Dominic Salvia was arrested three years ago at the state Capitol. State taxpayers are paying the radio host and his attorney $75,000 for his arrest, under a settlement Attorney General Brad Schimel and Gov. Scott Walker's administration have signed off on. Credit: The Devil's Advocates Radio

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Madison — State taxpayers are paying a radio host and his attorney $75,000 for his arrest three years ago at the state Capitol, under a settlement Attorney General Brad Schimel and Gov. Scott Walker's administration have signed off on.

The lawyer who won the case promised to file another lawsuit representing about 100 protesters arrested in 2013 during a crackdown by the Capitol Police of a singing protest that has been going on in and around the Statehouse for more than five years. If successful, that would add to the more than $180,000 the state has already agreed to pay protesters.

Under the agreement, the state Department of Administration will pay Philip Dominic Salvia $75,000 for damages and attorney's fees for violating his free speech rights. Salvia is one of the hosts of the "Devil's Advocates," a radio show on Madison's The Mic (92.1 FM) that frequently criticizes Walker.

Salvia will get to keep $27,500 and the remaining $47,500 will go to his attorney, Jeff Scott Olson, according to Salvia's co-host, Mike Crute.

Olson and Crute said Tuesday another lawsuit is coming.

"This is just the first domino," Crute said.

Schimel spokesman Johnny Koremenos wouldn't comment on the plans for another lawsuit because he would not "speculate on hypothetical cases." But he said the settlement with Salvia, which was finalized Monday, was in taxpayers' best interest.

"In consultation with (the Walker administration), we reached a settlement — without admitting any liability — to reduce the risk to the taxpayers from an expensive trial and much larger costs if the state did not prevail," he said in a statement.

According to his lawsuit, Salvia was taking pictures of the protest in July 2013 when he was arrested and ticketed. He sued in March 2014, arguing his First Amendment rights had been violated, particularly because he was observing a protest, rather than participating in it.

Although a handful of the singing protesters were disruptive and rightfully arrested, the Walker administration "swept too broadly" in ticketing many of the protesters, according to Donald Downs, a professor of political science, law and journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"It's a sign they went too far in limiting access, when they declared that the Capitol wasn't a public forum, that you needed a permit to assemble there," said Downs, a freedom of speech scholar. "They overreacted. They tried to restrict speech more than they should have, and this case is in line with that."

Protesters began near-daily singalongs in 2011 to protest Walker and his cuts to collective bargaining. The demonstrations occur between noon and 1 p.m. on weekdays, either in the Capitol rotunda or on the square outside.

In 2013, the Capitol Police — part of Walker's Department of Administration — attempted to curb the protests with mass arrests and tickets. They eventually abandoned that effort and reached a court agreement allowing the protests to continue after a protester sued with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin. Under that agreement, the department allowed protesters to simply notify officials they would be engaging in a protest, rather than having to apply for a permit.

That system "ensures that everyone will have equal and fair access to the Capitol," administration spokesman Steven Michels said in a statement. He did not provide answers to questions about whether the administration believed the mass arrests in 2013 — and the costs they were incurring — were a good way to handle the protests.

Olson said he was representing about 75 protesters who would sue this summer over their arrests in 2013, before the new rules took effect. The action will likely be filed as a class-action lawsuit in federal court in Madison, which would mean more than 25 other protesters could benefit from it if it is successful.

"It could be into the millions," he said of the potential payout if he succeeds.

Olson acknowledged the suit would be more challenging than the one brought by Salvia because those involved were protesting, rather than observing a protest.

The protests erupted, in part, because Walker advanced his cuts to collective bargaining and made other major changes to state laws with little notice, Olson said.

"People felt like their voice was taken away and the only way to get it back was to show up at the Capitol in person," he said.

Madison attorney Lester Pines said Olson could have a shot at winning for his clients. Pines has been active in suing the administration but is not involved in the cases of protesters Olson is working on.

"Jeff is a very creative and competent lawyer, so I'm sure if he's filing a lawsuit, he's got a good theory of how to be successful with it," Pines said.

In 2013, the state paid more than $88,000 after the ACLU sued over the rules the state had put in place before launching the mass arrests. That deal also resulted in the rule changes that allow protesters to notify the state of their plans, rather than formally apply for permits.

In another case, the state paid $19,000 to a protester over a 2011 altercation in which a state employee stabbed himself when popping her red heart-shaped balloon.

Those two cases and this week's settlement bring the tally for taxpayers to more than $180,000.

In another case, protesters won more than $270,000, but that decision is being appealed and payment has not been made. That case is over six protesters —represented by Olson — who were arrested for holding signs in 2011.