In partial victory for Green Bay, federal judge dismisses Senate from audio surveillance lawsuit

Green Bay City Hall | Green Bay government photo

A federal judge dismissed the Wisconsin Senate from a lawsuit against the city of Green Bay over audio recording equipment installed as part of a city hall security system.

The Senate’s involvement lawsuit, which alleges that the recording equipment violated the privacy rights of visitors to city hall, has gone on for about a year, has cost state taxpayers more than $400,000 . The Examiner has previously reported that many of the individuals involved in the lawsuit and local effort to stir controversy over the equipment had close ties to Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich’s Republican opponent in last year’s mayoral election. The lawsuit was filed in the weeks leading up to the election even though the opponent, Brown County official Chad Weininger, and Republican Sen. Andre Jacque had known about the recording equipment for months before that.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge William Griesbach found that the Senate did not have standing to bring the lawsuit. In his ruling, Griesbach wrote that the state of Wisconsin has an interest in the enforcement of its laws on audio recording, but that the enforcement of the laws is a function of the executive, not legislative branch of government and that because the Senate has not been injured as a result of the recording equipment, it can not be a party to the lawsuit.

Green Bay MTD Decision

He added that allowing parties without standing to remain involved in litigation only serves to make that litigation more time consuming, confusing and expensive.

The two individual parties in the case, Jacque and former Green Bay alderman Anthony Thiesen, argued that the Senate should be allowed to remain as a party because they as individuals have standing. Griesbach rejected that argument as well, writing, “the enforcement of the State’s criminal laws is the responsibility of the executive branch, not the legislature.”

“Moreover,” he wrote, “this is a civil suit seeking damages for injuries allegedly sustained by individuals. The State Senate makes no such claim. Thus, even if it is unnecessary to decide the State Senate’s standing for the case to proceed, dismissing the State Senate as a party where it clearly lacks standing will eliminate confusion and streamline the case for more expeditious resolution. The State Senate will therefore be dismissed as a party to the suit for lack of standing.”

In addition to dismissing the Senate, Griesbach also granted the city’s request to dismiss two of the claims brought by the Republicans for “declaratory relief” that the city was wrong to install the audio equipment. Griesbach found that the request for this relief was redundant with the other claims in the lawsuit.

When the lawsuit was filed, it was brought against Genrich in his capacity as mayor and as an individual, opening him up for personal liability and potential criminal charges over the audio recording. The city had requested the personal claims be dismissed because of qualified immunity — the legal standard that protects government officials from being held personally responsible for actions they take in their official roles. Griesbach declined to dismiss the claims against him as an individual.

Sen. Andre Jacque | WisEye

Griesbach also did not dismiss the case as a whole, allowing Jacque and Thiesen to continue fighting the lawsuit — however they’ll now be without the assistance of the Senate for financial support. Griesbach ruled that the pair could still argue they had a reasonable expectation of privacy when having private conversations in the hallways of city hall.

The city had argued that after a year of litigation, the existence of these conversations has not yet been proven. Griesbach wrote that Jacque and Thiesen have alleged facts that show they could have had private conversations recorded in city hall.

“Drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiffs, they plausibly allege facts sufficient to support the existence of a reasonable expectation of privacy in their recorded conversations in City Hall,” he wrote.

Despite the Senate’s dismissal, Jacque celebrated the ruling as a victory. In a statement, he compared the use of audio recording in Green Bay to the repressive tactics used against dissenters in the Soviet Union.

“Judge Griesbach’s ruling is a huge win for protecting our civil liberty,” he said. “I was stunned when I learned that city officials secretly installed listening devices in City Hall to eavesdrop on citizens for two years without their knowledge. This is the type of Big Brother surveillance tactic one would expect in the old Soviet Union, not the United States of America. I am very pleased that the court agrees that a citizen has the right to have conversations on private matters in public buildings without the fear of being spied on.”

The case, if it continues without the Senate’s financial support, will next move to discovery.

The post In partial victory for Green Bay, federal judge dismisses Senate from audio surveillance lawsuit appeared first on Wisconsin Examiner .