In re Vos

• Decision Date: 10 May 2019
• Docket Number: Document: 00713430352
• Parties: IN RE WISCONSIN STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ROBIN J. VOS, Petitioner.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

IN RE WISCONSIN STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ROBIN J. VOS, Petitioner.

Document: 00713430352

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Filed: June 4, 2019
MAY 10, 2019

From the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Case No. 3:15-cv-00421-JDP

PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS BY WISCONSIN STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ROBIN J. VOS

Kevin St. John
BELL GIFTOS ST. JOHN LLC
5325 Wall Street, Ste. 2200
Madison, WI 53718
(608) 216-7990
kstjohn@bellgiftos.com

Adam K. Mortara
Joshua P. Ackerman
Taylor A.R. Meehan
BARTLIT BECK LLP
Courthouse Place
54 West Hubbard Street, Ste. 300
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 494-4400
adam.mortara@bartlitbeck.com
joshua.ackerman@bartlitbeck.com
taylor.meehan@bartlitbeck.com

Counsel for Petitioner,
Speaker Robin J. Vos

Page 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CIRCUIT RULE 26.1 DISCLOSURE STATEMENT .................................................................... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... ii

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ............................................................................................................. iii

JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT .................................................................................................. 1

ISSUES PRESENTED ......................................................................................................................... 3

STATEMENT OF THE CASE .......................................................................................................... 3

SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ................................................................................................ 8

ARGUMENT ....................................................................................................................................... 10

I. Speaker Vos has no other adequate means to attain the relief he seeks. .............................. 10

II. Mandamus relief is clearly and indisputably warranted. .......................................................... 12

A. Legislative immunity and privilege preclude Plaintiffs from compelling Speaker Vos to give testimony or produce documents. .................................................................................................................. 12

B. The district court refused to consider whether extraordinary circumstances justified deposing a high-ranking public official. ......................... 18

III. A writ of mandamus is appropriate under the circumstances ............................................... 22

CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 24

PROOF OF SERVICE ....................................................................................................................... 26

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE .............................................................................................. 28

CIRCUIT RULE 30(D) STATEMENT ........................................................................................... 29

APPENDIX TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... 30

Page 3

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases

Abbott v. Perez, 138 S. Ct. 2305 (2018) ................................................................................................................... 1, 2

Abelesz v. OTP Bank, 692 F.3d 638 (7th Cir. 2012) .......................................................................................................... 11

Allendale Mut. Ins. Co. v. Bull Data Sys., Inc., 32 F.3d 1175 (7th Cir. 1994) ............................................................................................................ 1

Bagley v. Blagojevich, 646 F.3d 378 (7th Cir. 2011) .................................................................................................... 14, 17

Baldus v. Brennan, Nos. 11-CV-562, 11-CV-1011, 2011 WL 6122542 (E.D. Wis. Dec. 8, 2011), order clarified, 2011 WL 6385645 (E.D. Wis. Dec. 20, 2011) ......................................................... 4

Baldus v. Members of Wis. Gov't Accountability Bd., 849 F. Supp. 2d 840 (E.D. Wis. 2012) ............................................................................................ 3

Baldus v. Members of Wis. Gov't Accountability Bd., Nos. 11-CV-562, 11-CV-1011, 2013 WL 690496 (E.D. Wis. Feb. 25, 2013) ........................... 4

Biblia Abierta v. Banks, 129 F.3d 899 (7th Cir. 1997) .................................................................................................. passim

Bogan v. City of Boston, 489 F.3d 417 (1st Cir. 2007) ........................................................................................................... 19

Bogan v. Scott-Harris, 523 U.S. 44 (1998) ......................................................................................................... 11, 13, 14, 17

Brown v. Dart, 667 F. App'x 873 (7th Cir. 2016) ..................................................................................................... 2

Burden-Meeks v. Welch, 319 F.3d 897 (7th Cir. 2003) ...................................................................................................... 2, 12

Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Court for D.C., 542 U.S. 367 (2004) ................................................................................................................. passim

Chrysler Corp. v. Brown, 441 U.S. 281 (1979) ......................................................................................................................... 14

City of Fort Lauderdale v. Scott, No. 10-61122-CIV, 2012 WL 760743 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 7, 2012) ................................................ 19

Coleman v. Schwarzenegger, No. CIV-S-90-0520, 2008 WL 4300437 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 15, 2008) ......................................... 19

Comm. for a Fair & Balanced Map v. Ill. State Bd. of Elections, No. 11-c-5065, 2011 WL 4837508 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 12, 2011) ..................................................... 18

Page 4

Dellwood Farms, Inc. v. Cargill, Inc., 128 F.3d 1122 (7th Cir. 1997) .......................................................................................................... 2

Dombrowski v. Eastland, 387 U.S. 82 (1967) ............................................................................................................................ 13

Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735 (1973) ......................................................................................................................... 17

Gill v. Whitford, 138 S. Ct. 1916 (2018) ............................................................................................................. passim

Gunn v. Univ. Comm. to End War in Vietnam, 399 U.S. 383 (1970) ........................................................................................................................... 1

In re Boehringer Ingelheim Pharms., Inc., 745 F.3d 216 (7th Cir. 2014) .......................................................................................................... 12

In re Dep't of Commerce, 139 S. Ct. 566 (2018) ............................................................................................................. 9, 10, 22

In re Hubbard, 803 F.3d 1298 (11th Cir. 2015) ................................................................................... 11, 12, 14, 22

In re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 756 F.3d 754 (D.C. Cir. 2014) .................................................................................................... 9, 10

J. H. Cohn & Co. v. Am. Appraisal Assocs., Inc., 628 F.2d 994 (7th Cir. 1980) .......................................................................................................... 11

James v. Sheahan, 137 F.3d 1003 (7th Cir. 1998) ........................................................................................................ 20

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Asia Pulp & Paper Co., 707 F.3d 853 (7th Cir. 2013) ............................................................................................................ 2

King v. Ill. State Bd. of Elections, 410 F.3d 404 (7th Cir. 2005) ............................................................................................................ 1

LaPorta v. City of Chicago, No. 14-c-9665, 2016 WL 4429746 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 22, 2016) .................................................... 19

League of Women Voters of Mich. v. Johnson, 902 F.3d 572 (6th Cir. 2018) ............................................................................................................ 1

Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 908 F.3d 1175 (9th Cir. 2018) ..................................................................................... 11, 13, 14, 16

Marylanders for Fair Representation, Inc. v. Schaefer, 144 F.R.D. 292 (D.Md. 1992) .................................................................................................. 13, 18

Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter, 558 U.S. 100 (2009) ....................................................................................................................... 2, 8

Ohio A. Philip Randolph Inst. v. Larose, No. 18-4258, 2019 WL 259431 (6th Cir. Jan. 18, 2019) ............................................................... 1

Page 5

Olivieri v. Rodriguez, 122 F.3d 406 (7th Cir. 1997) .................................................................................................... 18, 19

Ott v. City of Milwaukee, 682 F.3d 552 (7th Cir. 2012) ............................................................................................................ 2

Reeder v. Madigan, 780 F.3d 799 (7th Cir. 2015) .......................................................................................................... 13

Rodriguez v. Pataki, 280 F. Supp. 2d 89 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) ............................................................................................. 18

Smith v. Barry, 502 U.S. 244 (1992)...