Last week Waxing America posted about the excellence of the judiciary in Wisconsin. In Wisconsin's Outstanding Judiciary I noted the expeditious handling of cases, the high ranking for Wisconsin in studies done by the National Center for State Courts, and the relatively low number of complaints filed against judges and justices.
There was that nasty matter involving Annette Ziegler, but since Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) paid for the assault on her election opponent, I figured it did not reflect badly on the people of our state.
Now comes Cory Liebmann, at One Wisconsin Now, with the devastating report, New Year, Same Problem for Gableman. It seems that Gableman, the WMC candidate for the Supreme Court in April's statewide election, is one of the most appealed judges in the state. Not only do attorneys file appeals of his rulings frequently, but it appears they are often right and Gableman is wrong. Gableman is one of the most reversed judges in the state:
Gableman was affirmed at the Court of Appeals only 67 percent of the time. When using the same criteria, even the average judge was affirmed 81 percent of the time. After 2007, Gableman still found himself in the bottom 15 percent. Already this early in 2008, Gableman continues on the wrong track at the Court of Appeals.
On January 8, the State Court of Appeals reversed yet another Gableman decision...
One would think that if WMC is going to try to buy the election of Supreme Court judges, they would at least get the candidates who are neither ethically or judicially challenged.
WMC and their candidates are too frequently becoming the exception that proves the rule.
It would be good for the State to get someone that isn't an insider on the Court. Butler is nothing less then an inside liberal on the Court that doesn't care or hasn't done anything to my knowledge about justice in the Court system.
Obviously, all you care about is appearances rather then justice. Your endorcement of Obama is no better, perhaps worse.
Posted by: Anon | February 12, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Anon,
So you What do you want? You would prefer that judges issue differing opinions on similar cases? that long-standing, often-reaffirmed precedent be ignored at the whim of the judge?
This whole "rule of law", "no one above the law" concept is just lost on you isn't it?
Posted by: snowbeltliberal | February 12, 2008 at 12:05 PM
The WMC will continue to ride roughshod over our rights as citizens by using their corporate money. Our ability to choose the supreme court is waning. Since campaign reform is the furthest thing from the minds of legislators, we need to step up and do something else.
I propose that we run two series of ads. First, ads exposing former WMC candidates, where WMC gets its money from, etc. Second, ads that display the alignment of current candidates with the WMC.
Now, who has the money to do this...? Let's hope all the interested parties can band together to keep Butler in office and keep the WMC's grubby little fingers out.
Posted by: Adam James | February 12, 2008 at 01:15 PM
snowbeltliberal -
Doesn't it bother you just a little bit that Judges like Ziegler were breaking the rules with apparent unconcern under the watch of Justice Butler?
As far as I know, he has not done one thing to make our Courts a fair and impartial venue that people can trust. It's time to try new people.
Posted by: anon | February 12, 2008 at 01:41 PM
I don't quite understand your argument. Butler is bad. Gableman is bad. Elect Gableman?
Wake up. Talk to your party. Attend meetings. Pick a viable and ethical candidate. Please, stop electing these candidates just because your "leaders" tell you to.
Posted by: tom | February 22, 2008 at 10:28 PM