What Snarlin’ Marlin doesn’t want you to know
Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Stevens Point)
If the Wisconsin State Assembly is in session, there’s a safe bet that Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Stevens Point) is attempting to restrict the public’s access to government records. In a “here we go again” moment, Schneider has introduced legislation that will restrict the dissemination and acquisition of information on the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access website, for the third time in less than ten years.
CCAP is a great little tool that allows lawyers, law enforcement officials, journalists, employers, landlords and anyone with access to the Internet to find all criminal or civil cases that have been filed, currently active or closed in the state of Wisconsin. Enter a name and a birthdate (if available), and you can find out if a person has been charged with a crime, been the subject of a lawsuit and the ultimate disposition of the case. No more driving to the county courthouse to follow the paper trail.
Schneider has been trying to close this door to transparency in government for years, offering a number of reasons for waging this battle. He claimed that employers use the service to discriminate against potential employees, that landlords use it to deny renters a home, and by nosey neighbors, lonely hearts and nervous parents seeking information about babysitters, potential suitors or the guy across the alley.
Not so. Schneider says he is trying to protect that constituent who shares a name with a violent felon. He says a person’s livelihood could be damaged because potential employers use CCAP to run background checks and would carelessly assume his “John Doe” and “John Doe the Felon” are the same person.
But Snarlin’ Marlin says this is not enough. He believes the populace of Wisconsin is too dumb to understand English and too mean to fairly judge a potential employee or renter.
First, his bill would bar court officials from posting records, unless there is a guilty criminal verdict, a finding of liability in a civil case, an eviction, or a restraining order issued. It would also allow those found not guilty or not liable to have their case information removed with a written request.
Schneider would still allow jurists, police and journalists access to CCAP, but those nosy taxpayers who own businesses, rent apartments or place their children in the care of another would have to pay $10 annually and register with the state to see the computerized records.
Talk about flying in the face of the state Constitution!
Wisconsin statute 19.31 reads: “It is declared to be the public policy of this state that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those officers and employees who represent them.”
The Wisconsin Constitution further states (and is backed with numerous legal decisions) that requests for open, free government records are to be available to all who seek it out.
Poor Marlin. That damn constitution continues to thwart his attempts to shroud the public’s right to know.
