You didn't seriously think the longest serving Supreme Court Justice in the entire United States of America and in all of Wisconsin History was going to just roll over and give up did you?
In 2009, 473,712 voters elected Shirley Abrahamson to be Wisconsin's Chief Justice for ten more years. She was appointed to the court in 1976 and has been reliably reelected every ten years since 1979. She was the first woman ever on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the only woman jurist until 1993. She has been described as "A NATIONAL TREASURE".
On Tuesday 41,758 fewer Wisconsinites (431,954 voters) decided to amend Wisconsin's State Constitution and change the way our Chief Justice is chosen. Chief Justice Abrahamson filed suit in Federal Court against the six other Supreme Court Justices on Wednesday to block implementation of the new rule on the grounds it didn't specify when it was to take effect and doing so would overturn the election she won in 2009 with the slogan "Wisconsin's Chief".
Had the amendment not been a blatant partisan attack it would have contained a "grandfather clause" protecting the position of the duly elected sitting Chief Justice. Abrahamson seeks to postpone implementation of the amendment until the end of her term in 2019.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
Abrahamson's lawsuit contends putting it into effect before then would violate her constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the law.
Abrahamson also sought a temporary restraining order Wednesday to keep her in the position of chief while the issue is decided. The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge James Peterson.
Abrahamson was joined in her lawsuit by her 2009 campaign treasurer and four people who voted for her that year. They sued the other six members of the court, court administrators, Secretary of State Doug La Follette, state Treasurer Matt Adamczyk and state Administration Secretary Scott Neitzel.