On July 16, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-2 that the Milwaukee County District Attorney must stop his investigation into whether the Club for Growth illegally coordinated campaign activity with Governor Scott Walker, when Walker was fighting to survive a recall vote. There are several combined cases, but the first-named case is State ex rel Two Unnamed Petitioners v Peterson, 2013-AP-296.

Eric O’Keefe, who was director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth, is a former national director of the Libertarian Party. Here is the decision. The investigation into the spending and coordination of the Club for Growth, and other independent groups, was derailed by this court decision on the grounds that the Wisconsin campaign limits were not evaded, because the speech of the Club for Growth and other allied groups was issue advocacy, not express advocacy. “Express advocacy” means speech that tries to persuade voters explicitly to vote in a certain way.

A side issue in the cases was whether the investigation methods were improper. They involved raids on the homes of individuals in the middle of the night. One of the concurring justices focuses on that issue.