Free Republic

Madison -- Groups called on voters Monday to reject a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin constitution that would allow state Supreme Court justices to select their chief justice, rather than have the position go to the most senior member of the court. If approved April 7, the change is expected to dislodge Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson from the court's top job. Abrahamson would remain on the high court but no longer have administrative control of it. Mike Wilder of Wisconsin Voices said at a Capitol news conference that the current system -- where voters elected Abrahamson to a 10-year term...

MADISON, Wis. — In 1992, Robert O. Barton was charged with having sexual intercourse with a 4-year-old child in Wausau. The child told authorities she was sexually assaulted at least 10 times, according to the disturbingly graphic court documents. Barton, 41 at the time, was charged with first-degree sexual assault of someone under the age of 13, and child enticement, sexual contact. He faced a maximum prison sentence of 70 years on the two counts. Two Wausau police officers testified to the validity of the child’s accusations. But the charges eventually were dismissed by Marathon County Judge Ann Walsh Bradley,...

Madison - The state Judicial Commission was unanimous in its decision to file an ethics complaint against Justice David Prosser in January, but split 3-3 a month later on whether to reconsider the decision, newly released records show. The commission went on in March to file the complaint alleging Prosser violated the ethics code for judges by putting his hands on the neck of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley during an argument in June 2011 Prosser contends he didn't violate ethics rules and that his hands touched Bradley's neck in a defensive reflex when she confronted him face to face.The Judicial...

MADISON, Wis. — The state Supreme Court justice who broke up a struggle between colleagues David Prosser and Ann Walsh Bradley agreed Tuesday to recuse herself from Prosser's discipline case. Justice Pat Roggensack released a 14-page memo Tuesday explaining her decision, saying she is a material witness and must recuse herself according to state law. "When material facts are in dispute, a judge cannot testify to establish his version of the facts and then use his version of the facts to decide the controversy," Roggensack wrote. "Such a process would be fundamentally unfair, to the parties and to the public...

On June 13, 2011, the Wisconsin Supreme Court gathered in their chambers to chat about their decision to strike down the judicial over-reach of Judge Maryann Sumi, who had acted on behalf of public employee unions to block Governor Scott Walker’s reforms.  The discussion grew heated, as such conversations between justices in Wisconsin are evidently prone to do.  Anonymous sources accused the recently re-elected Justice David Prosser, a top union target, of physically attacking liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.  Specifically, it was claimed he used a choke hold on her, which would be an act of felony criminal assault.  Bradley...

Over the weekend, a liberal journalism group reported that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser "allegedly grabbed fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley around the neck in an argument in her chambers last week." The report said details of the incident were "sketchy" and came from three sources who insisted on anonymity... The report was done by the liberal Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, working with Wisconsin Public Radio. The Center recently unveiled a project, funded by the Open Society Institute, to "shine a light into the operations of Wisconsin's government." It hired Bill Lueders, a longtime news editor for Isthmus,...