Yesterday a friend of mine (and fellow East High Purgolder) who happens to be the Dane County Supervisor for District 18, Melissa Sargent, posted a draft of a letter on Facebook asking Justice Processer to take a leave of absence during the investigation and if guilty to resign. Supervisor Sargent has served on the Dane County Board for a little over a year after being elected last spring.
Update - As I receive more e-mails from my open records request I will be adding them to the diary.
The letter she wrote and the fallout below the fold…
I shared the draft letter on my Facebook page with the following comment,
He is innocent until proven guilty; however, many men have resigned from office after being accused of much less. He has a history of verbal abuse...it is not a stretch to believe he that he allegedly tried to strangle or at least use threatening actions towards another Supreme Court Justice.
Now, I really did not think much about the letter after that. I felt that a call for him to resign (my words, not Supervisor Sargents), especially with his history, was warranted. As I stated in my Facebook post, many men have resigned from office for much less. In many cases they resigned for doing perfectly legal, but immoral (to some), activities.
Her draft was leaked to Vicki McKenna of WIBA-AM. Ms. McKenna is a vile right-wing radio personality. She does nothing but stir up hate. Ms. McKenna encouraged her listeners to contact Melissa and tell her what they thought of her letter to David Prosser. Well, they did…and I will give you some of those comments later in the diary (I received copies of the e-mails via an open records request).
First, the final draft of the letter from Supervisor Sargent:
June 28, 2011
Justice David T. Prosser
Wisconsin Supreme Court
P.O. Box 1688
Madison, WI 53701-1688
Dear Justice Prosser,
No person should be above the law, especially those sworn to uphold our constitution and legal foundation. As you know, the public reaction to the behavior of our elected officials often establishes what is generally accepted and tolerated in our society. Given the serious nature of the incident earlier this month, we believe you should take a leave of absence from your position as a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice until the investigative process is complete.
Clearly, under the law, you enjoy the presumption of innocence. However, the continuing reports of your violent and abusive behavior, including verbal abuse and apparent choking, are deeply troubling. It is behavior that casts doubt on your integrity and calls into question whether you posses the temperament and morality required of a Wisconsin State Supreme Court justice.
Strangulation and violent choking is not an accidental event. It is widely known that strangulation is one of the most lethal forms of physical violence. In fact, according to the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, strangulation accounts for 10% of all violent deaths in the United States each year. Due to the severity of this form of violence, in 2008, the Wisconsin legislature enacted Wisconsin Act 127 creating Wisconsin Statute 940.235, entitled Strangulation and Suffocation. This law defines and provides penalties for a person who engages in intentional strangulation and suffocation and makes strangulation a felony.
As you doubtlessly also know, Section 940.203, Wis. Stats. states that intentionally causing bodily harm or threatening to cause bodily harm to a judge is a felony.
If the investigation confirms Justice Bradley’s account of this incident, then we expect that you will be held accountable for this severe act of violence. If the behaviors of a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice are ignored or excused, then we cannot expect victims of violent crimes to trust that the Wisconsin judicial system will protect them and hold their batterers and attackers accountable.
We, the undersigned members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors, ask that you take a leave of absence from office until the Sheriff’s investigation is complete. If the investigation confirms Justice Bradley’s account of the choking incident, and if you are charged with a crime and found guilty, we would expect that you would resign. If you are unwilling to do so, we will petition the Wisconsin State Legislature to use its authority to remove you from office by “Removal by Address,” thus allowing Governor Walker to appoint a justice who understands that abuse of colleagues and women is never, ever acceptable.
What Vicki McKenna had was a draft, a draft in which Prosser was asked to step down instead of take a leave of absence. There is a big difference between a draft and a final edit, as any writer can tell you. Supervisor Sargent comes off in this letter as educated and well reasoned. She is right, he should take a leave of absence during this investigation. Honestly, I think he should resign but that is beside the point. Her letter simply asks Justice Prosser to take a leave of absence during the investigation. As Supervisor Sargent stated when I interviewed her,
”…to me it’s a matter or integrity of elected officials and work place safety. I did research how both the public and private sector deal with employee on employee violence and aggression is dealt with and a leave of absence during the investigation is not uncommon.”
