Longtime readers of FREE WHITEWATER know that I have followed the federal lawsuit against Larry Meyer, a former investigator of the Whitewater Police Department.
The lawsuit is a matter of public importance: (1) it involves
constitutional claims against a former public employee, (2) it tells much about how that employee was supervised and managed, and (3) and the proposed settlement included a confidentiality agreement.
Local press coverage of the case has been — sad to say — only
sporadic and shockingly incomplete. In the fall, a local paper presented stories on how — from the point of view of Larry Meyer’s defense counsel — the case had actually been settled. I pointed out that that reporting seemed, well, less than thorough: see, Questions for a Reporter, and the Community and Answers for a Reporter and the Community, on the Larry Meyer Case.
For my opposition to a confidentiality provision, which would hide information on public matters, involving a public employee, on public time, see my posts entitled, Questions on the Settlement in the Larry Meyer Case and Cat Has Your Tongue?
In late January, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Callahan, in a thorough, thirteen-page decision and order, denied federal defendant, and former Whitewater investigator, Larry Meyer’s motion to enforce settlement in the lawsuit against him.
Undeterred, defense counsel filed a motion for reconsideration (of the denial). That motion for reconsideration was also denied, on March 3rd. United States Magistrate Judge Callahan’s order included the following scheduling information:
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 253 of the United States Courthouse, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a scheduling conference will be conducted to discuss with the parties the further processing of this case to final resolution.
The case continues.