Litigation

WI Candidate Slams Judge as ?A Cancer?

By Peter Hardin

Attorney Joel Winnig, a candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, has called sitting Justice Michael Gableman “a cancer on the body politic” and called for him to step down.

“He is a cancer on the body politic of Wisconsin and he should be removed,” Winnig said, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. The candidate was discussing then-candidate Gableman’s airing a controversial campaign ad in 2008; Justice Gableman subsequently was accused in an ethics case of dishonesty tied to the ad. The state Supreme Court deadlocked on the ethics case, and the charge was dropped.

Winnig (photo) made his remarks at a state Capitol news conference. He is one of four candidates who face a primary contest Tuesday. Justice David Prosser, who is seeking re-election, voted with the justices who believed there was no ethics code violation.

Justice Gableman did not comment.

Other news media reports about the contest included “Balance of political power at stake in State Supreme Court Race,” from Fox6; and “Conservatives try to halt public funding of court race,” from the Journal Sentinel. According to the latter article, Wisconsin Right to Life and others challenging the state’s new public campaign financing law for Supreme Court elections will get a federal court hearing on an injunction request March 2.

To learn about Wisconsin Right to Life’s litigation, click here for an earlier Gavel Grab report. To learn more about the state Supreme Court contest, click here for other Gavel Grab posts. For background on the controversy around Justice Gableman, click here.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 10, 2011 (boomark / email).