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WISCONSIN JUDGES CAN BE REMOVED FOUR WAYS

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Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. You can cancel at any time!Loading&amp;hellp;{{title}}{{description}}{{banner}}(renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax){{tagline}}{{special_title}}{{html}}You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisWISCONSIN JUDGES CAN BE REMOVED FOUR WAYSShare thisQ: Is it possible to remove judges from office in Wisconsin? Cana judge be removed from the bench by the governor? Legislature?What can be done by the citizenry?A: According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, Wisconsinjudges may be removed in one of four ways: By the Wisconsin SupremeCourt, by recall, by legislative impeachment and by an obscuremechanism called address, which is similar to impeachment.The Supreme Court can remove a judge on the recommendation ofthe Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the Judicial Conduct Panelfor cause or for disability. This mechanism, approved in 1977, hasbeen used three times, according to the Judicial Commission, whichenforces the state Code of Judicial Conduct.In 1981, Iron County Circuit Judge Alex Raineri was stripped ofhis robe after his federal conviction for promoting prostitution bymanaging a Hurley bar that fronted for a prostitution service. In1985, Rusk County Circuit Judge Donald Sterlinske was removed bythe high court for falsifying and backdating court records,exerting influence on behalf of his daughter, intemperate courtroomconduct, misusing judicial powers and other misconduct.The court also removed an unnamed judge for an undiscloseddisability. That case remains confidential.Judges also may be removed after impeachment by a majority voteof the state Assembly - 50 votes - and conviction by a two-thirdsvote of the state Senate, or 22 votes.In the case of Levi Hubbell, a founding member of the WisconsinSupreme Court. In 1853, Hubbell lost a re-election bid to the highcourt and returned to the bench in Dane County.That same year, Hubbell was accused in a lengthy trial ofaccepting bribes and hearing cases in which he had financialinterests. Although he was acquitted by the Senate after animpeachment hearing, Hubbell resigned his office in 1856,complaining the pay was too low. Hubbell was appointed in 1871 asU.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, resigning fouryears later in the wake of a government patronage scandal.The third mechanism for judicial removal is by recall election.Jeff Kuesel, managing attorney for the Legislative ReferenceBureau, said a recall election can be triggered by citizenssubmitting signatures of qualified electors equal to 25 percent ofthe number of people who cast votes for governor in the lastgeneral election.For circuit court judges, the number of signatures required isequal to 25 percent of the total votes cast for governor in thatcounty; for a Supreme Court justice, it's 25 percent of the votescast statewide.In 2006, 2,161,700 people cast ballots for governor, meaning itwould take 540,425 signatures today to start a recall election fora state Supreme Court justice. Said Kuesel: "It's a fairly highbar."The first judicial-recall election ever held was in 1977,according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. Dane County citizensvoted Judge Archie Simonson out of office in a recall electionafter the judge called rape a normal male reaction to provocativefemale attire. The statements came as Simonson sought to explainhis decision to give probation to a 15-year-old boy found guilty ofraping a 16-year-old girl."To the best of our knowledge, there has been no othersuccessful recall," said Tom Sheehan, a spokesman for the statecourt system.Simonson was replaced by the election of Dane County's firstfemale judge, Moria Krueger.The fourth mechanism for recalling a judge in Wisconsin is byaddress. As described in statute and the state Constitution,address is similar to impeachment in that a complaint is heard bythe Legislature, Kuesel said. After the address, a judge may beremoved with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of eachhouse of the Legislature, he said.Kuesel said it's unclear whether the fourth process ever hasbeen invoked. "It's quite rare, if it was ever used at all."Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. You can cancel at any time!Loading&amp;hellp;{{title}}{{description}}{{banner}}(renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax){{tagline}}{{special_title}}{{html}}You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisWISCONSIN JUDGES CAN BE REMOVED FOUR WAYSShare thisQ: Is it possible to remove judges from office in Wisconsin? Cana judge be removed from the bench by the governor? Legislature?What can be done by the citizenry?A: According to the...

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