Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is defending the legal advice he gave state Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa), who is being sued under the open records law.
Van Hollen says legislators are immune from public records lawsuit, but the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) – the group seeking the records – has a different interpretation of the state Constitution.
CMD wants to see documents about Vukmir's participation in a conference sponsored by American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The group says Vukmir introduced a piece of model legislation there that the public ought to know about. Vukmir released a few emails concerning her participation in the conference but says she has no documents concerning the bill. CMD believes she is withholding the documents and has sued to get them. Vukmir, following advice from Van Hollen, has invoked her legislative immunity.
Van Hollen says the current dispute is no longer about open records. “It's an issue about the Constitution of the state of Wisconsin, which gives people such as Senator Vukmir immunity from service of civil process.”
Brendan Fisher of CMD says Van Hollen has broadened the interpretation in a way that allows Vukmir to invoke immunity from lawsuits at any time during the year – not just while she is involved in floor sessions to debate bills. “This basically means that her actions would never be reviewable by a court, because as soon as one biennial session ends the next one begins.”
Fischer says on October 1, CMD will file a new motion in the lawsuit seeking Vukmir's ALEC records.
