Wisconsin Legislators Mull Tweaks to Judge Privacy Law
A Wisconsin judge urged state legislators at a hearing Wednesday to streamline a state law that sets privacy protections for the bench. The Assembly Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony on AB-171, which would amend a state law that took effect on April 1.
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The current law allows officers to make a written request to businesses, government agencies and others to stop releasing the personal information of judges or their immediate family members. The goal was “to reduce threats to judges that are all too common in Wisconsin,” testified Judge Scott Nordstrand of the circuit court in St. Croix County, Wisconsin. “The hope is that this trailer legislation will help achieve that goal in a way that's as operationally efficient as possible.”
Sponsor Rep. Ron Tusler (R) said AB-171 fixes “a couple [of] little things that certain stakeholders were concerned about” in the original law. Proposed changes include requiring judges to get their requests notarized and to be clear about which records they want to keep private, he said.
Additionally, AB-171 would allow government agencies to share the information with each other, he said. The bill would also allow sharing with insurance companies and for compliance with sex offender registration notification laws, Nordstrand said.
A bill summary noted that AB-171 clarifies available civil remedies. The legislation would include language saying that a judge “may bring an action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief against any business, association, data broker, or other person responsible for a violation of the bill’s requirements,” it said. If “the violation is committed by a government agency, the judicial [officer] must instead bring an action for a writ of mandamus. If a judicial officer prevails, the court must order the person who committed the violation to pay the judicial officer’s costs and reasonable attorney fees."