Herbst v. Wuennenberg

266 N.W.2d 391 (1978)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ps (Jason Herbst, Ronald Nadel, and Robert Ritholz) worked for the Republican Party. They verified voter lists with actual addressed. Ps were comparing the voter registration list for the City of Madison with names on the mailboxes in multi-unit residential dwellings in D's aldermanic district. The goal was to 'purge the voter lists' by challenging the registrations of people whose names were not on mailboxes at the addresses from which they were registered to vote. Ps had entered unannounced through the outer door into a vestibule area which lies between the inner and outer doors to D's building. Ps simply read the names listed for D's address from a computer printout of the registered voters in D's district, and the others checked to see if those names appeared on the mailboxes. D entered and asked Ps what they were doing.

Ritholz replied that they were purging voter lists for the Republican party. D became very agitated and told Ps that she did not want them in her district. Ps refused to identify themselves. D then stood outside the door and blocked Ps from leaving. Ps offered several times to leave. D's husband appeared, and as per D's request called the police. D blocked the outer door by 'standing there with her arms on the pillars to the door to block our exit.' D had not threatened or intimidated them, and they neither asked her permission to leave nor made any attempt to get her to move away from the doorway. The police came some five minutes later. They gave their names and explained their errand to a police officer who told them that they were not doing anything wrong and that they could continue checking the mailboxes in the district. Ps sued D for false imprisonment, abuse of process, and malicious prosecution. Ps got the verdict for false imprisonment and D appealed.