MADISON, WI (WSAU) More than 50,000 retired Wisconsin judges are calling for new rules for when judges should remove themselves from a case. The group filed a petition yesterday requesting that the state Supreme Court set a new standard for determining if a judge should be disqualified from a case after receiving a campaign contribution from someone involved in the proceedings.
In Wisconsin judges have broad discretion as to whether they can or can’t hear a case. Their guidelines call on judges to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. In 2009 Wisconsin’s highest court adopted rules that allowed judges to sit on cases that involved campaign donors.
Since most judgeships are elected positions in Wisconsin there are many cases where business groups that have cases in the state’s court system may also be campaign donors.
Wisconsin’s 2011 state Supreme Court campaign was a big-moneyed contentious race during the year of Scott Walker’s recall. Candidates David Prosser and JoAnne Kloppenburg were backed by millions of dollars in campaign contributions in a race that Prosser won after a statewide recount. Subsequent races in 2013, 2015 and 2016 also involved well-funded candidates. The upcoming 2017 Supreme Court election will be quieter; Justice Annette Ziegler is running unopposed this April.
The MetroSource news wire contributed to this report.
