A Dane County judge wants to know what’s the point of prosecuting nearly 400 cases against Capitol protesters.

“People who have the authority to direct resources and prosecution, who have the authority to decide what cases the state’s going to be involved in, I think, have some obligation to exercise that authority using good judgment and some consideration of what the resource costs and benefits are,” said Circuit Court Judge Peter Anderson during a hearing Friday for six people who were arrested and issued fines during last summer’s crackdown against protesters.

Asked for comment on the order, Department of Justice spokeswoman Dana Brueck said in an email, “We’ll respond in court.”

Anderson is scheduled to make an oral ruling in the cases on May 1, but he wants the cost-benefit analysis done 30 days before that.

(Watch video of the court hearing here.)

In the meantime, Dane County Circuit Judge John Markson is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the rules under which protesters were arrested and fined in coming weeks, a ruling Anderson wants on the books before he makes his own ruling.

The court cases involve people arrested during a police crackdown aimed at the Solidarity Sing Along, a long-running noon-hour event protesting the policies of Gov. Scott Walker and other Republican officials. Capitol Police Chief David Erwin demanded that the singers obtain a permit. They refused and Erwin launched the crackdown on July 24, which eventually resulted in nearly 400 arrests.

The crackdown ended in October when the state and attorneys reached a settlement in federal court that allowed the singalong to continue as long as someone from the group provided notification of their intent to gather for the event. In addition, emergency rules in place during the crackdown have since expired.

Since the crackdown is over and nobody’s breaking the rules, Anderson asked what “the state’s purpose is in pursuing 400 forfeiture cases regarding events that occurred last summer under a legal system that’s no longer in place and where the arrests aren’t continuing.”

Anderson listed the kinds of costs he wanted included to weigh against whatever benefits the state might see in pursuing the cases.

“For example, you’ve got all these defendants, and they have time, they have lawyers. That’s a cost,” he said. “You’ve got a bailiff, sometimes you’ve got more than one bailiff. We’ve got the court staff. We’ve got two assistant attorney generals. We have witnesses. All of those are significant costs. And if we’re doing it 400 times — to accomplish what? That’s what I’d like you to be able to apprise me of.”

Anderson’s order is the second setback for state prosecutors in recent weeks. In December an appeals court ruled that the protesters could utilize the discovery process, which Dane County Circuit Judge William Hanrahan had previously ruled wasn’t available to civil forfeiture defendants.

That will allow the defendants to call witnesses and seek documents and other evidence in their cases. Attorneys for the protesters said that will allow them to gather information that is potentially embarrassing to the state. It will also likely further slow the court process for many of the cases.