Now for the letters, let me state that I received these via an open records request. I was going to post the e-mail addresses along with the e-mails; however, I thought about that and felt it would be tacky and honestly it is something the right would do…I will not stoop to their level.
From: Pattie T
Date: June 29, 2011 4:48:21 PM CDT
To:
Subject: MELISSA SARGENT - PROSSER LETTER
We hope that the majority of supervisors on this board believe innocence until proven guilty - Sargent is an absolute embarrassment to this board and county.
Nowhere in the letter did anyone accuse him of being guilty.
From: kathy n
Date: June 29, 2011 4:50:35 PM CDT
To:
Subject: Re: Your public letter regarding the Prosser vs Bradley dispute
Dear Supervisor -
While you do not represent me in Dane County - thank heavens - I can assure you that your hyperbolic letter read today on WIBA radio asking for Prosser's resignation will live LONG in infamy among Dane County residents. They will hear much if not all of this letter for quite a while.
Your rush to judgement and abuse of what power you imagine you have is going to come back and bite you. What a horrible thing to put out into the public square.
Who do you think you are - judge and jury?
A completely frustrated Dane County citizen.
Again, Supervisor Sargent is making a reasonable request. That he take a leave of absence during the investigation.
From: B.V.
Date: June 29, 2011 4:47:35 PM CDT
To:
Subject: Wise up !
You are hideous! Accusing Justice Prosser of a felony, yet you say he is innocent! Your head is so far up your back side you cant see or think straight! If any thing Clark should be charged ... not Justice Prosser!
Wake up! The public knows what you left wingers are up to!
What? That we want justice to be served…my god, the horror of our plot. And who is Clark?
From: B.V.
Date: June 29, 2011 4:51:36 PM CDT
To:
Subject: Wise up!
Melisa Sargent is accusing Justice Prosser of a felony before any facts have been made or investigation finished! Are you for real? If any thing Clark is the one to be charged with a shameful act! Who do you think you are....how low will you go to try to score a few polical points! If any one should step down it's you! You will find out just how far you shoved your foot/feet in your trap!
You shame the County Board !
Now B.V. is a rather prolific letter writer…this is his second in four minutes. I am still not sure who Clark is though. I do find this particular letter to be somewhat frightening and vaguely threatening from the last sentence.
From: "Feltz, David N Civ USAF ANG 115 CES/CES"
Date: June 29, 2011 2:12:42 PM CDT
To: "sargent@countyofdane.com"
Supervisor Sargent,
As a Dane county taxpayer, I request that you focus on the business of Dane County. This is not a Dane County issue! If the investigations prove that Justice Prosser did something inappropriate than he should receive the appropriate punishment! I would like to think that the leadership of Dane County would be more concerned about the truth, than reacting to speculation. I do not want to become a society that says you’re GUILTY until proven Innocent.
Dave Feltz
DeForest
Now this one, I am removing the e-mail address…but not the name. I want you to all notice the “from” line. This was sent from an Air National Guard e-mail address. I hope Supervisor Sargent contacts the Wisconsin Air National Guard about this particular e-mail. I also want to note again…no one is accusing Justice Prosser of guilt, just that he take a leave of absence during the investigation.
>
From: Steve S
Date: June 29, 2011 6:31:07 PM CDT
To: >
Subject: Prosser letter
Your letter regarding Prosser confirms the unequivocal fact that you are an idiot!
And a worthless one!
