The federal court decision halting the John Doe investigation into coordination between Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and conservative political groups raises unique questions that could very well end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, experts say. But that same decision also conflicts in some respects with recent Supreme Court decisions, raising questions about whether in the end, the decision by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa would stand. Randa ruled last week that the type of issue advocacy done by Wisconsin Club for Growth is not subject to government control, even if it is done in coordination with a candidate’s campaign.
The Milwaukee-based judge ordered a halt to the five-county criminal investigation probing whether Walker’s campaign illegally coordinated with more than two dozen conservative and Republican groups during the 2011 and 2012 recalls.
Paul S. Ryan, senior counsel for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., said Randa’s decision “flies in the face of longstanding federal law regulation of coordination.”
Full Article: ‘John Doe’ ruling may land in U.S. Supreme Court : Wsj.