Wisconsin Supreme Court

Wisconsin Supreme Court
Seal of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Established 1841
Country Wisconsin Wisconsin, United States United States
Location Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison, Wisconsin
Authorized by Wisconsin Constitution
Decisions are appealed to Supreme Court of the United States
Website Wisconsin Court System
Chief Justice
Currently Patience Roggensack
Since April 29, 2015

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin.[1]

Location

Interior of the Supreme Court room

The Wisconsin Supreme Court normally sits in its main hearing room in the East Wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin. Since 1993, the court has also travelled, once or twice a year, to another part of the state to hear several cases as part of its "Justice on Wheels" program. The purpose of this program is to give the people of Wisconsin a better opportunity to understand the operations of the state supreme court and the court system.[2]

Justices

The court is composed of seven justices who are elected in statewide, non-partisan elections. Each justice is elected for a ten-year term. Importantly, only one justice may be elected in any year. This avoids the sudden shifts in jurisprudence commonly seen in other state supreme courts, where the court composition can be radically shifted if two or three justices are simultaneously targeted for an electoral challenge based on their views on issues like the death penalty. In the event of a vacancy on the court, the governor has the power to appoint an individual to the vacancy, but that justice must then stand for election in the first year in which no other justice's term expires.

After passage of a referendum on April 7, 2015, the chief justice of the court is elected for a term of 2 years by the vote of a majority of the justices then serving on the court, although the justice so elected may decline the appointment. Previous to the change, the justice with the longest continuous service on the court served as the chief justice. Opponents of the referendum called it an attempt to remove longtime Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, a member of the court's liberal minority, while supporters called it an effort to promote democracy on the court.

Current justices

Associate 5 Associate 3 Associate 1 Chief Justice Associate 2 Associate 4 Associate 6
Name
Years on court
2
11
42
15
23
3
0
Assumed office
8/1/2016
8/1/2007
8/1/1976
8/1/2003
8/1/1995
10/12/2015
8/1/2018
Age
53
54
84
78
68
47
49
Law School
Term Ends
7/31/2021
7/31/2027
7/31/2019
7/31/2023
7/31/2025
7/31/2026
7/31/2028
Appointed or Elected
Appointed by
Scott Walker
Elected
Appointed by
Patrick Lucey↑
Elected
Elected
Appointed by
Scott Walker↑
Elected
Succeeded
  • Note: The Justices are listed as they sit on the court from the dais.
  • ↑: Subsequently elected in their own right.

Former justices

Controversies

Recusal

In 2009, the United States Supreme Court decided Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., holding 5-4 that a campaign expenditure of over $3 million by a corporate litigant to influence the election of a judge to the court that would hear its case, although legal, was an "extreme fact" that created a "probability of bias", thus requiring the judge to be recused from hearing the case.[3] Wisconsin had adopted a limit of $1,000 for campaign contributions to judges, but it was unclear when mandatory recusal was required.[4] The League of Women Voters petitioned the Court to require a judge to recuse himself or herself from a proceeding if the judge had received any campaign contributions from a party or entity involved in it.[4] Instead, during its 2009-2010 term and by a 4-3 vote, the Court adopted a rule that recusal is not required based solely on any endorsement or receipt of a lawful campaign contribution from a party or entity involved in the proceeding, and that a judge does not need to seek recusal where it would be based solely on a party in the case sponsoring an independent expenditure or issue advocacy communication in favor of the judge.Voting in favor of the new rule were Prosser, Gableman, Roggensack, and Ziegler. Voting against were Abrahamson, Crooks, and A. Bradley. In the opinion of Justice Roggensack, "when a judge is disqualified from participation, the votes of all who voted to elect that judge are cancelled for all issues presented by that case. Accordingly, recusal rules . . . must be narrowly tailored to meet a compelling state interest." In dissenting, Justice A. Bradley called the decision "a dramatic change to our judicial code of ethics" and took issue with the majority's decision to adopt a rule "proposed by special interest groups."[4]

Confrontation

On June 13, 2011, a confrontation between Justices David Prosser, Jr. and Ann Walsh Bradley occurred in Bradley's chambers. Prosser, Bradley, and the other justices (except N. Patrick Crooks) were discussing the following day's decision that would overturn a ruling blocking the Wisconsin collective bargaining law. Witnesses stated that the incident happened after Prosser had stated that he'd lost all confidence in the leadership of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson.[5] Bradley later accused Prosser of putting her in a chokehold.[5] Prosser denied the allegations and asked for "a proper review of the matter and the facts surrounding it".[5] The incident was investigated by the Dane County Sheriff's Office. Witnesses to the incident disagreed about what had happened[5] and neither Prosser nor Bradley was charged by a special prosecutor.[6] Ethics charges brought against Prosser based on Bradley's allegations were never adjudicated due to the lack of a quorum on the Court after recusals.[7]

Campaign expense

Although elections to the Wisconsin Supreme Court are nonpartisan, campaigns for the seats sometimes generate partisan fervor. As a result, elections have become expensive; over $4.3 million was spent in the 2016 race.[8]

2018 election

Michael Gableman did not seek re-election in 2018.[9] Two county judges, Rebecca Dallet and Michael Screnock, ran for the open seat.[10][11] Dallet was elected on April 3.[12]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ See Wis. Const. Art. VII § 4 cl. 3, available at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/unannotated_wisconst.pdf.
  2. ↑ Justice on Wheels. Wisconsin Court System. Accessed February 20, 2018.
  3. ↑ Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., 556 U.S. 868 (2009).
  4. 1 2 3 wisciviljusticecouncil.org; accessed January 28, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Crocker Stevenson, Cary Spivak, and Patrick Marley (June 25, 2011). "Justices' feud gets physical". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  6. ↑ Neither Prosser nor Bradley charged, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Accessed January 28, 2014.
  7. ↑ Bruce Vielmetti (10 August 2012). "Gableman joins recusals in Prosser discipline case; court now short of quorum". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Spending in Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Totals More Than $4.3 Million". Brennan Center for Justice. April 6, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  9. ↑ Bauer, Scott (June 15, 2017). "State Supreme Court Justice Gableman Not Seeking Re-Election". Newsweek. Associated Press. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  10. ↑ Marley, Patrick (October 30, 2017). "Big differences separate candidates running for Wisconsin Supreme Court". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  11. ↑ http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/michael-screnock-and-rebecca-dallet-advance-in-supreme-court-race/article_b3deca06-14a7-5bf7-8e87-1dc60e39c168.html
  12. ↑ Davey, Monica (April 3, 2018). "Liberal Judge Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat, Buoying Democrats". New York Times. Associated Press. Retrieved April 4, 2018.

Further reading

Coordinates: 43°04′29″N 89°23′04″W / 43.074635°N 89.384562°W / 43.074635; -89.384562

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