The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest
appellate court
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
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 ...
. The Supreme Court has
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Ju ...
over
original actions, appeals from lower courts, and
regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a ...
or
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...
of the practice of law in Wisconsin.
Location
The Wisconsin Supreme Court normally sits in its main hearing room in the East Wing of the
Wisconsin State Capitol building in
Madison,
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 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.
Justices
The
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and carry out the administration of justice in Civil law (common law), civil, C ...
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 controversial issues. In the event of a vacancy on the court, the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
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
Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson (December 17, 1933December 19, 2020) was the 25th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An American lawyer and jurist, she was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey, becoming the first fe ...
, a member of the court's liberal minority, while supporters called it an effort to promote democracy on the court.
Current justices
Controversies
Recusal
In 2009, the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...
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. Wisconsin had adopted a limit of $1,000 for campaign contributions to judges, but it was unclear when mandatory recusal was required.
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.
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."
[wisciviljusticecouncil.org](_blank)
accessed January 28, 2014.
Confrontation
On June 13, 2011, a confrontation between Justices
David Prosser, Jr.
David T. Prosser Jr. (born December 24, 1942) is an American jurist and politician who served as Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1995 to 1996, and as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1998 to 2016.
Following his gradua ...
and
Ann Walsh Bradley
Ann Walsh Bradley (born July 5, 1950) is a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She was elected to the Supreme Court in 1995 and was re-elected in 2005 and 2015. She previously served ten years as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Marathon C ...
occurred in Bradley's chambers. Prosser, Bradley, and the other justices (except
N. Patrick Crooks
Neil Patrick Crooks (May 16, 1938September 21, 2015) was an American lawyer. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1996 until his death in 2015. He was appointed as a county judge by a Democratic governor, later professing conserva ...
) were discussing the following day's decision that would overturn a ruling blocking the Wisconsin
collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...
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
Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson (December 17, 1933December 19, 2020) was the 25th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An American lawyer and jurist, she was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey, becoming the first fe ...
.
Bradley later accused Prosser of putting her in a chokehold.
Prosser denied the allegations and asked for "a proper review of the matter and the facts surrounding it".
The incident was investigated by the Dane County Sheriff's Office. Witnesses to the incident disagreed about what had happened
and neither Prosser nor Bradley was charged by a special prosecutor. 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.
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.
2020 primary election amid COVID-19 pandemic
In April 2020, amid the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled (virtually, due to the pandemic) that
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
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 ...
could not delay the
state's 2020 primary elections, despite public fears of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
.
Stay at home order
In May 2020, in response to a lawsuit brought by the
Republican-led
state legislature
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
, the Court ruled 4–3 to strike down an order issued by Secretary-designate of the Department of Health Services Andrea Palm, which extended the stay-at-home order previously issued by Governor Tony Evers. The portion of the order that kept all K-12 schools closed for the remainder of the school year remained in effect. The deciding vote to strike down the Secretary-designate's order was by
Daniel Kelly, who had recently lost his bid for re-election to
Jill Karofsky.
Elections
Justices are elected in nonpartisan elections for ten-year terms. Only one justice may be elected in any year. Justices are elected in the spring election, being the first Tuesday in April. If there are more than two candidates, a spring primary is held on the third Tuesday in February.
2018
Michael Gableman did not seek re-election in 2018. Two county judges,
Rebecca Dallet
Rebecca Frank Dallet (born July 15, 1969) is an American lawyer and a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Prior to her 2018 election, she served ten years as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge in Milwaukee County. Earlier in her career she work ...
and Michael Screnock, ran for the open seat. A third candidate, Tim Burns, did not make it to the general election in the February 20 primary. Dallet was elected in the April 3 general election.
2019
Incumbent Justice
Shirley Abrahamson
Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson (December 17, 1933December 19, 2020) was the 25th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An American lawyer and jurist, she was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey, becoming the first fe ...
, who had served on the court for 42 years, did not seek re-election in 2019. Appeals Judge
Brian Hagedorn was elected to succeed her in the April 2 general election over fellow Appeals Court Judge
Lisa Neubauer, and took his seat on the court on August 1, 2019.
2020
On April 7, 2020, liberal
Jill Karofsky defeated conservative incumbent
Daniel Kelly as Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The election was held during the
coronavirus pandemic, forcing many voters to choose between voting by mail, waiting in long lines for hours, or not participating at all.
Liberal Jill Karofsky wins Wisconsin Supreme Court election, defeating conservative justice Daniel Kelly
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 13 Apr 2020
See also
* Wisconsin Court of Appeals
* Wisconsin Circuit Court
* State supreme court
In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding i ...
Footnotes
Further reading
* Adelman, Lynn.
How Big Money Ruined Public Life in Wisconsin
', 66 Clev. St. L. Rev. 1 (2017).
* Ranney, Joseph A. ''Wisconsin and the Shaping of American Law.'' Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2017.
External links
Wisconsin Supreme Court website
*
{{authority control
1848 establishments in Wisconsin
Courts and tribunals established in 1848