Waukesha County GOP victim impact statement

"At this point, I can't drag her back kicking and screaming."

That's Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel, referring in court to an alleged victim of domestic violence, believe it or not.

Don pridemore for, Superintendant of edukashun

Jeebus.

h/t Lisa Mux.

Wisconsin Supreme Court footnote

What Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi enjoined in the spring of 2011 was the publication of Act 10, and not Act 10 itself nor any of its provisions (the "substance" of the law). Act 10 had already been enacted. The legislative process was completed. There was nothing left for the legislature to do. What remained for Act 10 was purely administrative. Bear that in mind during the inevitable storm of right-wing bullshit* should Judge Sumi decide to run against Roggensack.

* The Bradley Foundation's publishing house has started already.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice seeks reelection

Patience Roggensack also noted she is the only justice with the court who previously was a state appeals court judge.

Where she affirmed one potential challenger 12 times out of 13.

"Joy's producers look for knowledgeable guests."

Fruitlessly, it would appear.

Scott Walker's Judge Bradley (Foundation)

Reports the local organ:

Scott Walker on Monday appointed president of the Milwaukee chapter of the Federalist Society Rebbeca [sic] Bradley to fill a spot on the circuit court bench in Milwaukee County.

Obviously.

Q. What is your favorite website?
A. NationalReview.com

Dear God help us, here comes another one.

Jim Troupis, professional Republican concern troll

Here we go:

Troupis was disappointed Judge Sumi is considering a run. "It's obvious she was talked into it because of Act 10," Troupis said. "It should be about competence and qualifications, and clearly the only purpose of her running is to open that pro-union stuff."

What a dyck. And I'm sure Sneerin' Rick Esenberg won't be far behind.

Meanwhile have some facts, not foolish, condescending speculation:

Judge Roggensack affirmed Judge Sumi 12 out of 13 times

Now this is my kind of Wisconsin election

Judge Maryann Sumi seriously considering Wis. S. Ct. run

Bring it.

Wisconsin Act 10 again

Excellent commentary on Friday's decision here.

Compare Gov. Scott Walker's "statement in reaction." Pathetic.

Gableman flack profiled

In the Wisconsin State Journal:

Some Republican operatives contacted by the State Journal criticized Schmitz, specifically regarding the Gableman incident, but none of them would go on the record.

Why not? The Gableman "incident" was so sleazy by any objective measure, who could possibly fear retribution for criticizing it?

What a bunch of babies.

Photo of the week

Tales of Republican Christianity

Cock crowed thrice weekly — "with children nearby"

Conservative moral guardian enjoys whacking off at public park

Rep. Paul Ryan's bucket of warm piss

He prefers it to his constituents, or so Rob Zerban should tell them.

Gableman scratches self

Despite there being nothing to disqualify himself from:

I disqualify myself from participation in the matter.

That makes four of seven. Now what.

"I guess I need the maps."

Wouldn't you need the maps before you consent to "bless" them?

What are they running over there, a law school or a WISGOP PR firm?

Well well what have we here

Some of the emails appear never to have been released before.

Wisconsin Republicans fought tooth and nail to keep this correspondence out of federal court, to the point of Eric McLeod being personally fined, and these emails went straight to the heart of the issues under litigation so it's difficult to believe they were overlooked, especially as they represent a contentious disagreement between the lead attorneys.

You thought those judges were pissed before.

Wait until they get a load of this.

Wisconsin Judicial Commission hates Dave Prosser

"Oh my God I'm touching her neck."

"If I hated you and wanted to cause you as much grief as possible, if you are not independently wealthy, the best way to get you is to get you to eat up your assets," Prosser said.

Or file a complaint because you put your hands around a woman's neck.

Nah, that couldn't be it.

'A new low for Wisconsin'

Can you imagine.

'Trash, just that, trash.'

Janice stated she was familiar with Ottelien.

And it's all downhill from there: Hilarious.

Eric Hovde is to geology

As Ron Johnson is to the Constitution.

This guy is a real piece of work.

And if Hovde calls this the solution to high gas prices whereas oil shale makes poor feedstock for gasoline, why isn't his claim completely false?

