Wisconsin Capitol Police won’t investigate state Supreme Court leak in abortion case

The Wisconsin Capitol Police will not be investigating the leaked draft order of the state Supreme Court’s decision to hear an abortion rights case, saying it would be “a conflict of interest.” 

The “conflict of interest” in investigating the leak is because Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) has been outspoken in his support of abortion rights, and the Capitol Police are a part of his administration. 

Evers administration spokesman Britt Cudaback told the Associated Press that an investigation by the Capitol Police “will almost certainly require a review of internal operations, confidential correspondence, and nonpublic court documents and deliberations relating to any number of matters in which our administration is a party or could be impacted by the court’s decision.”

While not a party involved in the abortion rights case, Evers is a named party in “several matters currently pending before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”

In addition, Evers does have a vested interest in how the Supreme Court rules on the abortion case.

Chief Justice Annette Ziegler called for an investigation into the draft order leak on June 26. The draft order was not a ruling, but it said the Supreme Court decided to take on a case brought by Planned Parenthood arguing that abortion is a right protected by the Wisconsin Constitution. 

The draft was published by Wisconsin Watch.

The court’s members, four left-leaning justices and three right-leaning justices, all condemned the breach and were looking to find out who was responsible. Ziegler said in an email to the Associated Press that she intends to “pursue other means in an effort to get to the bottom of this leak.” 

Oral arguments for the case should begin this fall.