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A Monster of Our Own Making
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. – James Madison, Federalist 51
In an article in National Review David French details how Wisconsin failed the challenge of that second great difficulty. The short version is that overzealous, partisan prosecutors politicized law enforcement and weaponized politics to harass supporters of Governor Scott Walker’s reforms in the Badger State.
Cindy Archer, one of the lead architects of Wisconsin’s Act 10 — also called the “Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill,” it limited public-employee benefits and altered collective-bargaining rules for public-employee unions — was jolted awake by yelling, loud pounding at the door, and her dogs’ frantic barking. The entire house — the windows and walls — was shaking.
Naked and afraid, she opened her home and begged the officers not to kill her frantic dogs as she clothed herself. The officers left with only a cell phone and a laptop, but they left Ms. Archer a warning: do not speak of this; do not even retain counsel.
Hers was not the only home invaded/raided as part of what is known as a “John Doe” investigations:
For dozens of conservatives, the years since Scott Walker’s first election as governor of Wisconsin transformed the state — known for pro-football championships, good cheese, and a population with a reputation for being unfailingly polite — into a place where conservatives have faced early-morning raids, multi-year secretive criminal investigations, slanderous and selective leaks to sympathetic media, and intrusive electronic snooping.
After the reforms passed and the protests at the capitol died down, so did the investigation. But Walker’s reelection bid brought a second round of secret investigations, aimed at hurting the governor and his supporters. As French tells it:
If the first series of John Doe investigations was “everything Walker,” the second series was “everything conservative,” as Chisholm had launched an investigation of not only Walker (again) but the Wisconsin Club for Growth and dozens of other conservative organizations, this time fishing for evidence of allegedly illegal “coordination” between conservative groups and the Walker campaign.
In the second John Doe, [Milwaukee County District Attorney John] Chisholm had no real evidence of wrongdoing. Yes, conservative groups were active in issue advocacy, but issue advocacy was protected by the First Amendment and did not violate relevant campaign laws. Nonetheless, Chisholm persuaded prosecutors in four other counties to launch their own John Does, with Judge Kluka overseeing all of them.
James Madison instructed us that one aim of the Constitution was to oblige government to control itself. The First Congress approved — and the states ratified — our Bill of Rights, further limiting the federal government from tyrannizing the people through making them insecure in their own homes, performing unreasonable searches and seizures, or trying them for infamous crimes secretly and without a grand jury. Incorporation of the Fourteenth Amendment places these controls on state and local governments as well. But, in the early morning hours in Wisconsin these controls failed:
Speaking both on and off the record, targets reflected on how many layers of Wisconsin government failed their fundamental constitutional duties — the prosecutors who launched the rogue investigations, the judge who gave the abuse judicial sanction, investigators who chose to taunt and intimidate during the raids, and those police who ultimately approved and executed aggressive search tactics on law-abiding, peaceful citizens.
In many discussions here at Ricochet we battle over police actions and authority. Those who recoil from the use of force by law enforcement officers warn that the powers expressed in those actions — while sometimes absolutely necessary in dealing with criminals — are inherently dangerous, prone to abuse, and carry a temptation impossible to resist. Those who stand up for law enforcement decry our slippery slope arguments and remind us of the necessity of a vigorous enforcement of the law to preserve order and maintain civil society. In Wisconsin, we stand at the bottom of the slope gazing toward what seemed to some as sure footing at the top and wondering how we might get back up.
The matter is now winding its way through the courts, both state and federal, and may — probably should — reach the Supreme Court for resolution. The raids have stopped, and the “John Doe” investigations are nearly dead, but the damage has been done. Law-abiding families were terrorized by their own government protectors, lives and reputations were irreparably harmed, free speech was stifled, and the law was transformed from a shield into a sword.
Conservatives have looked at Wisconsin as a success story, where Walker took everything the Left threw at him and emerged victorious in three general elections. He broke the power of the teachers’ unions and absorbed millions upon millions of dollars of negative ads. The Left kept chanting, “This is what democracy looks like,” and in Wisconsin, democracy looked like Scott Walker winning again and again.
Yet in a deeper way, Wisconsin is anything but a success. There were casualties left on the battlefield — innocent citizens victimized by a lawless government mob, public officials who brought the full power of their office down onto the innocent.
Governors come and go. Statutes are passed and repealed. Laws and elections are important, to be sure, but the rule of law is more important still. And in Wisconsin, the rule of law hangs in the balance — along with the liberty of citizens.
Maybe Hobbes was right that the only choice other than an all-powerful state is a war of all against all. That is, indeed, a very scary world to contemplate. But a war between each individual, naked and alone, against Leviathan is little better. Though we may not have intended to create such a beast, we have done so nonetheless. Against our best efforts to control it, the thing is loose. It hunts us, and it haunts us.
In Wisconsin today, we are Frankenstein—and this is our monster.
Published in Law
We’ve seen it all over the last few years. What I’ve learned is that for the left “Democracy” only happens when they get what they want. When voters don’t give them what they want, they throw fits, march in the streets, trash the Capitol building, stalk people, threaten businesses, and issue death threats.
