Litigation

WI High Court: ?A Mess??

By Peter Hardin

The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s deep division over whether to sanction one of its own, Justice Michael Gableman, continues to draw editorial commentary critical of the court.

Last week, the Wisconsin Judicial Commission dropped an ethics complaint accusing Justice Gableman of dishonesty in a 2008 campaign ad, after the high court had deadlocked 3-3 over the ethics case (see Gavel Grab).

An editorial in the Appleton Post-Crescent lamented the non-verdict, saying, “The fact that one of the most important ethical issues in Wisconsin Supreme Court history fizzled to a conclusion tells you all you need to know about the current court’s dysfunction.” It concluded about the court, which has divided sharply over ethics issues:

“Officially, Gableman’s the winner, though we hope the court of public opinion will rule against him.

“In the bigger picture, the whole state’s the loser. Our highest court is a mess, with no hope in sight.”

An article in WI Magazine by Mike Nichols, senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, took a broader look at acrimony in the court. The article was entitled, “Justice Decried: Discord has split the state Supreme Court, damaging its productivity and reputation for fairness.”

In discussing the highly divisive issue of recusal, the article mentioned advocacy by Justice at Stake on the issue (see Gavel Grab), and Justice David Prosser’s hinting that JAS and another group may have been pushing for appointed, rather than elected, justices. The author then obtained comment from the Open Society Institute, a funder of Justice at Stake:

“In response to a question from Wisconsin Interest, OSI issued a statement saying the organization does ‘not take a position as to which method of judicial selection ? election or appointment ? is best’ but added that it is concerned about the influence of special interests and does include ‘merit selection’ of judges and public financing as possible solutions.”

Meanwhile an article by the State Bar of Wisconsin reported on the state Supreme Court’s revision last week of its recusal rules (see Gavel Grab).

Full post as published by The Gavel on July 13, 2010 (boomark / email).