Steve S
Madison
From: Shane O
Date: June 29, 2011 6:51:33 PM CDT
To:
Subject: Chocking Incident
Are you truely serious with the letter that you wrote to Justice Prosser? Please tell me it was a joke! To say that he has commited a felony, it just idiotic. You have heard the real story of what happened, and yet you along with the other members of your board continue to act just like the little children that Justice Bradley and Justice Abrahamson continue to act like. I am asking you and the rest of the Democrats to STOP embarrassing Wisconsin to the rest of the nation. I have friends who were from here and now live in Texas, and they called the other day and all they could talk about is how glad they are that they no longer live here. They were laughing and saying what a joke this state has become, with all the lies, whinning, crying, hiding out in Illinois, and just plain making a mockery out of our state this has become. I have another friend who is a police officer in Tennessee, and he asked me what the heck kind of screwed up state do you live in, that you would have such nasty protests and such going on. He said that officers down there know who pays their paychecks and they are very grateful for it. He asked if these Democrats act like this all the time. How could I respond to that? I was too embarrassed to tell him the truth. I just played it off and said no, it's just that they are pissed off right now, because they have lost just about everything in public office now, and they just don't know how to deal with that right now, and collective bargaining has them a little on edge right now. Stupid me, he laughed at me again! Telling me that as long as he has been an officer there is no collective bargaining there, and to look how everything runs just fine there, again saying what a joke we are. I am tired of all this childish bickering! Get back to running our cities, counties and state and stop acting like little children! We need to become a great state again, and can't do it the way things are right now! Gov. Walker has got things going in the right direction, help him to get our state back on track, and stop being so defiant of what he is working to achieve, stop looking out for the unionistas and start worrying about this state as a whole! If you work with each other you will accomplish so much more, rather then spending so much time trying to facilitate a lie to try and remove someone from office, because you couldn't do it legally, by election.
Thank you for your time,
Shane
From: Cindy E
Date: June 29, 2011 8:26:33 PM CDT
To:
Subject: Justice Prosser Letter
Dear Melissa,
As a taxpayer outside of Dane County (thank God!) I have heard the other side of the story that you seem to be ignoring in your letter to Justice Prosser. In case you have forgotten, we currently still live in a country that is a democracy and people should be innocent until proven guilty.
So in all fairness, have you sent the same letter to Justice Abrahamson and Justice Bradley? They seem to be a BIG part of the problem here. When the truth comes out about who is lying, I hope that you will have the guts to issue a formal written apology to Justice Prosser. Or is that asking too much of you?
The privilege of sitting on the court or a county board should come with high moral character. Lying to the public and condemning people before both sides of the story are presented demonstrates a LOW MORAL CHARACTER. Time will tell which one all of you are.
Cindy E
From: Jason
Date: June 29, 2011 8:26:54 PM CDT
To:
Subject: Prosser resignation letter
Will you be demanding that Justice Bradley also step down for the duration of the investigation? There has been no disagreement that she advanced towards Justice Prosser in an aggressive manner with her fist in the air, yet both sides have stated or admitted that Justice Bradley WAS NOT choked - even if Justice Abrahamson claims it was only because someone intervened, it doesn't change the fact that the choking did not occur. I believe threatening a judge is also illegal and Justice Bradley should be facing the same restrictions you call for while the investigation unfolds. If it turns out that she was the aggressor will you demand that she be the one to step down? Speech is one thing, but when someone resorts to a physical attack, or reasonable threat thereof that instigator has crossed the line and must be held accountable, not the victim.
After all as you put it, no person should be above the law
Regards
Jason B
Again, as Giles Goat Boy pointed out in comments...
Yes, because her alleged act of endangering Prosser by placing her exposed neck between Prosser's open hands is quite plausible...not.
There is no reason for Bradley to step away temporarily. The accusations against her are from one right-wing blogger who wrote a speculative article (with genuine fake quotes) based on one anonymous witness. Other right-wing sites have picked up on it, reprinted it in whole are part, and are claiming that these are "multiple" sources. They aren't.
Prosser has a history of abusing co-workers and the allegations against him have been made by at least three separate witnesses according to Bill Lueders, who broke the story.
It's a hatchet job against Bradley, plain and simple.
