, ‘What do you think about this?'”
Though Remington suggested the three former justices giving their opinions to Vos rendered at least some of the suit moot, American Oversight attorney Christa Westerberg insisted the speaker’s public comments on impeachment were keeping the issue alive.
She said that prompted American Oversight to conclude the panel could be tasked with providing more information to Vos.
Vos last week acknowledged the advice he had received, but said impeachment wasn’t yet off the table and Republicans would be focused on Protasiewicz’s conduct while in office and how she rules in the redistricting case.
Two motions to dismiss the suit will be heard during today’s hearing.