ETA: More Hovde

Prof. Rick's Freud slipped here

Law professor returns to his eager defenses of Mike Gableman:

We might say that "free legal services' is — deliberately or accidentally — not a complete and accurate description of the free arrangement at issue.

We knew it was a free arrangement all along. It's pleasant to see Mike Gableman's stoutest cheerleader finally acknowledging that fact.

He goes on:

I am also confident that Justice Gableman understood the nature of the arguments being made for his recusal and, in fact, made clear that he based his decision on "the circumstances of the case ... and the submissions of the parties."

'Because he said so,' offers Prof. Rick of Gableman, who doesn't exactly enjoy a reputation for honesty, having been prosecuted by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission for lying about another judge's professional record.

If Prof. Rick is so confident now that Gableman "understood the nature of the arguments being made," where was his confidence that Gableman understood the procedural history of State v. Reuben Lee Mitchell?

If Prof. Rick's level of confidence in the latter equaled his present confidence in Gableman's profound understanding, then Prof. Rick would have to admit that Gableman knew full well that he was baldly lying during his political campaign in 2008. But you'll never hear that from Prof. Rick, whose own partisan expediencies regularly trump whatever pretense to principled scholarship he's apparently duped the Journal-Sentinel into accepting. That farce is worse than the sloppy writing.

Good for a laugh, at least.

Fiercely conservative* means never wimping out

'He said he would do what we were looking for.' — Career WISGOPer

Ironically, this latest escapade is directed at protecting a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who is "emasculated" by his female colleagues.

* Translation: Fiercely partisan Republican, in keeping with the Judicial Commission's mandate to "maintain public confidence in the judiciary."

Uh huh.

"When they introduced themselves, three of the nominees referred to their long-term marriages as qualifications to serve on the Commission. One of these, Eileen Burnett of De Pere, spoke at some length of her experience as a homemaker and expert in abstinence education. What she didn’t mention was her record of donating $5,350 directly to Republican campaigns over the past eight years." — Rebecca Kemble

Introduction to logic with your host Robin Vos

[State Rep. Robin Vos] said he heard second hand that someone tried to use a Bed Bath and Beyond mailer as proof of address.

"Is that fraud? I don’t know. It isn’t right and it seems fraudulent. You tell me how that’s not a fraudulent vote."

That's a clown question bro.

Reminder — Gableman may be under investigation

Annals of the Peppercorn:

¹¹ The other forums may be the Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

He had better be.

More gems from the Chief Justice:

Justice Gableman’s Order, whether deliberately or accidentally, misconstrues the allegations against him . . .

Although Justice Gableman's Order claims that he "considered the circumstances of this case" and "the submissions of the parties," I conclude that nothing in Justice Gableman’s Order demonstrates that Justice Gableman actually considered the submissions of the District Attorney. Rather, because Justice Gableman's Order either intentionally or inadvertently misstates the grounds of the District Attorney's motion, the Order contains no reasoned basis for the Justice's conclusion that his recusal is "neither warranted nor justified."

The Order inaccurately asserts that the District Attorney seeks recusal because "the Michael Best & Friedrich firm was involved in the cases and had previously represented me." Actually, as I have stated previously, the District Attorney explained in the initial and supplemental filings that he seeks recusal not because Justice Gableman has been personally represented by Michael Best, but rather because Justice Gableman received allegedly free legal services from Michael Best.

Yet, nowhere in Justice Gableman’s Order is there any reference to payment (or absence of payment) for legal services, the fee arrangement with Michael Best, free legal services, a gift of legal services, or valuable consideration for the fee arrangement. None of these words, or any synonyms, appears in the Order.

In other words, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's so-called "conservatives" continue to rule by fiat and Mike "Peppercorn" Gableman hasn't changed a bit in terms of his "deliberate or accidental" misrepresentations.

After all, those are how Mike Gableman got elected in the first place.

However, those were more deliberate and deliberative than accidental misrepresentations, as Mike Gableman himself admitted. Indeed if they were accidental misrepresentations then failure to understand a relatively straightforward appellate case should have disqualified him from the State of Wisconsin's highest appeals court right off the bat.

Wisconsin Republicans must be real proud of this character. But nobody else should be proud of what he's done to the reputation of this court.

