The Next Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

By Jeff Simpson

Lost in the midst of the craziness of a bunch of traitors marching in Charlottesville, VA, was a discussion between our local Supreme Court Candidates.

Michael Screnock is running form the right, he has previously worked for Michael Best, and was part of the top secret group using millions of dollars of taxpayer money to redraw our legislative maps into the most partisan possible.  It was also widely condemned as incredibly unethical and illegal.

As Screnock says:

"I share ... the belief that it is the role of a judge to say what the law is and not what it should be,” Screnock said in a statement. “Judges must respect the different roles of the court and Legislature and should not legislate from the bench.”

If Screnock feels that having legislators sign secretive agreements from their constituents is "respecting the different roles and the law", Heaven help us all.  

Tim Burns, a lawyer from Madison, has also thrown his hat into the ring:

Burns, in a breath of fresh air, does not hide who he is.  Burns is a Progressive and proud of it(FYI: you can be a Progressive and uphold the laws as written).

The third person who has entered the race is Judge Rebecca Dallet.   Judge Dallet has decided to try and stake out the middle ground.   As Jim Hightower likes to point out, "the only thing in the middle of the road is yellow lines and road kill".

Recently, she had some harsh words for Mr. Burns:

Patrick Marley‏ @patrickdmarley  Aug 11More.@judgedallet criticizes @Burns4WI for "trashing" Scott Walker and Donald Trump, says judges should be independent and impartial.

However, while Dallet, is campaigning as the moderate in the race, her actions speak differently.

The current make-up of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a loaded with far right extremists controlling 5 votes to 2 slightly left of center votes.   They are so extreme, that they are largely a laughing stock of law observers throughout the state and the country.  

One of the things that the Far Right did when they had a majority, was to kick the duly elected, and widely respected Chief Justice Abrahamson out of the Chief Justice Role to install far right Justice Pat Roggensack as the new "unelected" Chief Justice.

A quick look at Roggensack's campaign, and we see that Judge Dallet has not only endorsed by Roggensack but she also sent her a $2500 check for her election.  Roggensack was running against a truly impartial candidate and one of the most respected lawyers in Wisconsin in Professor Ed Fallone.

Why would someone who truly believes that judges should be "independent and impartial" accept a $2500 check from a judge who has a record of being neither, against a far superior (and incredibly underfunded) candidate(Dallet's only political contribution was $100 to Governor Doyle, 12 years ago)?

Taking a look at just the last week, we have a President who has threatened military action against numerous countries, thanked the Russians for kicking out hundreds of US diplomats and emboldened a fairly large group of White supremacists and Nazis to march on a city wreaking havoc, violence and death on fellow Americans, Ms. Dallet has the nerve to criticize Mr. Burns for criticizing The Donald for his role in this.

Does anyone believe that Ms. Dallet, would stand for the rule of law or would bow to the pressure of her political hero and Chief Justice Roggensack, when she tells her to make sure no one stands in the way of the WISGOP agenda?

Looks like Ms. Dallet's middle ground, would prefer that it is you and I laying there with those yellow lines!

The current makeup of the Supreme Court has allowed it to be a safe space for a racist, a hateful homophobe and a man who choked his female colleague.  It is time we start demanding more from them!