Annette Ziegler: Another Bad Girl Gone Wild?

Annette Ziegler continues to make headlines in the Wisconsin State Journal. Candidates love to be on the front page of the Sunday edition.

Ziegler owns stock in companies before her

West Bend Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Annette Ziegler has presided over 22 cases involving companies in which she owned stock worth more than $50,000, a Wisconsin State Journal review shows.

In her 10 years as a Washington County Circuit judge, Ziegler has handled 12 other lawsuits involving companies in which she owned between $5,000 and $50,000 in stock, a spot check of her cases revealed.

But what I find most damaging to the Ziegler campaign is the normally tepid Ann Althouse speaking directly to the matter.  Althouse prefers to raise attention to political issues without entering the fray:

Conservative commentator Ann Althouse told a statewide radio audience Friday that Ziegler's approach to conflicts of interest makes her question the conservative jurist's fitness for the high court.

Althouse, a political blogger and UW-Madison law professor, said on Wisconsin Public Radio's "Week in Review" that "the more (conflict cases) there are, the worse it gets." She criticized Ziegler's public statements to an audience in Spring Green that she uses a "gut check" to decide when she's got a conflict of interest.

"I think a judge that puts the rules aside and relies on instinct is, first of all, revealing something about her thoughts about law in general. Second of all, if you go on instincts, you should have good instincts. And these don't seem like good instincts," Althouse said.

"Not disclosing that (conflicts) looks especially bad because you don't give other people the chance to judge, so I just think there's a whole cluster of concerns of about one's fitness to be a judge, under the circumstances.

Comments

[goofticket]

Up here in Northeast Wisconsin, our Gannett stranglehold has provided us with one AP aricle on Ziegler. Only one since the Feb election.
No TV coverage...nothing!
Voters up here are being well served by our press, but some of us bloggers are raising the issue at the Gannett newspaper forums.
This doesn't reach the numbers the actual newspaper does.

But then, the Press-Gazette has last reflected the people's choice for US President in 1984. Yes for 24 years, they have selected the GOP candidate, and we have elected a Democrat.
Local residents have no doubt Ziegler is going to be their choice this time.

We just would like some of that 'fair & balanced' reporting the rest of the state gets.
Wausau's TV station ran a three day series on this ethics problem.

So if anyone can help out there, and contact the local GReen Bay media....hint, hint
former Mr Mayor of Madison!! We'd appreciate it.

[anonymous]

You don't know how good it is to hear that conservatives are speaking out. I've been a conservative a long time and do not want to be identified with an unjust judge. The media not reporting what Judge Ziegler is all about is not doing conservatives any favors because we are offened by what she has done. People should know about the serious problems in Washington County so it doesn't happen to them.

[Mpeterson]

Even in Washington County, Republicans are waking up to what's happened to their party -- even if someone has spent a LOT of money on the slick commercials now running on the Milwaukee television stations.

I was initially tempted to support Ms. Ziegler, since I have good friends who say she's smart and a decent judge and a decent person. I'd still like to give her the benefit of that doubt. But, assuming these problems were accidents, they look increasingly like the kind of carelessness we should not look for in a Supreme Court Justice OR, assuming that they aren't accidents... well, something infinitely worse than carelessness.

[nonheroicvet]

I don't know - kinda like the idea of a judge that can be bought.

[Ice]

Clifford said that she would recuse herself from any case that her former employers represented or would be involved in but Judge Ziegler has not said that she has done any such thing. Smells like Clifford is tipping us off to something. Can you search cases by attorney names from the law firm Ziegler worked for?

[Greg Kottke - Owner of Blackhawk Repossession, Investigation & Towing Services, LLC]

In reference to Judge Annette Ziegler

When my company fell to unfortunate circumstances, Judge Ziegler presided over the court case and found in favor of the plaintiff, West Bend Savings Bank. Unknown to me that her husband is a member of the board of directors and she is the recipient of lease payments from this bank for property the bank occupies. CONFLICT OF INTEREST seems to be her on going position and because she is a judge, she is practically untouchable. Attorneys I have used in the past have turned a deaf ear because they feel that there livelyhood would be seriously jeapardized if they we against her. Where do we find justice when the justice system allows her to preside over cases she should have no part in? CONFLICT OF INTEREST taints her every decision and places a guaranteed win on behalf on the bank. Unless Judicial Misconduct is obtained by all parties that assumed they were receiving a fair hearing, she will be allowed to take her CONFLICTS OF INTEREST to a place where she will have limitless power to help those she has personal involvement with. All her decisions should be overturned and dismissed, the bank should prepare itself for wrongful damages and the attorney that represents the bank should be disbarred for knowledge of the conflict and failure to notify all parties involved. No judge should be allowed to escalate to the states highest judical office and be allowed to bend the law as she see fit.

[anonymous]

Ice - Someone that knows how to use the appeals search can do it but I don't think it can be done on the Circuit Court search. You can probably get the attorney names from their web site. (O'Neil, Cannon and Holman S.C.)

Greg - hopefully there are people that will see justice done. True conservatives do not want injustice in the courts. I percieve what you are going through and pray that the Lord will give you strength.

[Jess Wundrun]

Regarding NE Wisconsin television stations. I lived up there in the early 90's and I recall that they did not mention the campaign of one young upstart named Russ Feingold until about a week before he won the primary.

[Charlie]

Local TV stations don't give enough coverage to elections, period. That probably has something to do with all the money they make from campaign ads.
It'll be interesting to see how WMC handles the Ziegler scandals. Will she become such damaged goods that they stop putting money into the election? I hope so.

[Lark]

Greg Kottke - you make numerous good points above but I am going to respond only to one. You said that attorneys will not doing anything because their afraid that their lively-hood may be affected (so much for the law and merits of a case in Washington County).
I believe you're right because it is consistent with the fact that so many cases of interest have been funneled to Judge Ziegler. What are the odds that in a random system that all these cases ended up with one judge? Therefore, there must be a consolidation of power between the four judges and the clerks office in Washington County. There was another case that the party said that Judge Ziegler threatened their lawyer not to appeal her right during trial. Conservatives, liberals and everyone in between should be outraged.