MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) — According to a report released Wednesday, investigators indicated that the Wisconsin Supreme Court experienced a leak. Abortion order from last year has prompted caution, yet they could not determine who was to blame.
A draft order leaked in June revealed that the court intended to hear Cases raised by Planned Parenthood aimed at asserting that abortion access is protected under the state constitution. Just a week after the leak surfaced, the court issued an order to accept the case.
This draft order, which was not a ruling on the lawsuit itself, was obtained by the online news outlet Wisconsin Watch.
The seven Supreme Court justices referred to the incident as “a breach of trust that the court had never encountered in its history” in a statement included in the investigation report. All seven justices denounced the leak.
The leaked order from June was one of two abortion-related cases currently before the court. The court is also reviewing a second case challenging the abortion ban from 1849, which was brought forth by Attorney General Joe Cowl. A decision in that case is still pending.
Oral arguments in the planned parent-child relationship case, which is the focus of the leaked memo, have yet to have a date set by the court.
Investigators interviewed 62 individuals, including the seven Supreme Court justices, staff, interns, and anyone with access to the court, within two weeks of the draft’s availability before Wisconsin Watch published its article.
According to the report, network logs—including individual web history, shared folder files, personal folders, and emails from all staff who had access to the draft order—were also scrutinized.
Additionally, printer data was analyzed to identify who printed copies of the draft order.
“All available leads are being thoroughly pursued, and no suspects have been actively identified at this time,” the report stated, noting that there was no evidence suggesting that the leak stemmed from a breach of the court’s computer system.
The report indicated that the draft order had been sent to the personal email account of Judge Anne Walsh Bradley, one of the four liberal justices who voted to consider the abortion case.
Bradley’s law clerk informed investigators that forwarding critical documents to her personal email account is standard practice.
This marked the only instance prior to the publication of Wisconsin Watch articles where the draft order was forwarded to emails outside the state court system, the report noted.
Bradley did not respond to an email on Wednesday seeking comment regarding the report, and Wisconsin Watch declined to provide any further information.
Bradley retired at the end of her term in August and has been succeeded by Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford. Winning the election to the court in April ensured that the Liberal Party retains a four to three majority.
The report mentioned that insufficient computer data hindered the investigation. Logs showing visited websites in the two weeks leading up to the Wisconsin Watch story were incomplete concerning the leaked orders; only logs from June 26th and June 27th were available. This article was published on June 26th.
The absence of visit logs for these websites “significantly impeded” the thorough examination of the circumstances surrounding the leak, the report stated. “This situation underscores the importance of proper data management, retention, and verification practices, particularly when such information is crucial for ongoing investigations.”
The court has appointed independent investigators to look into the leaks as it lacks an independent law enforcement agency; however, the report did not specify the leaders of the investigation.
A spokesperson for the state court system stated that three retired police detectives will be engaged at a cost of $165,740 to conduct the investigation and prepare a report.
State court director Audrey Skawieloski asserted that her office will evaluate the recommendations in the report and establish a task force to propose measures that reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future.
Investigations into the internal workings of the Wisconsin Supreme Court are uncommon and challenging.
In 2011, when Bradley accused then-judiciary David Prosser of suffocating her, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office led the inquiry. The agency took over after the former Capitol Police Chief claimed the investigation had instigated a conflict. However, Republicans accused the sheriff of instigating a dispute due to his status as a Democrat who supported Bradley.
The Salk County District Attorney served as a special prosecutor in the case but declined to file charges.
Source: apnews.com