Molly Beck
MADISON - A Racine man has been charged with stalking Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill Karofsky in recent weeks.
Ryan Thornton, 37, appeared in Dane County Circuit Court on Monday, Oct. 20, after being arrested by Wisconsin Capitol Police over a series of alleged threatening remarks aimed at Karofsky through dozens of phone calls and emails.
According to the criminal complaint, Thornton began sending emails to Karofsky in August, shortly after the Office of Lawyer Regulation rejected Thornton's petition for discipline against an attorney who represented him in another case for which Thornton was found guilty by a jury of domestic abuse-related charges.
Prosecutors allege Thornton called the Office of Lawyer Regulation staff more than 70 times, at times making threatening comments to staff members, and at one point asked for Karofsky's home address.
In one email, Thornton allegedly said, "Please EJECT YOURSELF FROM OFFICE," according to the complaint. In another, he allegedly told Karofsky to call the police.
"Call the capital police Jill … what a democrat idea tho," he allegedly wrote.
When Thornton was arrested, prosecutors allege he said, “That bitch is going down," “(Expletive) that bitch" and "If this is because of Jill, she is going down.”
When a Capitol Police officer asked how Karofsky was involved in his dispute with the Office of Lawyer Regulation, Thornton allegedly said he did not know and it "must be some type of female that is preventing him from talking to OLR," investigators paraphrased in the complaint.
"The defendant believed that Chief Justice Karofsky or a female must be in control of OLR," the complaint says.
Karofsky told investigators the ordeal has forced her to take extra security precautions and that she fears for her safety, according to the criminal complaint.
"Chief Justice Karofsky stated that every time she gets an alert on her door bell, she checks it, thinking maybe it is a possible security concern," investigators wrote. "Chief Justice Karofsky stated that she is afraid to get her mail from her front door."
Police officers also have escorted Karofsky to her seat at recent baseball and football games, according to the complaint.
If convicted, Thornton faces nearly four years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
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