Litigation

Judge Files New Suit Against WI Public Financing

By Peter Hardin

An unsuccessful candidate for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court and a Virginia-based nonprofit group have filed a lawsuit, the second in less than a week, to overturn a new Wisconsin law for public financing of state Supreme Court candidates.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick (photo at right) contended in the lawsuit that the new law favors candidates who get public funding over those who do not, and it thereby violates free speech and equal protection rights guaranteed by the Constitution, according to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Joining in the lawsuit, and reflecting the national interest in Wisconsin’s public financing law, was the Center for Competitive Politics, based in Alexandria, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C. Stephen M. Hoersting, vice president of the Center, said in a statement, “Schemes that give the government power to penalize candidates for exercising their First Amendment rights have been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and two federal courts.”

The Center’s press release did not mention, however, that a North Carolina public financing law for appellate judicial candidates, which is similar to Wisconsin’s, was upheld by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal of that case.

Wisconsin Right to Life recently filed the first lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s new law. Common Cause In Wisconsin criticized the two lawsuits as “vicious attacks” in a statement and said the new law “simply provides the target of their attacks with limited means to defend themselves so that the election is not completely dominated by the outside special interest groups.”

Justice at Stake has applauded Wisconsin’s new law and called it “a huge step to protect its courts from special interest pressure.” You can read in Gavel Grab about the law and controversy surrounding it. You can click here to read the Wisconsin Right to Life lawsuit and click here to read the lawsuit by Judge Koschnick. A statement by the judge’s lawyer is available here. Judge Koschnick was defeated in an election this year for the state Supreme Court by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. Finally, Justice at Stake has a web page on public financing of judicial elections.

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 23, 2009 (boomark / email).