Search for cases and opinions from the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals
The purpose of this page of the guide is to provide general information on the judicial branch of Wisconsin and where those primary sources can be found. A flowchart of the state's court system highlights how cases are presented to its designated court.
This page is also intended to illustrate the political affiliation of judges within the state and federal court systems and to dispel myths and disinformation that the courts were politically stacked against ruling in favor of Donald Trump. I provided links to the Wisconsin laws for the election of judges to also highlight their history and ruling records. I also linked the cases that courts adjudicated related to the 2020 election. For the full list of election litigation, see the 'Lawsuit Verdicts' page. In addition, see my 'Disclaimer Note' for additional reasonings and thought processes on how political affiliation was determined.
Lastly, only the judges related to lawsuits of the 2020 election are displayed. Wisconsin has over 400 Superior Court judges and would serve no purpose to look at all of the political affiliations when the scope of this research is the 2020 Presidental Election.
The Supreme Court is composed of seven justices, elected to 10-year terms in statewide, non-partisan April elections. Vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment and the appointee is required to stand for election to a full 10-year term during the next spring election that another justice isn't already on the ballot. The Wisconsin Constitution limits justices to running one at a time.
The guidelines for selecting a chief justice or judge for each court differ:
The chief justice of the supreme court is elected by a majority of the justices serving on the Court to serve a two-year term.
The chief judge of the court of appeals is chosen by the supreme court to serve a three-year term.
The chief judge of each circuit court is chosen by the supreme court to serve a two-year term.[1]
To serve on the appellate or circuit courts, a judge must be:
a qualified elector in the state;
a qualified elector of his or her circuit (for circuit judges); and
licensed to practice law in the state for at least five years immediately prior to appointment or election to the court.[1]
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement. If the vacancy occurs after that year's spring election and on or before December 1 of the same year, the appointee must stand for election in the next succeeding spring election in which no other justice (if supreme court) or judge from the same district (if court of appeals) is to be elected. If the vacancy occurs after December 1 but before the following spring's election, the appointee must stand for election in the next spring election—beginning with the second spring election from the time of the appointment—in which no other justice (if supreme court) or judge from the same district (if a court of appeals) is to be elected.[1][3]
The governor solicits recommendations from an Advisory Council on Judicial Selection in making his or her appointments but is not required to choose one of the suggested appointees.[1][4]
The Court of Appeals is composed of 16 judges from four districts. The judges are elected to six-year terms in district-wide, non-partisan April elections. Vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment and the appointee is required to stand for election to a full six-year term the following spring.
Court of Appeals judges are elected to six-year terms in nonpartisan elections. If more than two judges are running, they compete in a nonpartisan primary. In case of a vacancy, the governor selects an interim judge. Interim judges must stand for re-election in the next spring election in which no other judge from that district is up for election.[4]
The governor of Wisconsin screens judicial applicants using an advisory council on judicial selection. The council recommends three to five candidates to him, although he is not bound by their recommendations.[4]
The Wisconsin Supreme Court appoints the chief judge of the court of appeals. The chief judge handles administrative matters for the entire court of appeals while continuing to participate fully in deciding cases. The chief judge's term lasts three years.[2][5]
Each of the four districts of the court of appeals is managed by a presiding judge, appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals. The presiding judges take on these additional duties for two-year terms.[2][5]*
To be a judge on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, one must be a qualified elector of Wisconsin and must have been licensed to practice law in the state for at least five years prior to election or appointment. The Wisconsin Constitution authorizes the legislature to impose a mandatory retirement age, but it has never done so.[4]
| Judge | Political Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Chief Justice Patience D. Roggensack, Chief Justice | Republican |
| Ann Walsh Bradley | Republican |
| Annette Kingsland Ziegler | Democrat |
| Rebecca Grassl Bradley | Democrat |
| Rebecca Frank Dallet | Independent |
| Brian Hagedorn | Independent |
| Jill J. Karofsky | Democrat |
Wisconsin Municipal Courts hear minor crimes and offenses.
Common cases:
A Note About This Page
Determining the political affiliation of a judge can be challenging since most states run nonpartisan elections for selections of their state judges. Federal judges are appointed by the President of the United States, which many assume the political affiliation of the judge is the same as the President's and is not always the case.
On this libguide, I determined the political affiliation of judges through a few criteria measures:
1. They are on record for running in a partisan election.
2. They are on record for donating to a particular political affiliated party group and/or another election campaign.
3. The judge is quoted in a credible and/or primary resource media source they associate with a political ideology as a private citizen.
For several state and federal judges a concrete political party could not be identified by the above criteria therefore for federal judges, I identified them with the political party of the president who nominated them. This is for two reasons:
1. The general public often associates the political affiliation of a judge based on that measurement anyway
2. It is very likely that they lean that way in political ideology.
There were several in my research that literally nothing could be found about their political affiliations and ideologies and were often described by peers as being very independent. In these cases, I labeled them independent for their extensive reputation for balanced, fair, and independent judgments and opinions, and the lack of evidence that they firmly associate with a political party.
NOTE: I am NOT declaring that if a judge is a registered democrat or republican, they cannot make fair and balanced decisions in the courts they preside over. Actually, I am trying to prove the opposite. My whole point in associating judges with a party is to demonstrate that many judges who publically identify as Republican, decided against the Donald Trump campaign in state and federal lawsuits, to further provide evidence that the 2020 Presidential Election was not "rigged" and the courts are not filled with Democrats who dismissed cases so that Biden could "steal the election."
If you should have credible and authoritative evidence that a judge that is mentioned on this libguide is affiliated with the wrong party, please feel free to contact me and send the information. I want to get information correct and welcome corrections.
