One day after a federal judge dramatically shut down the secret “John Doe” probe investigating Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) 2012 recall election, a federal appeals court on Wednesday stayed the lower judge’s ruling.
As The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit provides a way for District Judge Rudolph Randa to reissue his preliminary injunction halting the investigation. But the higher court said the part of Randa’s ruling that ordered state prosecutors to destroy or return all material obtained during the investigation will remain stayed “as long as proceedings continue in this court.”
The John Doe investigation, a type of proceeding prosecutors in Wisconsin use to determine whether or not to charge a criminal offense, was focused on campaign coordination between Walker’s campaign and outside conservative groups. One of the groups targeted by the investigation, Wisconsin Club for Growth, filed a lawsuit to stop the probe — and Randa ruled heavily in the group’s favor on Tuesday.
Notice the part of the 26 page opinion where the District Court Judge discusses Federal jurisdiction? Neither did I. That’s because there isn’t any. The District Court judge doesn’t even bother to cite a federal jurisdictional law.
Federal Courts aren’t allowed to enjoin state criminal proceedings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger_v._Harris
That a sitting federal judge would so casually blow off the law tells you how far our federal judiciary has been allowed to degenerate under the Republicans.
“The possible unconstitutionality of a state statute is not grounds for a federal court to enjoin state court criminal proceedings brought pursuant to that statute.”
But he hasn’t been charged with anything. The John Doe probe is not a criminal proceeding, it’s an investigation to determine whether or not to proceed with one.
Once the Koch brothers own all the judges, not to mention the Supreme Court which they’ve already captured, then what?
Randa is a right-winger with a long history of activism. http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com does a pretty good job explaining what’s really going on here.
This does not surprise me. Over at Huffington Post, the headlines read as if Walker has had a major victory. These judges are so busy trying to assist the establishment that they no longer even try to follow the law when it is the wealthy who are committing crimes.