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What's at stake in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race [1]

['Daily Kos Staff']

Date: 2011-04-03  

In fact, Prosser has an ugly habit of announcing his views on matters that he's likely to rule on before a case has even been filed, let alone reached his court. On the complicated subject of redistricting, Prosser has already said that he'll ignore any case that comes to the Supreme Court—even though not a single map has been drawn yet:

I’ve talked to people that part of the motivation for the candidates running against me is to have a block of four people who will reapportion the legislature along more liberal lines whereas the conservative members of the Court don’t want any part of legislative redistricting.

Closing the courthouse gates in this manner is offensive to the very idea of justice, but for Prosser, it's standard operating procedure. And this was no isolated statement. With a nudge-nudge and a wink-wink, Prosser took the same stance on an even more delicate matter, abortion:

I have to be very careful what I say because I cannot commit myself, I, as a judge in deciding a case in a particular way. On the other hand, people can look at what I’ve done over a lifetime and kind of read between the lines.

This would be comical were it not so disturbing. In his first breath, Prosser pays lip service to the cornerstone value of judicial impartiality. But in the very next sentence, he mocks that very value, and assures his conservative brethren that they can know exactly where he stands on a hypothetical abortion rights case that hasn't even been born yet. No self-respecting judge should ever say (or think) anything like this.

With a record like this, there's no reason to believe Prosser would be any less close-minded about the budget repair bill. So if we're to have any hope of a fair hearing when the legal dispute over the law eventually gets to the Supreme Court, it'll only be if Kloppenburg, and not Prosser, is on the bench.

The race has become quite heated in recent weeks, with both campaigns and allies of both sides going on the airwaves. (Judicial candidates are restricted to public financing in Wisconsin, so the campaigns themselves have pretty limited resources.) Progressives have attacked Prosser for aligning himself with Walker—and for his infamously abusive temper. Meanwhile, the local equivalent of the Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, has tried to accuse Kloppenburg of not being "tough on crime," and even the Tea Party Express has gotten in on the act. (Hilariously, their ad touts an endorsement from former "Democrat" Gov. Patrick Lucey, who just the other day rescinded his support for Prosser and threw his backing to Kloppenburg.)

But I want to warn you in advance: This is an extremely tough race for us. Despite the increased enthusiasm on our side, April elections in Wisconsin traditionally favor conservatives. Prosser is a long-time incumbent with a lot of friends; before the ads started airing, Kloppenburg was a virtual unknown who had never run for office before. And as you well know, right-wing interest groups like the WMC and TPX are more than capable of out-spending us. What's more, the recall efforts will still continue full bore, regardless of what happens on Tuesday. But for all the reasons I've stated above, this is still very much a race you should care about.

To me, though, the most disappointing thing is that we have to have this fight at all. Judges, simply put, should not be elected. Period. It's an unseemly practice that is essentially unique to America. While presidents and governors might appoint rigid ideologues in the absence of elections, at least those judges don't have to pimp themselves for campaign cash every few years or so, and are at least somewhat less likely to be bought. My preference would be for all judges in this country to be appointed—to a sufficiently long term, but something short of lifetime—to ensure that we have judicial continuity tempered with regular judicial turnover.

In the meantime, though, we have the system we have, and we've got to do everything we can to ensure we get good judges on the bench. So here's hoping that on Tuesday night, we can look forward to JoAnne Kloppenburg becoming the newest Supreme Court justice for the state of Wisconsin.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2011/4/3/962493/-What-s-at-stake-in-the-Wisconsin-Supreme-Court-race

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