Follow the PolitiFact logic

PolitiFact grants Willard "Mitt" Rmoney a "Mostly True" for misrepresenting a decision of the Supreme Court because Rmoney is a politician: "PolitiFact focuses on political speech rather than legal speech and judged by that standard Romney is pretty close to accurate."

Haha. Can you believe that? What difference does it make who said it?

If it's false it's false.

Earlier: WSJ calls both the payment and the penalty taxes

The Wall Street Journal is having an Rmoney sad

Lament the hosts of their own Fox "News" teevee show:

[Willard "Mitt" Rmoney] is managing to turn the only possible silver lining in Chief Justice John Roberts's ObamaCare salvage operation—that the mandate to buy insurance or pay a penalty is really a tax—into a second political defeat.

First of all, the Supreme Court didn't say that buying insurance was a tax. And it barely said the penalty for not buying insurance was a tax, only that the penalty was a constitutional exercise of Congress's power to tax, and one that was well supported by a host of federal precedent.

As the Chief Justice put it for one majority of the Court:

Although the payment will raise considerable revenue, it is plainly designed to expand health insurance coverage.

And what the WSJ editorial mandarins refer to as a "salvage operation" was in fact an exercise of the Court's deference to the will of the elected legislature, the exercise of which in other circumstances Republicans who claim to be "judicial conservatives" rejoice over.

This time they just don't like the result that it led to, in the latest example of why such claims to "judicial conservatism" are fraudulent.

Anyway this sad WSJ editorial is a fun read for reasons other than its inept characterization of the Court's health care reform decision.

Why the gun-totin' DA's petition was denied?

That I don't know.

Perhaps because the gun law has three exceptions to the prohibitions on carrying, and the law says "any" of them apply. In one exception, the law says a judge has the power to grant — or not grant — permission to conceal-carry licensees and in another exception the law says a DA can conceal-carry in court.

Because "any" of the exceptions apply, the judges chose the one that inconveniences the DA, and the judge has quite a bit more stroke in the courtroom than has the DA. For example a judge can tell a DA in her courtroom to sit down, be quiet, stop being such a dick, etc.

The Supreme Court wrote just a few months ago that a petition for a supervisory writ won't be accepted unless the lower court's duty is "plain" and the alleged violation by the subordinate court judge is "clear."

I don't think either of those elements are present here.

Furthermore if the court did accept this petition, it would potentially be in the position of having to contradict itself on the questions of supervisory and original jurisdiction — these are two separate grants of power to the court in the Wisconsin constitution and the Wisconsin statutes — for the third time in roughly one year.

What I find amusing is that the court combined these two separate grants of authority in its Act 10 decision in June, 2011, and a few months later laid down the law with respect to the high burden — the "clear" and the "plain" bits — of establishing its supervisory jurisdiction, which the "conservative" majority itself clearly had not done in the petition against Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi.

The attorney(s) who drafted this petition recognize the distinction between supervisory and original jurisdiction, hence the "or in the alternative" language and the separate references to 809.70 and 809.71 (the distinction between which was also discussed at this blog pursuant to some nonsense that was published at the Marquette Law School Faculty blog by a young Federalist Society pinhead).

More on all of that behind the links in the post [below].

Wisconsin Supreme Court title block of the day

Denied:*

PETITION FOR SUPERVISORY WRIT PURSUANT TO WIS. STAT. § 809.71 OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE FOR THIS COURT TO TAKE ORIGINAL JURISDICTION PURSUANT TO WIS. STAT. § 809.70

Not effing both.

Petitioners ... must therefore go unarmed from their offices to the courtrooms, through public, unsecured areas.

The poor sods. They must be frightened out of their respective wits.

See also: 809.70.

* "[P]rior to the commencement of this supervisory writ/original action[**] proceeding ... District Attorney Gossett submitted to Justice Michael J. Gableman a memorandum, dated February 6, 2012 ... "

Which got neither of them anywhere.

** Now that is some sly joke, what with the forward slash.

They chose to rely on prayer

Killed by religion:*

Leilani Neumann noticed that her daughter was very tired, but nobody believed she was suffering from a serious illness.

Yet they did believe the child, who died two days later, was "under spiritual attack" and medicine would "be taking the glory from God."

