MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on Wisconsin Supreme Court hearing on state open meetings law (all times local):
1 p.m.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is wrestling with how broadly to apply the state open meetings law.
The court heard arguments Wednesday in a case involving a committee created to review curriculum materials for the Appleton Area School District. A parent in the district sued, arguing that the committee’s meetings should have been open.
Lower courts sided with the district, saying that the meetings were not required to be open.
At the core of the case is whether the law should apply to committees created by employees of a governmental unit and not the governmental body itself. Attorney Rick Esenberg argued that the law should not be applied narrowly.
But district attorney Christine Hamiel says applying the law more broadly could results in administrative functions being subject to the law.
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12:08 a.m.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that could give school boards and other governmental bodies a way around the open meetings law.
The case up for argument Wednesday focuses on whether meetings of a committee created by employees of the Appleton Area School District should have been open to the public. The committee reviewed books for a ninth grade class.
More broadly, the court will examine whether committees created like the one in Appleton are exempt from the law.
Lower courts have sided with the district, which said the discussions were not subject to the open meetings law.
Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, the Wisconsin Newspapers Association and the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association all argue that the meetings should have been open.
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