Wisconsin Supreme Court – Page 10 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Legal Community Mourns Justice Patrick Crooks

Post author:Edward A. Fallone
Post published:September 21, 2015
Post category:Public Wisconsin Supreme Court

The Wisconsin legal community is mourning the sudden death of Justice N. Patrick Crooks. A native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Justice Crooks was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1996 and won a second term in 2006. He recently announced that he would not stand for re-election in 2016.

Before joining the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Justice Crooks served as a Judge on the Brown County Circuit Court. He was named Trial Judge of the Year in 1994 by the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He was widely respected as an independent and conscientious jurist. He will be missed.

Photo Credit: Jake Harper/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Caperton Moment

Post author:Erik Eisenheim
Post published:July 20, 2015
Post category:Election Law Judges & Judicial Process Public Wisconsin Law & Legal System Wisconsin Supreme Court

The definitive litmus test for the impartiality and competence of the Wisconsin Supreme Court took the form of a lengthy opinion issued in response to the consolidated action State of Wisconsin ex rel. Two Unnamed Petitioners v. Peterson (2015 WI 85) by our state’s highest court on July 16, 2015. They failed this test miserably. In that one day, the court managed to squander the entirety of its judicial capital and to risk making itself into a tribunal that is an insult to the distinguished jurists who have come before them. This is about much more than the unjustified halting of a bipartisan probe into potentially severe violations of Wisconsin’s election laws — it is a prime illustration of the corrosive and corruptive influence that money has on politics and, in particular, judicial politics. These decisions are more misguided and indeed may possibly be more corrupt than the decisions reached by the West Virginia Supreme Court that led to the now-famous United States Supreme Court decision Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. (556 U.S. 868) and inspired John Grisham’s best-selling novel The Appeal.

The Chief’s Lawsuit

Post author:Edward A. Fallone
Post published:May 8, 2015
Post category:Constitutional Interpretation Constitutional Law Judges & Judicial Process Public Wisconsin Supreme Court

A lawsuit filed in federal court by a sitting Chief Justice of a state Supreme Court against her colleagues is certainly unusual, if not unprecedented. The reaction to the filing of the complaint in Abrahamson v. Neitzel by the mainstream media has ranged from viewing the lawsuit as comedy (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Will the Real Chief Justice Please Stand”) to viewing this latest development as part of an ongoing tragedy (The New Yorker: “The Destruction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court”). However, the legal question at the heart of the Chief’s lawsuit is actually quite interesting.

Does the new method for selecting a Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court take effect in the middle of the sitting Chief Justice’s term, or does it take effect upon the conclusion of the term of the current Chief?

Complicating the issue is the fact that an $8,000 salary differential exists between the position of Chief Justice and the other six Justices on the Court. Removing Justice Abrahamson from her current position as Chief would result in the immediate loss of this portion of her salary. Moreover, a mid-term reduction in salary appears to be prohibited by Article IV of the Wisconsin Constitution.