Certification by Wisconsin Court of Appeals (and acceptance).

* Or alternatively, libertarianism.

You are hereby notified of the following order

[T]he judicial discipline statutes, Wis. Stat. § 757.81 through § 757.99 (2009-10), do not require this court to act at this stage in the proceedings. . . . At this point, the statutes direct the chief judge of the court of appeals to select a judicial conduct panel.

— N. Patrick Crooks, J. (emphasis added)

So why doesn't he?

Earlier: Patience Roggensack Prosser's latest recusal target

Charlie Sykes & Company

Buffoons as usual.

Justice David Prosser just making stuff up again

Prosser maintains panel formation takes a formal order from the court

Baloney.

Immigration quote of the day

Rick Esenberg, in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

"If you are not here illegally, you ought to go back."

This after criticizing the "incoherance" of the immigration debate.

I kid you not.

Perfunctory order

What the hell is a perfunctory order?

There is no such thing.

Obamacare: Liberals in denial

Liberals in denial.

I'm just sayin'. Brace yourselves for Thursday.

Busted

Priceless. 'Twas more than a peppercorn, apparently.

Go Scot. That's me boy.

Wisconsin Republicans win but keep lying anyway

Of the single loss they did sustain:

“Unfortunately a portion of it was fraud,” Robin Vos said.

And unfortunately for Robin Vos, fraud requires intent, which must be proven, and Robin Vos hasn't proven it, so he's simply lying about it.

"I still think that in many ways the election was illegitimate," he said. "To have a recall where someone is going to be serving for the next two years but use the old district lines seems like kind of a rigged setup.

Which is funny, because that is how Robin Vos's party wrote and passed the law, so that the new districts wouldn't take effect until November.

No wonder that dude poured a beer on this clown's head.

It's almost the appropriate reply to his nonsense.

Out-of-State agitators return to Wisconsin

How's this for pointless, recreational litigation.

Christian Gossett, a Republican ...

Naturally.

... [is] represented by a Georgia lawyer.

Also, naturally. I hope they lose but if not, the expression "law enforcement officer" is broadened to include defense attorneys.

Why shouldn't it? Equal protection and all that, figuratively and literally. Defense counsel appears in court for the same reasons, to ensure the law is enforced within the boundaries of the various constitutions.

Given the preponderance of ineffective assistance of counsel claims, an unlucky defendant is just as likely to shoot his own lawyer as the ADA.*

Possibly even more likely.

* The conflict is between sub. 3 and sub. 2, wherein permission to carry in the courtroom is required from the presiding judge, as it should be.
Perhaps Mr. Gossett and his subordinates are free to strut around with their handguns in the courtroom so long as the court is not in session.

Or else maybe a judge can invoke her "supervisory/original" jurisdiction.

Predictable Republican decount hypocrites

Well well, looky here.

On teh web: Kloppenburg + decount.

Peppercorn Mike Gableman

Is back in the news, courtesy of Rep. Robin Vos.

Where are the WJC's complaints against Peppercorn Mike?

Anybody remember this cock-and-bull story?

"It is rather obvious emasculation."

Good grief man. Make of that what you will, I guess.

WJC: Response to formal records request.

Journal-Sentinel photo caption of the day

[In this aerial photo] Gov. Scott Walker can be seen working the grill, just below the American flag.

What a guy.

Minority leader Scott Fitzgerald

Sounds good.

Glenn Grothman rests the WISGOP voter fraud case

Asked for evidence of "voter fraud" — which both Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus claim accounts for several tens of thousands of ballots in every election in the State, up to 2% of millions — Wisconsin GOP senator Glenn Grothman stated there's a "feeling" out there that there is. Seriously.

He said it on the teevee just last night.

Earlier: Rep. Jim Ott's critical thinking skills quote of the day

Scott Walker will not be praying for victory

Is what it says here, because, as Abraham Lincoln put it:

God doesn’t pick sides in elections. He* calls us to be on his side.

It's true. Libertarian Jesus calls us to break the law, violate the constitution, and invent jurisdiction by Republican fiat. And of course Libertarian Jesus says 'No' to collective bargaining. It's in the Bible.

