Your Right to Know

Many people in Wisconsin are under the impression that the disastrous probe into the state’s 2020 presidential election conducted by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman is over, as are its costs to taxpayers. They’re wrong, writes Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council President Bill Lueders in the group's most recent "Your Right to Know" column.

The amount paid by taxpayers now stands at more than $2 million, including nearly $1.5 million in legal fees, according to a report by WisPolitics.com.

There's plenty of room for Wisconsin officials to be more transparent in 2023, writes Christa Westerberg, attorney and vice president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council in its most recent "Your Right to Know" column.

In the column — available for republication, Westerberg gives three specific suggestions for improving government transparency.

Josh Kaul and Eric Toney are miles apart on many issues, but when it comes to open government, the candidates vying for Wisconsin attorney general

Wisconsin’s open records law is most often used by requesters seeking to obtain records from a government agency. But occasionally it works in reverse, allowing someone to block the release of records to a requester, writes Christa Westerberg, a partner at the Pines Bach law firm in Madison and vice president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, in the group's latest "Your Right to Know" column.

For four decades, courts have held that plaintiffs in open records lawsuits are entitled to costs and legal fees — whether they win the case or "voluntarily" turn over the records after being sued.

But last month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upended the latter path to recovery — a move that open government advocates worry will be a blow to transparency. In the most recent "Your Right to Know" column from the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, Wisconsin Transparency Project president Tom Kamenick looks to what might be next in the case. 

Most of the time, public officials in Wisconsin obey the state’s openness laws. Sometimes, they need a little prodding from the courts. But the recent conduct of Robin Vos and Michael Gableman is something altogether new, and deeply disturbing.