CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – If newly elected state supreme court justice Janet Protasiewicz will not recuse herself from cases that she campaigned on, she should be impeached. Hopefully Republicans who control the legislature will have the political courage to do it.
During her campaign, Judge Janet repeatedly talked about issues that are likely to come before the court. She said Wisconsin’s political maps are “rigged.” It’s illogical to think that she would uphold the state’s voting lines in a pending case. Prejudging a case violates Wisconsin’s judicial ethics and state law. Impeachment is the cure for those violations.
Judge Janet will have a similar problem with Wisconsin’s 1849 law that bans abortion. She campaigned, in person and through her commercials, that she is “pro-choice,” prejudging a case that was already pending while she was running for the bench. As I’ve said repeatedly in these commentaries, the arguments against the 1849 law are extrajudicial, outside the bounds of any legal logic.
We are told that the “oldness” of the law makes it outdated and therefore invalid. How old a law is had nothing to do with its validity. Wisconsinites expressed through their elected representatives passed a law that bans abortion. Laws that are now out of favor are stricken by the legislature. There was a two-year period during Jim Doyle’s term that Democrats controlled the governor’s office and the legislature; yet took no action on this issue.
We are told that the state legislature debated and voted on abortion regulations before the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. The legislature contemplating something has no bearing on the law. Laws are passed by the legislature and signed by the governor.
Some will argue that impeachment is undemocratic; that Janet Protasiewicz won her seat on the court and that she should serve as her supporters expect her to. Those arguments are wrong. Impeachment is part of our democratic process. Of course, it’s a tool that should be used sparingly. But when a judge goes rogue and cannot follow the law she’s sworn to uphold, it’s entirely appropriate.
Chris Conley
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