Prior to Walker, we had a governor who was absolutely bought and paid for by public sector unions. So they got used to getting whatever they wanted. (After all, they paid good money to make it happen!) Walker came in and threatened their cash-flow. Since so much cash flows directly from unions to Democrats, both unions and Democrats responded accordingly.
The much-needed smackdown is a long time coming. May it happen.
I keep checking to see if SCOTUS granted cert or not.
If I had been one of the victims of this crime, and this is no less a crime than what the Gestapo did in Nazi Germany, then I would go down to the Judge or one of the Prosecuters and beat them up with a baseball bat.
Probably cripple them for life.
Then when arrested, and during my trial, they could ask me why I beat up the judge, and here comes my defense explaining everything in court.
If nothing else, that judge would have some accountability for their actions.
?So where is the FBI in all this.
This appears to be a clear-cut case of political corruption – just the thing the FBI has tried to root out lo these many years. Indeed, Old Man Daley’s machine was decimated by federal investigations, and all manner of people went to jail. Seems a very opportune time for them to be involved. Kind of redeem the honour of the police and legal system.
Cool Hand Luke: “Calling it your job don’t make it right, boss”.
I could not agree more. If this kind of conduct is not impeachment and disbarment worthy, I don’t know what is.
The rule of law is based on the consent of the governed. Laws are mostly obeyed voluntarily, and the legal system is respected because it is believed to be fair and just. Take that away, and you just have another crime syndicate.
“Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies?” – Augustine of Hippo
“Neglect” barely does justice to it.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been all over the John Doe stories. As in “Walker allies under investigation,” etc., etc. Story after story. Never quite dishonest (to my knowledge)… but certainly the facts were presented carefully.
Even as they presented it the charges were never of a type to seem that serious to the average person, and everyone knew the political context, which is why it didn’t do more political damage.
But this part of it? Violent raids on people’s homes, and those people silenced? Not a word. Not since the news first came out and, unless they slipped it in today somewhere, there’s still a complete blackout. The French NR story hasn’t even merited a reference.
Also, remember that after two judges declared that there’s no “there” there, Democrats still provided the media with what was basically “old news” so that they’d have something anti-Walker to run.
I like Les Mis but I think for instances such as what we see in Wisconsin something along these lines seems more appropriate. If you are not arming yourself you are not paying attention.
I just want folks to remember who are executing these tyrannical acts of a Leftist prosecutor. The people beating down the doors and terrorizing these people are cops. Yes, the same folks who seem to be killing blacks on a weekly basis are also kicking in the doors of people for merely voting Republican in a Blue State. Where is Jack Dunphy on this story? What is his excuse for this? Couldn’t these people in uniform see that these were unlawful orders? Just because a cop votes Republican doesn’t mean he/she can’t become a tyrannical tool of the state.
Either way they are instruments in the tyrannizing of a free people. I could care less if these cops felt bad for having done it, the point is they did it. That excuse doesn’t hold any water with me because they put the comfort of their own well-being before the duty they have to the law and ensuring that innocent people–and there is not way they couldn’t have seen the true intentions here–are protected against state abuse of power. These people who acted reluctantly because it’s their job, still acted. They are no different than the enthused scum bags who also participated.
Yes, they wanted this. Do you people not see that the Left is at war with us? They seek to destroy this country–and in some respects they have succeeded. The sooner that you realize that the Left–from the lowly voter all the way to Barack Obama–wants to put us in concentration camps or worse, the sooner we can start turning the corner on these people. It’s part of what makes the GOP leadership a bunch of feckless cowards, they don’t view the Left in the same light that the Left views them.
There have been 193 stories written about what is going on in Wisconsin on Watchdog.org. There has been a history of “German radical socialism” in Wisconsin, and especially in Milwaukee so it comes as no surprise to me that Milwaukee is more than the place that made beer famous.
There has always been a tendency of mayors to politicize police departments. Unlike the sheriff who is elected by voters the mayor appoints the police chief and that chief serves at the mayors pleasure. This appointment process filters down to precinct commanders. In a mayoral campaign candidates take note of who had supported them in the upper ranks of a police department. Rewards include command positions punishment mean demotions after an election. I’ve seen it first hand after watching mayors come and go and police chiefs come and go.
After seeing some of the criticism of the officers that literally turned their backs on Mayor de Blasio of New York, criticism that implied that officers were being disloyal to the mayor and then seeing the mess in Wisconsin I wonder which of the two police departments is the most dangerous.
By the way I know the DA’s office is driving this investigation, but it is the mayor who is allowing his police force to be used as agents of “state security.”
P.S. One commenter on this thread asked where the FBI was. They have taken part in these raids.
Doug – I am absolutely dumbstruck over your observation the FBI took part in these raids! I recognize that agency gets a bit political, but I had no idea it was THAT political. ?Where did you learn this from.
They took part in the Archer Raid.
I think it’s in the French piece. Without much explanation. Probably because we don’t know.