Assembly says no to nuisance lawsuits
Wisconsin’s attorney general could no longer file public nuisance lawsuits under a bill passed by the state Assembly. The vote was 58-37 Wednesday night to ban those suits, unless there are clear violations of state laws.
Wisconsin’s attorney general could no longer file public nuisance lawsuits under a bill passed by the state Assembly.
The vote was 58-37 Wednesday night to ban those suits, unless there are clear violations of state laws.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
It stems from a nuisance suit former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager filed in 2004 against Sawyer County cranberry grower Bill Zawistowski.
She accused his long-running operation of polluting nearby Musky Bay.
Farm groups said Lautenschlager was attacking Wisconsin’s right-to-farm law.
Republicans failed two years ago to stop nuisance suits but they did help make it an issue in the 2006 attorney general’s race in which Lautenschlager lost in the primary.
A circuit judge threw out the suit, saying the law does not define a public nuisance. An appeals court agreed last month.
Current Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said he wouldn’t press the issue.
Landowners near the marsh have since appealed the case to the State Supreme Court, where it’s still pending.
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