Farm Groups Sue Josh Kaul Over Prosecutor Hired With Outside Funds
Conservative groups and Republicans have pushed back against state attorneys general funded by a New York University center.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks at a press conference advocating for stricter gun laws Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Farm groups are suing Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul for hiring an environmental prosecutor with funding from outside sources.
Last year, Kaul hired Karen Heineman as a special assistant attorney general to prosecute violators of Wisconsin’s environmental regulations. The position is funded by the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at New York University Law School. The NYU center was started with the goal of helping state attorneys general fight rollbacks of environmental regulations during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The complaint was filed Thursday in Calumet County Circuit Court by Wisconsin Dairy Alliance, Venture Dairy Cooperative and Lane Ruhland, who is a lawyer and lobbyist who has worked for Republicans.
The complaint notes the center was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, which was founded by Michael Bloomberg. The charitable organization has funded Democratic causes and candidates.
Kim Bremmer, executive director of Venture Dairy Cooperative, said the state Department of Justice’s agreement with NYU’s center is unconstitutional and unlawful. She said it denies due process and equal protection to its members, who have been subject to environmental enforcement cases.
“If anyone could just privately fund an assistant attorney general position, then we all should be doing it,” Bremmer said.
Conservative groups have pushed back against the center, and several states have tried to bar funding from outside sources, according to Politico’s E&E News. Earlier this month, Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin proposed a bill to prevent Kaul from hiring staff with outside funds, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.“
I’m proud of the work the Wisconsin Department of Justice does to protect clean air and clean drinking water,” Kaul said in a statement. “With the harm that pollution causes in many communities across the state, better resourcing the enforcement of our environmental laws shouldn’t be controversial.”
Bremmer said the position injects politics into environmental litigation.
“I think the desirable outcome would be that this is ruled unconstitutional,” Bremmer said. “So that it doesn’t happen in the future … to try to keep as many agendas out of the DOJ as possible.”
Farm groups are asking a judge to require that the Department of Justice end its agreement with NYU and eliminate the special assistant attorney general position. They also want to bar any future arrangements to fund prosecutors through the NYU’s center.
Farm groups sue Wisconsin attorney general over prosecutor hired with outside funds was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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