The Capital Times: The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ugly politics, explained

“The danger (with rhetoric surrounding impeaching Protasiewicz) is that you undermine significant confidence in the court,” said Jay Heck, executive director of the good government group Common Cause Wisconsin. “But one of the problems we have now is that’s not just a function of this past election, that is a function of things that have been occurring going back to 1997.

“This is long-term. This is 25 years in the making.”

In 2011, legislators elected to kill off the public financing system. And Heck, of Common Cause Wisconsin, said there is little chance of lawmakers reimposing campaign finance limits or forcing justices to show more explicitly where they get their money.

But several of the liberal justices in the majority have favored stricter guidelines in the past, including Justice Walsh Bradley, who objected to the original 2010 rule. That leaves Heck with some hope that change is possible.

“That discussion could pop up again,” he said.

 

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