We thought the public might want to know which cases Brett Blomme handled as a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge – and how he handled them.
It seems like a legitimate question to scrutinize Blomme’s work as a judge considering he is now charged with multiple counts of accessing vile child pornography – videos showing children, including toddlers, being raped – and the criminal complaint alleges he used a government IP address to share and download some of it. How did he handle cases where children needed protection? Did he go light on anyone?
However, the Milwaukee County Clerk of Circuit Courts says Brett Blomme’s court calendar does not exist.
Brett Blomme’s Court Calendar Open Records Request
We originally wrote the chief judge and requested, via open records laws, “the court calendars for Brett Blomme from Sept. 1 2020 to present. I would like documents that would show which cases he handled.” We were only able to find six cases for him before his arrest in the electronic version of the court records.
“Your request was referred to me as the custodian of the court records. The requested records do not exist as the CCAP system doesn’t keep the court calendars once completed. If you would like to modify your request, please me know,” John Barrett, Clerk of Circuit Courts for Milwaukee County, wrote Wisconsin Right Now.
Yes, in case you’re wondering, Barrett is related to Tom Barrett, the Milwaukee mayor who was one of the biggest advocates for Blomme before his arrest – pushing him for a judicial appointment and naming him to a top city board. They’re brothers.
We followed up and asked, “Thanks for the quick response… is there anywhere the calendars and/or court appearances/cases he handled would be documented?”
No dice.
“According to our staff, the answer would be the same. Once held we don’t have the calendar. As a result, we can’t provide information on appearances,” Barrett said.
Obviously, a person could look up individual cases on CCAP, and there is a court file attached to each case, although rules in juvenile court allow less disclosure. However, without knowing which cases Brett Blomme’s court handled, it becomes a bit of a circular argument.
On the online courts website itself, only two cases come up for Blomme for the entire period of April 2020 through March 6, 2021, if you search back to April: A sanction hearing from Jan. 7 and an extension hearing from Jan. 21. On March 11, he heard three adjourned disposition hearings and a review hearing. All other cases scheduled occurred after his arrest. He is currently suspended as a judge. No other cases come up in the electronic version of CCAP.
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