Wisconsin Supreme Court justice (R) changes tune on recusals she opposed
But she left out a relevant nugget of information: Bradley voted against a rule that would have forced the state high court justices to recuse themselves in cases involving their campaign donors.
The issue dates to 2017, when a group of retired judges asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to enact a ban barring justices from ruling on cases involving an individual or organization that had donated to a justice’s campaign.
At the time, a 5-2 conservative majority controlled the court. Bradley joined her right-wing colleagues, which included current Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, to kill the proposed recusal rule.
The petition “asks us to infringe the First Amendment rights of the people of Wisconsin who wish to participate in judicial elections, either through supporting a candidate directly or speaking out on issues in a judicial race,” Bradley wrote in her opinion. “The people of Wisconsin, like everybody else in this country, have a First Amendment right to do that. They have a First Amendment right to speak out in favor of the judges they support, and in opposition to the judges they oppose, without being penalized for exercising their free speech rights. ... In my mind, this petition is somewhat shocking in its disregard for the Wisconsin Constitution and the United States Constitution, particularly the First Amendment.”
Bradley’s stance on Protasiewicz’s recusal is “inconsistent,” Ed Miller, a political science professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and a longtime watcher of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, wrote in an email.
“Often people think that the court is not a political body,” he added. “In fact, it is and always has been.”
https://captimes.com/news/government/wisconsin-supreme-court-justice-changes-tune-on-recusals-she-opposed/article_fc5850ba-5650-5c6d-813c-df0d7bbdefbd.html
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