Wisconsin Supreme Court

ProsserNow that a pair of cases concerning the Republican Party's secret, private reapportionment of Wisconsin legislative districts are nearing action, what happens if Republicans succeed in gaming the system by getting the nominally conservative majority on the state Supreme Court to effectively affirm the GOP's intentions?

Well, not to worry, at least if you take conservatives at their word. I know, that's a stretch, but let's consider the possibiilty anyway.

The court is deciding whether to consider a GOP group's argument that any recall elections of state lawmakers should be conducted using the new maps that Republicans drew up to favor Republicans. These are the maps that, as it turns out, have placed some Wisconsin voters in Africa. [Another case filed by Democrats in federal court seeks to undo the GOP reapportionment altogether.]

The House of the Seven Gables is a Gothic novel written in 1851 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published the same year by Ticknor and Fields of Boston. Hawthorne explores themes of guilt, retribution, and atonement... -- WIKIPEDIA

Mr. BigA classic quote today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's story on the outcome (there won't be any) of the criminal inquiry into the incident in which State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser put his hands on the throat of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Seeking reaction from Gov. Scott Walker, the newspaper reported:

Walker said he's offered his help, but that it's not his place to tell the justices what to do.

No, that place obviously belongs to Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, who advised Prosser -- a former Republican state legislator -- and anyone else who would listen that he would need a quick decision from the court on whether Walker's union-busting bill was enacted legally. Even Prosser stipulates to this. From the police investigation into the incident involving Prosser and Bradley:

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is filled with conservatives elected through the power of big money in recent years. Only Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson stands in sharp contrast to the right wing majority on the court. Thus it was little surprise that the majority decision hastily reached in the labor negotiations case favored Scott Walker and the big money interests he represents. This group has been working to roll back protections that have stood in place more than 50 years. In their rush the legislature violated the open meetings law governing legislative meetings at all levels of government. Meeting notices and agendas must be published ahead of time to insure transparency in government. Instead we had a backdoor deal so  monstrous it cried out for judicial review. Judge Sunni provided that review.

Conservatives are steaming like a black kettle in their sly campaign against Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg, "charging" that she has no judicial or legislative experience. Gee, these days that doesn't sound like a defect, it sounds like a feature.

And it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black when the anti-Kloppenburg pundits solemnly entone her lack of experience on the bench. Which is exactly, at this same point in his own career, as much experience on the bench as her opponent, David Prosser, had. Prosser, ahem, also served years as a Republican legislator and a district attorney. The difference? He openly touted, voted for and continues to signal his conservative allegiances, both in the history of his votes on the bench, in the legislature, in his decisions as a district attorney, and in his speeches.

The following text (in two e-mails) below was received from a blog reader, commenting on a brief analysis (SC Decision Striking Down Gun Control Is Fine with This Progressive) on the Supreme Court decision, District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), that was picked up in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on Sunday.

Well, let's hope this guy doesn't own a gun.