Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser is asking that his colleagues recuse themselves in the consideration of the disciplinary case filed against him last week, a move that could put an end to the case entirely if successful.
Prosser is accused of choking his colleague, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, during an argument they had last June.
The Wisconsin Judicial Commission asked six justices to discipline Prosser last week. Three appeals court judges will hear the case and give input on the discipline to the Supreme Court.
Prosser claimed Bradley charged him and he was simply defending himself.
Prosser does not believe any of the justices should sit on the case because all but one witnessed the incident. He said Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and Dane County Sheriff’s detectives could potentially influence the justice that did not witness it.
Donald Downs, UW political science professor and adviser to The Badger Herald, said another reason Prosser would not want his colleagues to sit on the case may be because he will have to say personal things, which is hard to do with other people around.
According to John Witte, a UW professor of political science, Prosser will not step down from the court unless he is absolutely forced.
“He’s on the conservative side of the court and there will be enormous pressures from the conservatives to keep him there,” Witte said.
Prosser will most likely be reprimanded for the incident, Downs said. He said he does not see any reason for harsher penalty than that because the incident was not a criminal offense.
Witte said it is very unclear what will happen with this case. He said Supreme Court races used to be very low-key but have become more complicated as time has gone on.
“Now these things are escalating into multi-million dollar contests and there’s a lot of outside money coming in,” Witte said. “That has led to a very divisive court. They don’t get along with each other and the politics are clear that it’s difficult.”
According to Downs, this is a significant event for the politics of the Wisconsin justice system because the court is filled with animosity between its liberal and conservative wings.
This case is important because it “harms the view of justice,” Witte said. He added that there has been an issue of credibility for the Supreme Court’s rulings that has been devastating to the justice systems.
Downs said the incident occurred during a tense political environment, as it was amid statewide debate surrounding Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining bill. The court upheld the law with conservatives winning a 4-3 majority- adding to the concern that the court could be operating on grounds with more personality than law, Downs said.
“It raises an appearance that decisions might not be purely based on the law, but on other things like personal grievances,” Downs said. “I don’t think that’s the case, but it raises that question.”
Witte said Prosser has previous allegations against him including yelling or raising his voice on occasions in the privacy of the Supreme Court.
Still, Downs said there have been allegations against Prosser for having a temper, but there have been reports of temper from other justices as well.
“I’ve talked to the people that worked for the court and there was a lot of emotion on the court,” Downs said. “There were displays of anger in the past that applied to more than just Prosser.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
