An open records case being fought by Attorney General Brad Schimel will go before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The Republican who tries to position himself as a strong advocate of transparency and regularly holds training sessions for government officials on the open meetings and records laws is appealing to keep secret a pair of law enforcement training videos made when he was working as the Waukesha County district attorney.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party sued in 2014, weeks before Schimel was elected attorney general, to force the state Justice Department to release the videos made in 2009 and 2013. Democrats say the videos show Schimel making questionable remarks at State Prosecutors Education and Training seminars, which were sponsored by the department. The lawsuit offered no evidence supporting the allegation, which Schimel has denied.
The 2009 video was made during a presentation about internet sexual predator cases and the 2013 presentation centered on interacting with victims of sensitive crimes. Schimel heads the justice department, which has said that releasing the videos would help sexual predators evade the law and infringe on victims' privacy. It also contends that requiring release of the videos would undermine the state's ability to train prosecutors and police officers in the future.
"There is no stronger proponent of Wisconsin's Open Records Law than the Wisconsin Department of Justice," Schimel and other attorneys said in court briefs. But Schimel argues this is a rare situation where disclosure of a record would "cause grave harm to the public interest."
A state appeals court ruled last year that the videos must be made public under the state open records law, saying there was no compelling reason to keep them secret. The ruling affirmed one made in 2014 by a Dane County circuit judge. Both lower courts said the content of the tapes was routine and there was no danger that law enforcement tactics or victims' privacy would be compromised in releasing them.
The Department of Justice has told the Supreme Court that if the videos are released, it may want to delete some information.
Schimel has advocated for open records and meetings laws during his term. Last year, he broke from other Republicans in speaking out against efforts in the Legislature to keep many government records private. He also opened an open government office to facilitate the release of public records.
Schimel also organized an open records law summit and his Department of Justice regularly hosts seminars to help government officials navigate the open records and meetings laws.
