We can end corporate ownership of at least one Supreme Court in this election in Wisconsin

Daily Kos Staff

Friday February 17, 2023 · 1:30 PM PST

2023/02/17 · 13:30

no image description available — Judge Janet Protasiewicz

We’ve talked a lot about just how critical flipping the Wisconsin Supreme Court is for abortion rights, for good government, for saving democracy. If that’s not enough, how about ending the source of the stink of corruption that permeates the conservative court?

The conservative majority on the state’s highest court literally allowed the big corporate donors who elected them to write an ethics rule that says judges can’t recuse themselves just because of a campaign contribution. So, like, there’s a not corrupt judge that doesn’t want to rule on a case because they’ve received a donation from one of the parties in it—they can’t recuse.

That was adopted back in 2010. Over the past decade, a number of good government groups—and 54 retired Wisconsin, including two former state Supreme Court justices—have tried to get that changed. The group of jurists petitioned the Supreme Court to adopt clear recusal rules for themselves and judges at all levels in 2017.

But a conservative majority of five justices voted against conducting any public hearings on the petition and similarly, in April of 2017, by the same 5 to 2 vote the Supreme Court rejected the petition of the retired jurists and kept the current policy of “self-recusal” in place.

Can you donate $10—or maybe $20, even—to Judge Protaseiwicz’s campaign to win back the Wisconsin Supreme Court?

You won’t be surprised at the results of this, courtesy of the People’s Parity Project.

The court has ruled for corporate defendants in nearly 60% of the cases since 2009. The number dropped to half in the last two years, since voters ousted Justice Dan Kelly. pic.twitter.com/tfxh5P3OGT
— Billy Corriher (@BillyCorriher) February 16, 2023

Dan Kelly is trying to get back on the court, and on the ballot in next Tuesday’s primary. And he’s got massive dark money corporate backing: to the tune of $1.79 million from Fair Courts America, alone. That’s a Super PAC backed by billionaire and GOP mega-donor Richard Uihlein.

The only way to break that dark money, corporate stranglehold on this court is to flip the majority. Conservatives currenly hold a 4-3 majority on the court, but one of their number is retiring. That means progressives have the chance to flip her seat and take their own 4-3 majority. And with that, everything would change.

That is precisely why Daily Kos has enthusiastically endorsed Judge Janet Protasiewicz for this seat. David Nir introduced her a few months ago:

That’s why we need to elect Protasiewicz, a fair-minded and independent judge who has served on the bench in Milwaukee for a decade with distinction. Prior to that, she fought to protect children during her many years as a local prosecutor and has been recognized as a civic leader in her community. We can be certain she will stand up for fair elections, women’s rights, and the rule of law if she’s elected to the Supreme Court.

It’s about damned time that the Supreme Court of Wisconsin do just that—follow the rule of law. (Hell, all of the Supreme Courts need to do that, but we have to do it one at a time.)

Please donate $10 or even $25 to Judge Janet Protaseiwicz so that she can flip the Wisconsin Supreme Court!

We can end corporate ownership of at least one Supreme Court in this election in Wisconsin

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