Common Cause in Wisconsin Statement on State Supreme Court Decision Granting Former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen a New Trial in Waukesha County

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Press Release

May 20, 2010

CONTACT:

Jay Heck – 608/256-2686

CHANGE OF VENUE AND PASSAGE OF TIME
DOES NOT CHANGE FACTS OF THE CASE AGAINST
FORMER WISCONSIN ASSEMBLY SPEAKER SCOTT JENSEN

The Wisconsin Supreme Court this morning issued a unanimous decision stipulating that the retrial of former Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen (R-Town of Brookfield) for three felony counts of misconduct in public office in 2002, could proceed in Jensen's county of residence - Waukesha County, rather than in Dane County where the alleged crimes occurred. This decision reversed a Court of Appeals and lower court decision that blocked moving the new trial to Jensen's home county.

The Supreme Court's decision today is not a "victory" for former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, as some have claimed. A victory would have been acquittal of all changes. The facts of the case are no different today than they were in 2006, when a jury of his peers found Scott Jensen guilty of three felony counts and one misdemeanor count of misconduct in public office. There is, or should be no reason to believe that a jury in Waukesha County will view the facts of this case differently than the jury in Dane County did in 2006. The ramifications for violating the law and the public trust does not diminish with the passage of time and a change in venue.

Unless Jensen decides to plead to a lesser charge and settle the case -- as all of the other legislators charged in the 2002 Legislative Caucus Scandal did -- the trial in Waukesha County should proceed without further delay. It is well past time for there to be some closure to this decade-long stain on Wisconsin's tradition of clean honest state government.

For a full discussion of this case and the issues involved you can view and listen to this interview of the CC/WI executive director in a "newsmaker" interview conducted by Wisconsin Eye correspondent Steve Walters earlier today. Walters was Capitol Bureau chief of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for many years, including during the Legislative Caucus Scandal.

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Jay Heck, Executive Director
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686

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