The Court of Appeals has stayed the TRO, saying “we are aware of no caselaw which permits prior restraint of speech before an adjudication on the merits of the defamatory nature of the statement at issue.” It will, however, permit Radcliffe’s lawyers to submit a brief. I don’t think that’ll change anything.

Update: Having read the entire transcript of yesterday’s hearing, it appears that the court based its order on defamation, not because of constitutional concerns over 12.05 (he declined to entertain them), but because he thought that 12.05 did not provide for a civil action.

This is astonishing.

On Friday, in Jackson County, a circuit court judge named Thomas Lister issued an ex parte temporary restraining order against an ad run by a group called the Coalition For America’s Families. The court found that the plaintiff, Radcliffe For Assembly, had demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on its claim that the ad violated Wis. Stat. § 12.05 in that it “may knowingly make or publish, or cause to be made or published, a false representation pertaining to a candidate or referendum which is intended or tends to affect voting at an election. ”

The ad apparently stated that Mark Radcliffe, a Democratic candidate for the 92nd Assembly District, supports a health care plan that would double Wisconsin’s taxes, impose 15 billion dollars in new taxes, and represent a $ 510/month increase in taxes for every Wisconsin worker. (While news reports have said that the ad also claimed that the plan would provide benefits to out-of-state residents and illegal aliens, neither the complaint nor the restraining order mention any such statements.)

The order is extraordinary for a number of reasons.