Man accused of stalking a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice gets probation in a plea deal

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of sending the state Supreme Court’s chief justice intimidating emails has been sentenced to probation after prosecutors dropped a felony stalking charge.

Ryan Thornton, 37, of Racine, was initially charged in October in Dane County with stalking and misdemeanor counts of intimidating a victim and disorderly conduct. Prosecutors dismissed the stalking count on Monday in exchange for Thornton pleading guilty to the misdemeanors.

According to a criminal complaint, Thornton sent Chief Justice Jill Karofsky emails this past fall accusing her of being manipulative, telling her to “eject” herself from office and asking for her home address.

Karofsky told investigators that Thornton’s messages frightened her to the point she was afraid to leave her house to get her mail and asked police to escort her to her seat during a Milwaukee Brewers game and a Wisconsin Badgers game.

Thornton’s attorney, Anthony Jurek, said in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that he filed motions arguing that the charges violated Thornton’s constitutional right to free speech and that his $85,000 cash bail was excessive. Rather than argue over the motions in court, prosecutors offered the plea deal if he agreed to withdraw them, Jurek said.

Online court records show Thornton was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to have no contact with Karofsky and barred from Dane County, home to the state Supreme Court in Madison, unless his probation agent approves a visit for a legitimate reason.

Thornton told investigators that he was upset with an attorney he hired to represent him in a 2019 strangulation case and that the Office of Lawyer Regulation, a Supreme Court office that disciplines attorneys, hasn’t investigated the lawyer. According to the complaint, Thornton called the office more than 70 times from Aug. 1 to Oct. 1 to complain about the attorney.

Karofsky said in a statement Tuesday that she was targeted for doing her job and “that is unacceptable.”

“A court cannot carry out its constitutional role if the people inside the courthouse do not feel secure,” she said. “The courts of Wisconsin belong to the people of Wisconsin. Judicial independence survives only when the law — not politics, threats or violence — guides our courts.”

The state Supreme Court recorded 188 threats against Wisconsin judges in 2024, the most recent year data was available. That compares with 232 threats in 2023 and 74 threats in 2022.