Three Wisconsin justices skip law grad ceremonies amid dispute over the rightful chief justice
A dispute over the rightful chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court may have led three justices to boycott Monday ceremonies to admit to the bar recent graduates of Marquette University Law School.
The three justices who stayed away–former Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley and Justice N. Patrick Crooks–did not support Justice Patience Roggensack as the court’s new chief justice, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Roggensack’s fellow conservatives chose her for the job after voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing the court’s seven justices to choose their own leader. Previously the chief justice job went to the longest serving justice, who was Abrahamson.
Abrahamson claims in a lawsuit that the new amendment should not take effect until her term ends in 2019. On Friday, U.S. District Judge James Peterson refused to issue an order keeping Abrahamson in the job pending resolution of her suit, according to this story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The justices who missed the event did not respond to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s request for comment.
See also:
ABA Journal: The Badgering State: Wis. Battles over Worker’s Rights and Skirmishes in the Supreme Court
