Judge Gableman’s victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court case has the liberal left up in arms.
There was this comment on the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter forum -
Placing these very important elections on separate and low turnout elections, is how chronies and corruption flourish.
Supreme Court seats should be on ballots, that have high voter turnout…not one’s with the lowest.
Leave April Fools voting for adlerman and other local races.
Statewide offices deserve to be in elections that produce voters.
Was this a representative win for the state?
Not by a long shot.
We have 3,304,419 registered voters, as of Feb 19, 2008.
We allowed 12% of the voters to decide this race.
The other 88%?
They may have been more vocal, if the election were held with more important races…
The 12% Solution worked for the soft money crowd, it certainly was not a mandate by the citizens.
Wisconsin should be ashamed that it’s elections are held in such low regard, and some of it’s most important offices are put into elections that are designed for low voter turnout.
But some on the left go farther than blaming low voter turnout and the election date. Fraley points out the left’s reaction, as does Dad29.
The newspapers are blaming the voters as well. The Capitol Times is playing the race card -
So why did Butler lose? Those attack ads by the Gableman campaign distorted the incumbent’s record and flashed images of an African-American justice next to those of an African-American child molester.
There was no subtlety to the Gableman campaign. It was explicitly racial in its messaging. The point was to stir fear and resentment. And, with an assist from the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce corporate lobby, it worked.
Then they called for reform as did the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal with this article.
The negative ads run on behalf of both candidates were devastating to the state’s judicial system, said former state Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske, now a Marquette University law professor.
“It was disrespectful to the position of a Supreme Court justice,” she said. She added that the ads were misleading about the role of justices in the system, and the perception of the court is essential to people respecting the court’s opinions.
Said former Justice William Bablitch: “Right now, the impression of the people of the state is justice is for sale and some are going to get a fairer shake than others.”
Bablitch backed Butler in the race, but said the court’s image would have been just as damaged had Butler won because outside groups degraded both candidates in a slew of TV ads.
Tuesday’s election “made a travesty of ‘nonpartisan elections,’ ” said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin. “It’s a distinction without a difference. It’s Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal.
“This was the most nasty, negative, demoralizing statewide election in Wisconsin history. . . . This is about as low as you can go.”
Along with an editorial on the topic.
They weren’t the only ones calling it a tragedy for voting out Louis Butler. Here’s what Diamond Jim had to say -
“It is a tragedy that such a fine judge and good human being was trashed during the campaign. Justice Butler has served with distinction and honor on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and I thank him for his fairness, his sense of justice and his lifelong commitment to public service.”
As this email the Grandfather of the Cheddarsphere posted says – now you know how many on the right felt after the 2006 election.
Even Butler had to lay blame somewhere while accepting the will of the voters.
“As you know, I did not run *one* negative ad during this campaign. Unfortunately, too many others did…especially the deep-pocketed third party groups. I’ve said it throughout this race: this system is broken. Third party issue groups who don’t have to be accountable, don’t have to follow campaign finance laws, and don’t have to disclose their donors, siphoned huge amounts of money into this race. That’s why all seven Supreme Court Justices jointly called for realistic, meaningful campaign finance reform. And that’s why I encourage the legislature and the Governor to make that idea a reality.
“I implore them to act, and to act now. We cannot continue to see elections like last year’s and this year’s, and expect people to maintain their faith in our judicial system. If we rob people of their faith in that system, we’ve robbed them of justice.”
In other words some on the left can not accept what voters have said four times now – they want CONSERVATIVE judges. In an effort to prevent that’s why Democrat Fred Kessler put out this press release.
State Representative Frederick P. Kessler (D-Milwaukee) is calling on Governor Doyle to include in any future Special Session call a constitutional amendment that gives the governor appointment authority for Justices of the Supreme Court.
“I was extremely disappointed with the result of the election of the Supreme Court yesterday. It appears that special interests again were able to determine the outcome and focus the campaign on issues that had been distorted. Political campaigns for the Supreme Court appear now to not be run on the merits but instead at the behest of special interests with hidden agendas.”
For the Supreme Court to be respected justices must have decisional independence. The Constitutional Amendment provides that the Governor would appoint Supreme Court Justices, subject to a 10-year term with confirmation by the State Senate and automatic reappointment unless 21 Senators vote not to confirm. This allows decisional independence but still provides a method of removal for those involved in scandal or for judges who fail to perform their work.
So much for the will of people being accepted by the tolerant and compassionate liberal left. Perhaps they should thank this man for helping to create the situation.
