Quick impressions of candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court JoAnne Kloppenburg's interview with the Appleton Post-Crescent yesterday.
Themes: David Prosser is an unreconstructed partisan / Michael Gableman / rules for judicial recusal. Prosser has failed to lead the court out of internecine turmoil. Kloppenburg's record is 6-1 (with one pending) in Supreme Court arguments. Reminds us Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce- and Wisconsin Realtors Association-drafted rules for recusal were adopted verbatim by Prosser et al. Response to viewer question: Hasn't got in touch with her boss, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, for endorsement yet (doesn't have his personal phone number). Doesn't care who Prosser contributes to or who supports him, Kloppenburg's perceptions of Prosser are formed from his own statements. In re ongoing political uproar out of Madison: Voters don't want me to prejudge current events at the Capitol, but some statements Prosser has made indicate his prejudgment. Quoting Prosser: "You can take the man out of the legislature, but you can't take the legislature out of the man." Judges shouldn't rule in fear of being swept from office by third-party special interest groups (citing Iowa's recent experience over SS marriage).
Video here (approx 40 min).
And, from last week, a candidates' forum in Waukesha (audio only) with Justice Prosser on hand to offer rebuttals to some of the above.
A 6-1 record is impressive in a split court. I would like to hear more of how she would make all our courts fair and impartial.
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