Rebecca Bradley (judge)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rebecca Lynn Grassl Bradley (born August 2, 1971) is an American lawyer and justice of the
Wisconsin Supreme Court 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. Location The Wi ...
, serving since 2015. She has been a state judge in
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
since 2012. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Scott Walker in 2015, and won election to a 10-year term in 2016.


Early life and education

Born in
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...
, Bradley graduated from
Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of M ...
in 1993 and the
University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...
in 1996. In 2016, she apologized for columns she wrote for the ''Marquette Tribune'' under a former name, Rebecca Grassl. Quotes from her 1992 columns include, "one will be better off contracting AIDS than developing cancer, because those afflicted with the politically correct disease will get all the funding," and "how sad that the lives of degenerate drug addicts and queers are valued more than the innocent lives of more prevalent ailments." She also wrote, "but the homosexuals and drug addicts who do essentially kill themselves and others through their own behavior deservedly receive none of my sympathy."


Early law career

Bradley worked as an attorney at several Milwaukee law firms, specializing in commercial litigation and
intellectual property law Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
, and as a software company executive. Considered a conservative, Bradley served as president of the Milwaukee
Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (abbreviated as FedSoc) is an American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Headquarter ...
chapter and participated in the
Thomas More Society The Thomas More Society is a conservative Roman Catholic public-interest law firm based in Chicago. The group has been engaged in many "culture war" issues, promoting its anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage beliefs through litigation. Th ...
and the Republican National Lawyers Association. Bradley was a contributor to the campaign of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
. In December 2012, Walker appointed Bradley to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, where she served in the children's court division. She was elected to a six-year term on the court in April 2013, receiving substantial support from the conservative
Wisconsin Club for Growth The Wisconsin Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization based in Wisconsin. It financially supported Wisconsin governor Scott Walker during the 2012 election that sought to recall him. It had $8 million in revenue in 2012. Governa ...
.


Supreme Court


2015 appointment

In May 2015, Walker elevated Bradley to the
Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of app ...
to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge Ralph Adam Fine. After the death of Justice N. Patrick Crooks in 2015, Bradley was appointed by Governor Walker to serve as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the remainder of Crooks' term.


2016 Supreme Court election

After Crooks' death, Bradley,
JoAnne Kloppenburg JoAnne F. Kloppenburg (born September 5, 1953) is a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, serving since 2012 in the Madison-based District IV. Kloppenburg was previously an assistant attorney general in the Wisconsin Department of Justice ...
(who narrowly lost a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2011), and Martin Joseph "Joe" Donald each announced their candidacy for the seat in the 2016 election. In the February 16 primary, Bradley edged Kloppenburg 44.7–43.2%, moving the two of them on to the general election in an even race. Bradley's homophobic writings that she wrote in the
Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of M ...
student newspaper in 1992 while an undergraduate stirred controversy during the race. She had written
letters to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mai ...
and a column for the ''
Marquette Tribune ''The Marquette Tribune'' is the official student newspaper of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-mos ...
'', in which she stated she held no sympathy for AIDS patients because they were "degenerates" who had effectively chosen to kill themselves. She also referred to gays as "queers". She called the plurality of Americans who voted for Clinton "either totally stupid or entirely evil". She blasted supporters of abortion as murderers, and compared abortion to the Holocaust and slavery. She attacked feminists as "angry, militant, man-hating lesbians who abhor the traditional family" and defended
Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultu ...
, who had written in a 1991 column that "women who get drunk at frat parties are 'fools' and women who go upstairs with frat brothers are 'idiots'." Bradley wrote that Paglia had "legitimately suggested that women play a role in date rape." Bradley apologized for her student writings in 2016, shortly after they had stirred controversy. Pre-election polls showed Bradley with a slight lead, but with a significant portion of the electorate still undecided. She was projected as the winner by a 53–47% margin on election night, and she quoted
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
at the end of her victory speech: "There is nothing more exhilarating than being shot at without result."


Tenure

In June 2019, Bradley wrote the majority opinion for the Wisconsin Supreme Court where the conservatives on the court upheld a series of laws that the Republican-led Wisconsin legislature and Republican Governor Scott Walker passed during a lame-duck session in order to limit the powers of the incoming Democratic Governor (
Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers (born November 5, 1951) is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2009 ...
) and Attorney General (
Josh Kaul Joshua Lautenschlager Kaul (born February 2, 1981) is an American lawyer, politician and member of the Democratic Party who has served as the 45th Attorney General of Wisconsin since January 2019. Early life and education Kaul is the son of Pe ...
).


COVID-19 pandemic

During the coronavirus pandemic, she dissented to a Wisconsin Supreme Court order that ordered the postponement of jury trials and the suspension of in-person court proceedings for public health reasons. In April 2020, during the pandemic, she joined the conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in striking down Governor Evers' order to postpone a 7 April Wisconsin election due to the public health risks of the coronavirus. She voted in person on April 2, although casting a ballot in person before the date of the election is considered an absentee vote in Wisconsin. Examination of Justice Bradley's voting record demonstrates that she voted in person on Election Day in 4 of the 5 previous elections. In May 2020, she questioned the stay-at-home orders issued by the
Wisconsin Department of Health Services The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (WisDHS) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin responsible for maintaining public health. It administers a wide range of services in the state and at state institutions, regulates hosp ...
Secretary Andrea Palm. She compared the stay-at-home orders to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, and labeled it "tyrannic." In November 2020, while COVID-19 cases were surging in Wisconsin, she was in the Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority that prevented the City of Racine Public Health Department to order school closures.


Gun rights

In 2021, Bradley was the sole judge on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to rule in favor of a man who argued that it was within his Second Amendment rights to brandish his firearms while he was intoxicated and arguing with his roommates. Bradley said that the conviction against the man "erodes a fundamental freedom."


Voting rights

In 2021, Bradley wrote a majority decision for the Wisconsin Supreme Court that declined to change district maps that were in favor of Republicans. In her decision, Bradley wrote that questions about the redistricting maps "must be resolved through the political process and not by the judiciary."


2020 Election

She issued a dissonant minority opinion in the 2020 Federal Election. None of the dissenting judges said what relief should be given to the Trump campaign. In the 2022 decision ''Teigen v. Wisconsin Election Commission'' which banned ballot drop boxes, Bradley wrote that the 2020 election of Joe Biden was illegitimate due to the use of these boxes.


Electoral history


Wisconsin Circuit Court (2013)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary election, February 19, 2013 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General election, April 2, 2013


Wisconsin Supreme Court (2016)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary election, February 16, 2016 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General election, April 5, 2016


References


External links


Justice Rebecca Bradley biography on Wisconsin Supreme Court

Justice Rebecca Bradley for Supreme Court
(2016 Election) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Rebecca 1971 births Living people Lawyers from Milwaukee Marquette University alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Wisconsin Republicans Politicians from Milwaukee Federalist Society members 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges