Sunday, March 18, 2012

29 Circuit Judges sign Recall Walker Petitions.


Uh oh, it looks like Wisconsin judges have a pulse after all. From Fox News:


It appears that Judge David Flanagan wasn't the only one who took part in our democracy. 
Northwestern: Twenty-nine circuit court judges in Wisconsin were among the thousands to sign recall petitions against Gov. Scott Walker, according to a Gannett Wisconsin Media analysis.

Dane County Judge David Flanagan has drawn the lion's share of the scrutiny after issuing a temporary restraining order March 6 against a Walker-backed voter ID law without disclosing his support of the recall, but the analysis shows he was joined by judges from 15 other counties in signing petitions.

However, judges who signed the petition and agreed to interviews defend their decision as constitutionally protected and not explicitly banned by the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct.

Twelve percent of the state's approximately 250 county-level judges signed the petition. By comparison, the 930,000 signatures submitted by recall organizers would represent 21 percent of the state's voting-age population, if all signatures were valid. Milwaukee County, with one-fifth of the state's circuit court judges, had the most with 11. The county has 47 judges, meaning about a quarter of the judges signed the petition.

Someone I had some degree of respect for is starting to grate on my nerves a bit.
Janine Geske, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice and law professor at Marquette University, said she was surprised by the number of judges who signed the recall petitions.

"I believe the judges had the right to sign the petition, but it creates a problem with the appearance of impartiality if and when they may be called upon to decide any issues involving the governor or the Republican party," 

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