Never mind that Abraham Lincoln's context was the emancipation and restoration of full and equal civil rights for black African slaves according to the promise of the American Declaration of Independence. But that's Scott Walker for you, a pious fraud with a six-figure criminal defense fund derived from political contributions, who's only ever drawn a salary from the tax dollars he professes to detest. After an entire life spent as a career politician, it's about time for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker to gain some experience in the private sector. Do send him there today.

Don't worry, he won't starve, and he'll hardly have to do any actual work.

(Also, if anybody deserves to get elected today, it's Lori Compas.)

* God's an aging white male Republican who probably lives in West Bend.

The Elephant in Scott Walker's Courtroom

Excellent story by Charles P. Pierce* in Esquire.

And if Mr. Russell's attorney is so concerned about pre-trial publicity, then I don't know what he's doing dropping tasty little bonbons like that.

On the morning before the day Walker stands for reelection. (Not that the True Believers care the noose is tightening on their Golden Boy.)

Also, here's one for the leak conspiracists:

"There was nothing illegal in the release of the information," [Judge David] Hansher said. "It was a part of the public file."

Russell takes another crack at having his case dismissed on July 11.

* Who was hilariously busy today.

Scott Walker's creationist bag-o-tricks

Take some expert completely out of context.

Standard creationist modus operandi. For suckers only.

More on this Gableman-quality teevee ad:

Wisconsin — the land of admirable good-government ideals[*] but also of some unpleasantly behind the times racial dynamics.

Thanks, Republicans! You're the best.

* And so much for those.

Scott Walker's world's most expensive photocopying

Reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

[Wisconsin governor Scott] Walker said he put money [$160,000] into the [criminal] defense fund so that he could provide thousands of documents to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who is heading the [criminal] investigation.

Walker also says he "will not use campaign funds to pay for the criminal defense of his aides." That's a blinding glimpse of the obvious, as the statute authorizing Walker's criminal defense fund says nothing of "aides," but rather "agent[s]," and if he was using the fund to defend his aides who are not agents, then that use of the fund would be illegal.

Reportedly there is about a 50/50 chance that Wisconsinites on Tuesday will return to office a governor "who is being investigated for, charged with or convicted of a criminal violation." That's seriously messed up.

Scott Walker's famous emails

Here's an interesting item:

"Typically, a secrecy order covers questions asked, answers given, transcripts of the proceedings, exhibits produced during the proceedings, or other matters observed or heard in the secret session at a John Doe proceeding," according to an article on the Wisconsin Bar Association website by Marcus J. Berghahn, a criminal defense attorney with experience in such cases.

Huh. "Typically"?

[I]f the [John Doe] proceeding is secret, the record of the proceeding and the testimony taken shall not be open to inspection by anyone except the district attorney ...

Call me a strict constructionist/judicial conservative but I don't see anything in there about "exhibits produced during the proceedings."

Exhibits aren't testimony. Similarly it's been argued that 'typically' the Wis. Supreme Court appoints a three-judge panel to hear judicial discipline cases. That practice is unauthorized by State statute as well.

Indeed, it's directly contrary to State statutes. Not to come over all philosophical, but what is the point of having statutes? Would it work better if we wrote them in a language unfamiliar to English speakers?

Semi-serious question.

GOP chairman's baldfaced lie is "disputed"

Whoever writes the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's headlines is quite the comedian. Reince Priebus, the ridiculous chairman of the Republican National Committee, tells an outright lie — that there are tens of thousands of fraudulent votes cast in the State of Wisconsin — and the Journal-Sentinel calls it an "allegation" that is merely "disputed."

"We need to do a [percentage] point or two better than where we think we need to be, to overcome it," sez R. Priebus, so you know what's coming if Tom Barrett edges Scott Walker* in the election next Tuesday.

More baseless lies dressed up as "allegations" by the local paper, which has made something of a habit of legitimating right-wing propaganda.

* Walker is quoted as saying he has no "'reason to agree or disagree' with Priebus' comments," but just the other day he was saying exactly the same thing as Priebus. At least they could keep their lies consistent.

Obviously he has a "reason to agree" if the pair are on the same page.

These clowns depend on popular stupidity — in turn fortified by disingenuous newspaper editors — in order to flourish. Wake up ffs.