For Release: Thursday - March 9, 2017
Two months ago, in January,
54 retired judges – including two former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices – unveiled a strong proposal that would establish reasonable thresholds for recusal for elected municipal court judges, circuit court judges, state court of appeals judges and state supreme court justices in cases where they received campaign contributions from a defendant or plaintiff appearing before them. The full petition from the retired jurists is
here.
Wisconsinites would be surprised to know that our state is considered
among the five worst states in the nation with regard to recusal standards for campaign contributions. In fact we have none – and the current state recusal "standard" was written by
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, one of the state's most powerful special interest groups that has spent millions of dollars over the years to elect conservative state supreme court justices. It was adopted
verbatim by a 4 to 3 vote, seven years ago.
Since that time, contribution limits to candidates have vastly increased and outside spending has risen exponentially. Public financing for state supreme court candidates who voluntarily agreed not to raise campaign contributions was repealed (in 2011) and now more money than ever before dictates the outcome of state supreme court elections and increasingly, elections for state court of appeals, circuit court and even municipal court.
What can citizens do?
For starters, learn about this issue and then contact the seven current members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and tell them that you believe they ought to adopt the threshold limits for recusal proposed by the 54 retired jurists. For state supreme court justices, the threshold amount is $10,000; for judges on the state court of appeals, $2,500; for circuit court judges, $1,000; and for municipal court judges, $500. These are reasonable and prudent thresholds.
On a related matter, Governor Scott Walker has proposed, in his 2017-19 budget proposal, eliminating the 40-year-old independent Judicial Commission and handing over its independent oversight and discipline functions to the State Supreme Court Justices themselves. This is a terrible idea that was thwarted two years ago when Walker first proposed it. This recent editorial from the Racine Journal Times makes the case as to why this proposal should never see the light of day.
Here is what you can do: contact both your State Senator and your State Representative and tell them you want this awful proposal removed from the state budget (where it really has no business being included for in the first place). Then, contact Governor Scott Walker and tell him the same thing:
Office of Governor Scott Walker
State Capitol
115 East
Madison, WI 53707
Tel:(608) 266-1212
Email: governor@wisconsin.gov
Make your voice heard! It's all you have and it's more powerful than you think. Utilize it!
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
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For Release: Thursday - March 2, 2017
As expected, last Friday Wisconsin Attorney General
Brad Schimel (R)
appealed the November Federal three-judge Court panel ruling that the 2011 Republican gerrymander of Wisconsin's state legislative districts was unconstitutional. And as we have been detailing for the last month, Republican legislative leaders have, without your permission or public input,
decided to utilize your tax dollars to defend the rigged, unconstitutional 2011 maps and that bill will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That, on top of the fact that Schimel and a cohort of Wisconsin Department of Justice lawyers are already defending the maps on your dime and that more than $2.1 million taxpayer dollars have already been spent defending the unfair, uncompetitive and now, unconstitutional 2011 redistricting process.
It may be some time before the Supreme Court of the United States actually accepts and decides to act on the
Whitford case. But in the meantime,
there are important actions that any Wisconsin citizen can and should take in order to block the use of taxpayer dollars for the rigged voter maps and advance genuine redistricting reform legislation that has strong support in the Legislature and bipartisan co-sponsorship.
For more on this go
here,
here, and
here.
Last week, on February 22nd, an incredible event occurred in Madison.
There was an "Empty Chair" Town Hall Meeting with Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, who was a no-show. Nearly 500 Wisconsinites (479 was the "official" tally and thousands watched on live stream) gathered and asked important questions of Sen. Johnson about their concerns – respectfully and eloquently.
CC/WI Director Jay Heck had the privilege of addressing this 
powerful gathering for a few minutes about the "Assault on Democracy in Wisconsin" and the need for ending hyper-partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin (and the nation) and adopting a non-partisan redistricting process to draw voter maps modeled after our neighbor, Iowa.
It was an inspiring and exhilarating evening and it is happening all over America! It's organic, grass-roots, and is not underwritten by any special interest groups like the 2009 Tea Party "demonstrations," which were orchestrated by "Americans for Prosperity," a Koch Brothers-funded creation.
Go here to watch the entire town hall meeting. (Jay's remarks begin at 58:18)
Thanks to the incredibly talented organizers: Stephanie Kurtz, Ann Jamison, Adam Wood and others who made this happen in a week!
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
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What Everyone Can Do to Advance Fair Voter Maps & Redistricting Reform and Oppose Hyper-Partisan Gerrymandering of State Legislative Districts
1. Contact both your State Senator and your State Representative and demand they support redistricting reform legislation (
Senate Bill 13 &
Assembly Bill 44), which would take the drawing of state legislative and congressional districts out of the hands of partisan legislators and entrust that task to the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. This is what they do in Iowa and it is respected and trusted by everyone. Reform organizations and pro-reform legislators are united in support of the “Iowa Model.”
2. Contact State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in support of Senate Bill 13/Assembly Bill 44 and demand that they schedule a public hearing and vote on the reform legislation.
Sen.Fitzgerald@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-5660
Rep.Vos@legis.Wisconsin.gov
(608)266-3387
3. Contact both your State Senator
and State Representative and Fitzgerald and Vos and demand that no additional taxpayer money be used to pay legal fees to defend the unconstitutional, rigged 2011 voter maps that Fitzgerald and Vos have authorized when the current lawsuit is appealed and considered by the Supreme Court of the United States.
4.
Sign the online petition in support of redistricting reform legislation (
Senate Bill 13/
Assembly Bill 44) The petition link is at the top of our home page. Urge others to sign it as well.
5. Vote! Make sure you have one of the
required forms of photo ID in order to vote in Wisconsin and take responsibility for 10 friends/family members to ensure that they have what is required to vote as well.
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
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