The Wisconsin State Journal and Judicial Conflicts of Interest
The Wisconsin State Journal has spent quite a bit of time, energy and ink over the past few years trying to convince the public that appointing State Supreme Court Justices is a reform for which the time has come. The Wisconsin State Journal’s pet reform is no reform at all. As the Wisconsin State Journal must know, it would only tighten the insiders’ grip on the Wisconsin courts, while likewise making any true reform impossible. But, that is a discussion for another day. For today, the Wisconsin State Journal’s interest in ensuring an ethical state Supreme Court is called into question by what follows.
The Wisconsin State Journal has pushed their aforementioned pet reform, in conjunction with their purported concern about conflicts of interest involving Supreme Court justices. Attachment #10 and Attachment #11 are two such articles. The first, a May 29, 2008 article on a conflict connected to Justice Annette Ziegler. The second, a January 21, 2012 article on a conflict connected to Justice Michael Gableman.
Justice Gableman’s conflict relating to his participation on cases involving the law firm that has given him conditional free representation is particularly troubling and a serious conflict. But, compare that conflict to what is set out in the next pieces, to which the Wisconsin State Journal has turned a blind eye.
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