Controversy
The Court has ruled that recusal is not required in a proceeding based solely on any endorsement or receipt of a lawful campaign contribution from a party or entity involved in the proceeding, and that a judge does not need to seek recusal where it would be based solely on a party in the case sponsoring an independent expenditure or issue advocacy communication in favor of the judge. This change, over an alternate by the League of Women Voters, was proposed by the Wisconsin Realtors Association and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. The vote was 4-3. Voting in favor were Prosser, Gableman, Roggensack, and Ziegler. Voting against were Abrahamson, Crooks, and Bradley. In the opinion of Justice Roggensack, "when a judge is disqualified from participation, the votes of all who voted to elect that judge are cancelled for all issues presented by that case. Accordingly, recusal rules, such as SCR 60.04(7), must be narrowly tailored to meet a compelling state interest." In a dissenting opinion, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley criticized the majority’s decision, calling it “a dramatic change to our judicial code of ethics” and took issue with the majority’s decision to adopt petitions “proposed by special interest groups.”
Choking Incident
On June 13, 2011, an alleged violent confrontation between recently re-elected Justice David Prosser, Jr. and Ann Walsh Bradley occurred in Bradley's chambers. Prosser, Bradley, and all other justices besides N. Patrick Crooks were informally discussing the next day decision that would overturn Judge Sumi's ruling blocking the collective bargaining law. According to one source, the discussion became heated after Bradley, upset by Prosser's comments questioning the leadership of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, asked Prosser to leave her office; in this account, Prosser allegedly then put his hands around Bradley's throat in what was described as a choke hold, but did not apply pressure. Other sources however say that Justice Bradley came charging at Prosser "with fists raised," that he then put up his hands in a defensive attempt to block her assault, and that in doing so, he made contact with her neck. Shortly after the incident, Bradley told the other Justices in the room she had been choked by Prosser, to which an unknown Justice replied, "You were not choked." Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs was notified of the incident shortly after and he met with the entire Supreme Court.
On June 25, nearly two weeks after the incident, Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism broke the news of the incident based on anonymous sources. Justice Prosser denied he choked Bradley saying "Once there's a proper review of the matter and the facts surrounding it are made clear, the anonymous claims made to the media will be proven false." However, Justice Bradley disputed Prosser's denial: "The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold."
The incident was investigated by the Dane County Sheriff's Office, but neither Prosser nor Bradley were charged by a special prosecutor. The incident is also being investigated by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, which investigates misconduct among judges in the state.
Read more about this topic: Wisconsin Supreme Court
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