Oct

22

Merit Selection Amendment Introduced

Posted by: Daniel Suhr | October 22, 2009 | 8 Comments

Yesterday, State Representative Mark Gottlieb (R-Port Washington) announced that he is drafting a constitutional amendment to replace Wisconsin’s current method of judicial elections with “merit selection.” Rep. Gottlieb is a former speaker pro tem of the Assembly, and he is widely regarded as one of the top policy gurus within the Republican caucus.
Currently, the legislature [...]

Mar

4

Independence and Accountability in Wisconsin’s Lower Courts

Posted by: Christopher M. King | March 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

All methods of judicial selection must account for and balance the competing goals of judicial independence and judicial accountability. Judge James Wynn, Jr. and Eli Mazur described judicial independence as an “immunity from extra-legal pressures” and judicial accountability as the judiciary’s “responsiveness to public opinion.” A method of selection cannot treat independence and accountability as [...]

Feb

19

Okay, Judge, You Hit Your Number or Die in This Room*

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | February 19, 2009 | 2 Comments

Much of the attention following yesterday’s decision in Siefert v. Alexander focuses upon the invalidation of prohibitions against judges or judicial candidates belonging to political parties and endorsing partisan candidates for office. That part of Judge Crabb’s decision seems to me, given the balance between regulatory interests and the protection of speech struck by the United States [...]

Jan

23

I Refer to the Woman with Whom You Have a Child But Who Is Not Your Wife (Hereafter “Baby Mama”)

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | January 23, 2009 | 3 Comments

Perhaps Professor O’Hear can straighten me out on this.
The decision of a divided Court of Appeals setting aside the sentence of Landray Harris has gotten a fair amount of play in the blogs and on talk radio. Put briefly, the court vacated the sentence because the sentencing judge, apparently frustrated by the defendant’s failure to [...]

Nov

3

Spin Doctoring and the Judiciary

Posted by: Andrew Golden | November 3, 2008 | 2 Comments

I was extremely lucky to represent Marquette Law School this past Saturday night at the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund’s Howard B. Eisenberg Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner, and the highlight of the event for me was not only my opportunity to meet and take a picture with Justice Louis Butler, but also to hear him [...]

Oct

15

The Wisconsin Supreme Court Amends Its Rules to Permit Citation of Unpublished Opinions, with Limitations

Posted by: Jessica E. Slavin | October 15, 2008 | 1 Comment

As you probably already know, yesterday the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard the petition of the Wisconsin Judicial Council to amend Wisconsin Statue section 809.23(3), to permit citation of unpublished Wisconsin Court of Appeals opinions as persuasive authority.
Beth Hanan, managing member of Gass Weber Mullins and Vice Chair of the Wisconsin Judicial Council, kindly offered the following [...]

Sep

29

Fastcase: Free Online Research for All Wisconsin Bar members

Posted by: Jessica E. Slavin | September 29, 2008 | 1 Comment

If you are a member of the Wisconsin State Bar, beginning in November you will have free access to Fastcase.  Fastcase is a searchable online database of federal and state law.  The product overview at the Fastcase website makes the service look user-friendly.   Its coverage is fairly deep too, including state cases back to 1950 [...]

Sep

26

Judge White Visits Her Alma Mater

Posted by: Matthew J. Parlow | September 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Yesterday’s On the Issues with Mike Gousha featured a conversation with Marquette Law School graduate and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Maxine Aldridge White. Judge White’s journey from growing up in the Mississippi Delta as the daughter of a sharecropper to her current position on the bench is a compelling and inspiring one. Judge White [...]

Sep

13

Privacy Interests in Extremis

Posted by: Michael K. McChrystal | September 13, 2008 | 1 Comment

In a fascinating case decided this week, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed the suppression of a video recording apparently showing a husband having sexual intercourse with his wife, a stroke victim who was unconscious and lived in a nursing home.  See State v. Johnson (Appeal No. 2007AP1485-CR, 9/11/2008).  The husband was charged with second [...]

Sep

4

Petition to Permit Citation of Unpublished Decisions of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Posted by: Jessica E. Slavin | September 4, 2008 | 1 Comment

This fall the Wisconsin Supreme Court will revisit the issue of whether to permit citation of unpublished Wisconsin Court of Appeals opinions. The issue is scheduled for hearing on October 14, 2008. The current rule forbids citation of unpublished opinions “as precedent or authority, except to support a claim of claim preclusion, issue preclusion, or [...]