Wisconsin: Costs, number of deleted files pile up in redistricting case

[Scuba]

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/costs-number-of-deleted-files-pile-up-in-redistricting-case/article_51f15cb1-eb07-51f9-893d-67e8e6ec68c3.html

New federal court filings allege that legislative aides appear to have deleted “hundreds of thousands” of files at “suspicious times” from state computers used by Republicans in redistricting.

The plaintiffs in a case that challenged the redistricting law are asking the Legislature or attorneys representing the state to start paying for the forensic investigation. They say the probe has racked up nearly $100,000 in costs so far, fueled largely by the complexity of restoring deleted files. The filings are part of a post-trial investigation ordered by the three-judge federal panel that heard the redistricting case. A final report on the investigation is due May 10.

The main case was resolved last year with only minor changes to two legislative districts in the Milwaukee area to protect the rights of Hispanic voters.

But soon after the case ended, the plaintiffs, including Voces de la Frontera, several individuals and three Democratic members of Congress, alleged the state’s lawyers had not turned over all of the material subpoenaed as part of the case.
Finding that “fraud, misrepresentation or misconduct” likely occurred, the judges ordered a post-trial investigation into the missing records. In February, the panel ordered the state to turn over three redistricting computers that had been housed at the Madison office of the Michael, Best and Friedrich law firm.

[ewagner]

1. So what happens next?

It appears that there was massive "fraud, misrepresentations, or misconduct" leading up to the trial....

do we get a new trial?

I was on a local redistricting committee and we played it "straight" by the laws in our county effort...I'm not sure what, if any, laws were violated by allowing a private law firm to "assist" (read: tailor districts to their client's specifications) because it was still the legislature that determined the final plan and...

here's the bad part...

the law says that any redistricting is okay as long as it didn't segregate persons on the basis of race or similar protected traits. There doesn't appear to be any restriction against redistricting on the basis of past voting habits...in other words, they were at least TECHNICALLY legal.

My fondest dream is that the courts will find some reason to overturn this last redistricting and the courts themselves will redistrict before 2014....but I fear its only a dream

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. More filings and more forensic bills

The computers were also reused. Its going to take forever to unwind it and some things will never be figured out. Also many files are created and destroyed in the background while the computer is doing mundane tasks like reading email and printing. From a technical view its a real mess.

My take is that the plaintiffs will have to cover the bills until/if they are successful. Other reports I have seen on that indicate that is of low likelihood.

[Big Tent]

3. Investigate

All we can do is keep the investigating open. I just hope the U.S. Justice department is doing all it can to investigate redistricting fraud in states across the country.