Now for the comments from Ms. McKenna’s Facebook page:
^ Vote them all out, Fire them all, And ship them to foreign country ^
My blood pressure is under control because I know the truth will be revealed. The truth always comes out. I truly believe the truth will tell us Justice Bradley has been lying. The privilege of sitting on any court comes with the responsibility of very high moral character. Lying is an expression of very low moral character. If Justice Bradley has been lying, she must resign. Justice Prosser should ignore this letter and wait for the truth.
WOW! I don't believe for a second he did what those "women" said. They are still mad Prosser won ,that we voted for him!! Both of those women have NO BUSINESS on the supreme court!!!
This was surprisingly written by a woman.
Sworn statement time, bring up perjury and false accusation of a felony (Bradley), then misuse of the office of the Chief Justice for Abrahamson. Or "I'll see your conservative justice and raise you two liberal justices. Don't blink." OK, got that out of my system, thanks to typical Madison whacko left-wing politics.
Insanity at its best. They already have convicted him without any actual proof of strangulation. She was in her office and charged him according to witnesses. Even in hockey the instigator receives punishment. If this really happened why didn't Justice Bradley call capital police immediately? Because she needed time to concoct this fable. Its to bad because even when he is cleared, he won't be rid of the problem. There needes to be a counter accusation of slander, false witness, obstruction, and attempted assault against Bradley by the GOP and Justice Prosser.
• Thanks for the link, I had the "pleasure" to send a note to Melissa, you know... to let her know that those of us that live outside Dane Co. have learned of the other side of the story…Please... someone bring the bleach and the phosphates, LOL
Supervisor Sargent stated when I asked her if she had ever received this kind of response from anything else in her time on the county board,
"As far as County Board Business - no never and I didn't expect this to blow up like this."
All Supervisor Sargent is asking for is that Justice Prosser take a leave of absence during the investigation. Which really is not that big of a deal. I think we can all agree that if anyone of us allegedly tried to put a co-worker in a chokehold we would have been hauled out in handcuffs and would likely be out of a job. What the right-wingers do not seem to understand is that this is a perfectly reasonable request. No one is saying he is guilty. I for one applaud Supervisor Sargent for her actions.
Of note, so far, the letters have been rather tame; however, it is only a matter of time before they become violent. Please feel free to tell Vicki McKenna what you think of her - vicki@wiba.com
Also, send a letter of support to Supervisor Sargent - sargent@countyofdane.com
I should also mention that Supervisor Sargent was cited for her children holding up a sign in the State Capitol, (The charges were later dismissed). I believe the video of the incident was posted here on Daily Kos, if you have not seen it, here it is:
6:48 PM PT:
From: Nancy W
Date: June 29, 2011 8:40:59 PM CDT
To: Melissa Sargent
Subject: Prosser letter
You still don't understand that you don't control the City Council; you don't control the State Legislature or Assembly and the very, very small part of Dane County to which you were elected is a BIPARTISAN (Look that up, honey) post. All we need is more lunatics to keep things stirred up. Your candidate lost!!!!! Don't you get it or do we have to rewrite the State Constitution and all related laws for you? Even Mahoney had the grace and dignity to reassign this INVESTIGATION (which means no one, at this time, is guilty of anything) due to his support of the Klop. Do you understand the concept, "Innocent until proven guilty"? If it were found that the female judge instigated this, would you redo your letter with her name on it. Kind of doubt it. Pretty obvious the two of us are never going to be able to come to any concensus about anything and, with the way you think, I wouldn't want that association.
You are one scary person, Melissa. I have a very, very serious concern about you. Have you ever had a mental health assessment?
This person ran against Melissa in the last election...
7:12 PM PT: You know, after reading all of these letters...and the comments on Ms. McKenna's facebook page I have to wonder, what will it take for a Conservative to believe that another Conservative is guilty of a crime? Will Prosser have to be caught rolling Bradley's head around the Capitol grounds with a stick before anyone on the right believes he is a violent man?
