Federal panel opens GOP computers in Wisconsin redistricting case [View all]
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel JSOnline
Madison - A federal court gave groups suing the state broad access Monday to three computers used by the Legislature to develop Republican friendly voting maps.
The Legislature "must make these three computers available in their entirety immediately" to the groups suing the state, the three judges wrote.
"The computers are extremely likely to contain relevant and responsive materials that should have been disclosed during pretrial discovery. Moreover, Plaintiffs have established that substantial numbers of documents were not disclosed, which satisfies the court that some form of 'fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct' likely occurred," the unanimous opinion said.
The ruling provided the latest setback for Republican lawmakers, who have consistently resisted releasing documents in the case. It will give the plaintiffs a chance to determine whether legislators and their attorneys improperly withheld additional documents before the case went to trial.
Once a decade, each state must draw new maps for legislative and congressional districts to account for population changes. Republicans controlled all of Wisconsin's government in 2011, and they used their power to draw lines that were greatly beneficial to their party.
Read more: Link to sourcehttp://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/federal-panel-opens-gop-computers-in-wisconsin-redistricting-case-mv8u03q-193105171.html
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