Federal Court Grants Access To GOP Computers In Wisconsin Redistricting Case

TPM

A federal panel ordered groups suing the state of Wisconsin free access to several GOP computers on Monday in a case involving legislative redistricting, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

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.

Democrats and immigrant rights groups sued over the process Republican lawmakers used to reapporition districts in 2011, claiming they drew lines skewed towards the GOP. A court ruled last year that two districts violated voting rights of Latinos, but kept the rest of the state's district maps in place. The groups have since sued again alleging that additional discovery, including the computers, were not properly disclosed.
The Journal Sentinel has more on the judges involved in the case:

The judicial panel consists of J.P. Stadtmueller of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Diane P. Wood of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Robert M. Dow Jr. of the Northern District of Illinois. Stadtmueller was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan; Wood was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton; and Dow was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush.