The state Department of Justice says Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) is immune from an open records lawsuit while the legislature is in session.
The lawsuit in question was filed by the left-leaning Center for Media and Democracy in an effort to get all correspondence between Vukmir and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC connects state lawmakers, typically Republicans, with corporations to draft model bills used in legislatures throughout the country.
The office of Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said in a court filing on behalf of Vukmir that the state Constitution gives her immunity from civil lawsuits like this one while the legislature is in session. Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) says Van Hollen's department never discussed that option with him when he was sued for constituent emails by the conservative MacIver Institute. Instead, Erpenbach says the Department of Justice advised him to settle and turn the emails over.
“He's representing the legislature with prejudice,” says Erpenbach. “Depending on whether or not you happen to be a Democrat or Republican is apparently how he's choosing to go about the duties of his office.”
DOJ spokesperson Dana Brueck said Erpenbach had no knowledge of the department’s discussions with Vukmir. Those talks were privileged, Brueck said, as were the department's discussions with Erpenbach. Erpenbach received outside counsel in his lawsuit and won at the circuit court level, but that ruling is currently being appealed.
