State Courts and Legal System

Ryan Thornton, a 37-year-old Racine resident accused of sending intimidating emails to Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill Karofsky, reached a plea deal in Dane County under which prosecutors dropped a felony stalking charge in exchange for his guilty pleas to misdemeanor counts of intimidating a victim and disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to have no contact with Karofsky and barred from entering Dane County, after investigators said he sent messages accusing her of being manipulative, demanding she 'eject' herself from office and asking for her home address, leaving her fearful enough to request police escorts at public events.