7:38 PM PT: The e-mails are getting uglier...
From: Leo H
Date: June 29, 2011 9:32:47 PM CDT
To:
Reply-To:
What an ugly liberal skunk you are. I DEMAND YOUR RESIGNATION IMMEDIATELY!
Leo H
7:49 PM PT:
From: Diane K
Date: June 29, 2011 9:44:18 PM CDT
To: "sargent@countyofdane.com"
Subject: Incident with Judge Prosser and Judge Bradley
Ms. Sargent,
I am so very speechless on your shameful political agenda of making someone guilty without the whole truth. It is completely Unacceptable to play politics with someone's life as you are willing to do for either revengeful purposes or your own self-righteous political gain. We, the people know the truth and we know Prosser was protecting himself by moving Bradley away with his hands to her shoulders from his personal space while she was yelling like an disrespectful, unprofessional judge with words of choking.
As you know, section 940.203, Wis. Sats states intentionally causing bodily harm BUT he was not intentionally causing bodily harm but was protecting himself against a perpetrater invading his personal space. He NEVER was trying to choke her and YOU know that!
Shame on you for not listening to the facts but ruling only on political gain. Shame on you for not taking into account that Bradley along with Abrahamson chooses to once again goad Prosser for their own mean-spirited behavior.
I hope you are sending this same email to Judge Bradley on her misconduct and including her resignation as well because her professionalism is unacceptable for staying on the Supreme Court. Remind her perjury is a felony as well. She should equally take a leave of absence for her conduct. Let's be fair and not politically motivated.
Sincerely,
Diane K
8:26 PM PT:
From: John C
Date: June 29, 2011 9:47:58 PM CDT
To:
Subject: Melissa Sargent's letter
I write to everyone, because I think all of you should take heed on what Melissa Sargent is trying to do. I will be the first one (or one of the first) to demand Judge Prosser resign if it is proven that he was the aggressor in this incident, which Melissar Sargent has already tried him, rendered her verdict, and now wants to impose the sentence (him leaving office).
I know some of you will not even listen, much less, read this e-mail. That is not my fault, only yours. The facts are still coming out in this case, and if it is proven that Judge Bradley was the aggressor, it would be very interesting if Melissa Sargent would take the same hard line stance that she has now.
Let the investigation run its course. Justice Prosser is an upstanding citizen, and if he is being confronted by someone who is clearly out of control (as this was apparently so NOT LIKE Justice Bradley), then he is in his RIGHTS to ward off said person.
I detest that everything has become so political, the left lost the past few elections, and they are steaming mad, so it would seem that they are trying to do anything and everything, including try, find guilty, and punish those where the investigation hasn't even been finished, to regain power.
A direct request to Melissa Sargent, please refrain from injecting yourself into a situation where you are clearly biased.
Thank you.
*
John C
From: Mike L
Date: June 29, 2011 10:14:14 PM CDT
To:
Subject: Rant
You bleeding Liberals on the Dane County Board have no business sticking your nose into the Supreme Court debacle that Bradley started. She is a stark raving liberal nut job just like you.
Go lay by your dish with ex-governor Doyle down at the local dump.
And thus is the last update of the evening...I am headed to bed.
8:30 PM PT: Ok...one last thing before I go to bed...
My take on these e-mails...some of these conservatives are pretty damned arrogant and all appear to have the common thread of blaming the victim. If Prosser is found to have actually done what he has been accused of...I expect the conservatives to go on about how he is innocent and that he was railroaded, framed or something else. Honestly...this is not the Wisconsin I grew up in. It is sad...it breaks my heart to see our Wisconsin values ripped apart by these asshats.
Thu Jun 30, 2011 at 7:23 AM PT: They continue to get worse:
From: Daniel C
Date: June 30, 2011 7:00:21 AM CDT
To:
Subject: Bradley
When Bradley's charge is proved false, will you ask her to step down? Didn't think so. Kiss my American ass you commie slut.