Wisconsin Supreme Court Adopts New Campaign Donation Rules
Fair Courts E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Patrick Marley
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Date: 1/21/2010
The Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted rules last week that “say campaign donations from people and groups with cases before the court are not, by themselves, enough to force judges off cases,” reports Patrick Marley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. With its vote last week, the court ended its four month long struggle to agree on standards guiding the recusal of state Supreme Court justices. In a controversial 4-3 vote back in October, the court decided to adopt two petitions for rules changes filed by conservative interest groups active in state judicial politics, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the Wisconsin Realtors Association. In December, the court temporarily withdrew its vote at the request of one member of the majority, but last week’s vote essentially reinstated the October decision. Over the vocal objections of a three justice minority, the majority re-adopted the rules it had initially adopted in October, with minor revisions proposed by Justice David Prosser. At the LaCrosse Tribune, an editorial lamented that “a bought-and-paid for conservative majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court . . . decided that justices should be allowed to hear cases involving even their biggest campaign contributors.” That the Wisconsin high court voted to adopt its rule on the very same day the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door, in Citizens United, to increased spending by corporations and special interests only reinforces the need for robust recusal standards as a bulwark against the likelihood (and appearance) of influence peddling.
See also A Bad Day for Democracy, LaCrosse Tribune, January 24, 2010; Nathan Koppel, States Revisit Judge Recusal Rules, Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2010.