This morning the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Governor Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans intend to restructure the Government Accountability Board (GAB) – the agency that oversees Wisconsin elections and played a key role in the abusive John Doe investigations recently halted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court – and to reform the John Doe law itself. It’s about time.

Overlooked in much of the coverage of the John Doe investigation of conservative issue advocacy was the role of the GAB, an organization that, quite simply, should have known better. For election lawyers and election regulators, the distinction between “express advocacy” – calling for the election or defeat of specific candidates – and issue advocacy is essentially Constitutional Law 101. While both forms of speech are constitutionally-protected, current precedent allows for a greater level of state regulation of express advocacy. Issue advocacy, by contrast, a much greater regulatory “no go” zone. The John Doe II investigation, which featured pre-dawn multi-county raids on homes of conservative activists – was about issue advocacy.

John Doe reform is also a constitutional necessity. Under the current statute, law enforcement may launch highly-public raids of private homes – which quickly gather crowds of neighbors and reporters – then impose gag orders that prevent raid targets from clearing their names. In other words, the public can know you’re under criminal investigation, but you can’t defend yourself. You can’t even discuss the matter with family. The notion that this somehow protects the privacy of John Doe victims is utterly absurd. Just ask John Doe raid target Cindy Archer. Newly-released audiotape of the 2011 raid on her home features a laugh-out-loud moment as an investigator tries to convince her that a gag order actually helps Archer – even as reporters are right outside her door and police are very publicly swarming her house.

The Left will object to both reforms. After all, both the GAB and the John Doe statute were key weapons Wisconsin’s “deep state” wielded as part of its “by any means necessary” effort to intimidate and silence conservatives. Yet it is for that very reason that Governor Walker and Wisconsin Republicans must ensure that such grotesque abuses can never happen again. Not even the most decisive court ruling can restore the raid targets years of fear and worry lost to secret investigations, but decisive legislation can spare future generations from John Doe pounding on their door.