MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - Days before a contentious Wisconsin Supreme Court election that has drawn the attention - and dollars - of people nationwide, liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz's campaign attempted to have rival groups' political ads pulled from the air.
Janet for Justice wrote Wisconsin television stations to stop two ads that detail what has become a key issue in the race - Protasiewicz's sentencing history as a Milwaukee County judge. It's a topic seized upon by conservative candidate Dan Kelly, a former Supreme Court justice, and his supporters.
"Both of these ads are defamatory as a matter of law," the letter to stations reads. "Their false statements, communicated to the public at large, are not privileged and concretely harm Judge Protasiewicz's reputation, so as to lower her in the estimation of the community and to deter the public from associating and dealing with her - voting for her."
One ad urges voters to "stop failing victims and stop protecting criminals." The victim of the rape on which the ad focuses told the Journal-Sentinel the ad was untrue, as the 30-month prison sentence did not disappoint her.
A second complaint from the campaign took aim at an ad from Fair Courts America over language that said she "cut" the rapist's sentence to 30 months.
“This demonstrates clearly that Janet Protasiewicz’s first instinct is as anti-American as it gets. She’d rather censor free speech than embrace it," said Dan Curry of Restoration PAC.
A response letter from Fair Courts America told stations Protasiewicz is threatening them with baseless arguments.
"Protasiewicz's letter claims that the ad is false because the judge did not 'cut' the defendant's sentence," it says. "But whether the sentence was 'cut' or not is an opinion.
"The letter merely points out a difference of opinion on the adequacy of the sentence. The maximum sentence under a plea agreement was five years, the group says, but Protasiewicz "cut" it in half.
"Protasiewicz's campaign is trying to halt a healthy discussion about two candidates vying for Wisconsin's Supreme Court by cutting off her critics' access to the airwaves," FCA wrote.
"While Protasiewicz (and any independent groups supporting her) are welcome to purchase airtime on your station to explain her decision to halve a sexual criminal's sentence, but she must not be permitted to silence her critics by taking away FCA's right to inform the voting public about it and express its perspective on what that says about Protasiewicz's fitness for office."
Spending has exploded in the race, which on April 4 will determine whether the state Supreme Court has a liberal or conservative majority. It's the most expensive race for a state Supreme Court justice in any state.
Kelly has largely received campaign contributions from individuals in Wisconsin and has refused money from the state's Republican Party. Protasiewicz, meanwhile, has support from liberals all over the country who are hopeful her spot on the bench would preserve abortion rights and fend off legal challenges from the 2024 Presidential election.
Protasiewicz's March 20 campaign filing shows more than $13 million received from individuals and committees this year, compared to $2.3 million for Kelly.
He told her at the one and only debate between the two that if she were to be elected, she would forever be known as being bought and paid for by the Democrat Party Wisconsin.
One of his final attacks on Protasiewicz came on remarks made during the sentencing of a man who raped his 14-year-old cousin while she slept, to which Protasiewicz responded she would like to see the full transcript because it didn't sound like something she would do.
Twitter users posted an excerpt of the transcript of the sentencing hearing, during which she said, "Are you a danger to the public? I don't think so. I mean, I don't think you did anything other than engage in a crime of opportunity and hopefully you've learned your lesson."
She gave the man a 14-month prison sentence, which Kelly called "paltry" considering the victim's testimony on how the crime impacted her life.