The campaign of Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley sent a cease-and-desist letter to the campaign of Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, demanding it immediately pull an advertisement the Crowley campaign called improper, false, and defamatory.
The Sept. 23 letter, obtained exclusively by The Heartland Post, was sent by attorney Eduardo E. Castro of Pines Bach LLP to Jason Bauknecht, campaign manager for Tiffany for Wisconsin. It targets the Tiffany ad titled “Preposterous,” which features video from a Milwaukee County circuit court proceeding in which Judge David Borowski questions the provision of tablets to inmates and calls the practice “preposterous.”
“This ad not only violates Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules and potentially Wisconsin campaign finance law, but also contains numerous statements that are actionable as defamation and violations of Wisconsin election law,” the letter states. “Accordingly, by this letter, the Tiffany Campaign is hereby demanded to immediately pull down this advertisement and cease and forever desist airing this advertisement. Should Tiffany Campaign ignore this warning, it does so at its own legal peril.”
The letter features multiple misinterpretations of the law and misstatements of basic facts, most notably in its reference to Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Borowski as “Daniel Borokowski.”
“The ad contains video of a court proceeding and depicts Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Borokowski speaking during the proceeding,” Castro writes. “The Cameras in the Courts rules prohibit recording court proceedings without prior permission of the court being filmed.”
Judge Borowski did give permission for his courtroom to be filmed by CBS 58, the Milwaukee television station that originally posted to social media the now-viral video of him incredulously wondering why jail inmates had accss to tablets.
The letter further argues the ad violates Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules on cameras in the courts, which prohibit recording proceedings without prior permission and restrict such recordings to news media. It notes that the ad uses video and audio of the proceeding for political advertising purposes, contrary to rules that bar use of such recordings for “unrelated advertising purposes.”
However, the proceeding was recorded by the news media and then used in a political advertisement. Courts have long allowed this practice.
On the substance of the claims, Crowley’s campaign argues that a graphic stating “David Crowley Approved iPads to Inmates” is false and defamatory.
“As the Milwaukee County Sheriff Jail Director has publicly stated, inmates are only provided access to ‘generic tablets,’ not ‘iPads,'” Castro argues. “These tablets do not allow for video or phone calls; are not connected to the internet and can only access a closed, provider-managed network; and are commonly used in correctional settings across Wisconsin and the country.”
The term “iPad” is often used to refer to any sort of tablet device and is commonly understood as a genericized trademark. Like “Kleenex” is commonly used to refer to tissue paper, so too is “iPad” commonly used synonymously with “tablet.”
The ad, which the Tiffany campaign has described as sourced from local news, court comments, and county records, criticizes Crowley for approving the program amid reports of inmates using tablets for messaging that included threats or harassment of victims and witnesses. Borowski’s remarks during an August hearing drew attention to the issue. Crowley last week directed the county’s Community Reintegration Center to suspend tablet messaging features and called on the sheriff’s office to do the same at the jail, citing victim and witness safety.
The Tiffany campaign has not publicly responded to the letter as of the time of this report. The ad remains available online. The Nov. 3 election is less than a month away.
