David Prosser

Prosser Gets Off Case, Avoiding Ethical Entanglement

September 1, 2011 by The Political E...

State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser removes himself - - finally - - from hearing a case argued by an attorney his campaign paid to work on his recount.

For months, Prosser stayed on the case after hiring an attorney heavily involved in it to lead recount efforts for his campaign after he won re-election April 5 by less than 0.5%.

Prosser insisted he could remain impartial, but experts in legal ethics said it was clear Prosser was required to recuse himself. Prosser sent a letter to the parties in the case this month asking for their views on what he should do, and the Wisconsin Education Association Council responded by asking him to step aside.

Prosser agreed to do so Thursday. Oral arguments will be heard Tuesday.

It took public and media pressure to help him make up his mind - - so give him credit for making the right decision, but downgrade him for doing so at the last moment and after some preliminary participation.

Bruce Murphy On Prosser, Et Al

August 30, 2011 by The Political E...

In a column, Milwaukee Magazine editor-in-chief Bruce Murphy homes in on Justice David Prosser's pattern of angry outbursts - - as did I - - and I also see in the comments under Murphy's piece that Madison-based good government activist Jack Lohman focuses on it, too.

Call this a meeting of judicious minds.

In a companion posting, Murphy defends Bill Lueders, the Madison journalist who broke the Prosser-Bradley confrontation story, against a misinformed attack by a Madison blogger.

Nicely done.

National Lam-prosser's Missing Wisconsin Supreme Court Tapes

August 29, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Reflexing his muscleBack in the '70s, the old National Lampoon satirical magazine had a brief radio series and put out a LP record of the best shows. One was entitled "The Missing White House Tapes" and made fun of the Watergate scandal. Here -- updated for current Wisconsin events -- is a rewrite of one of the funniest skits (see link below to info on the original). 

[FADE IN: Police sirens wail over crowd noise and a reporter is heard talking into his mike:]

TV REPORTER: Here at the State Capitol in Madison, an altercation today in the chambers of the State Supreme Court, where at least one justice became agitated during deliberations over a get-tough-on-crime law and barricaded the doors. Police SWAT forces have brought in a professional negotiator to talk down the situation. The negotiator is now lifting a bullhorn. Let's listen in:

BULLHORN: This is former DA and Supreme Court Justice David Prosser! Now, I know I'm in there. If I don't come out with my hands up, I'm coming in after me!

Separate branches of Wisconsin state government, defined

August 26, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Mr. BigA classic quote today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's story on the outcome (there won't be any) of the criminal inquiry into the incident in which State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser put his hands on the throat of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Seeking reaction from Gov. Scott Walker, the newspaper reported:

Walker said he's offered his help, but that it's not his place to tell the justices what to do.

No, that place obviously belongs to Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, who advised Prosser -- a former Republican state legislator -- and anyone else who would listen that he would need a quick decision from the court on whether Walker's union-busting bill was enacted legally. Even Prosser stipulates to this. From the police investigation into the incident involving Prosser and Bradley:

From Total Recall to Total Reflex -- Prosser cop-out is Wisconsin's latest wonder

August 26, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Reflexing his muscleIn an interview with an investigating detective on July 8, State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser admitted he made contact with Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in an angry confrontation but recused himself on the basis that ... well, let's hear Prosser tell it:

"Did my hands touch her neck, yes, I admit that. Did I try to touch her neck, no, absolutely not, it was a total reflex."

To put Prosser's defense into other words: Justice Bradley's neck ran into my grasping, outstretched hands. 

Never mind that Prosser is six inches taller than Bradley, weighs thirty pounds more, and would have had to reach downward to encounter her neck -- sort of in the way that cartoonish Homer Simpson reflexively reaches out to strangle his son Bart. No, never mind. Case closed. Well, closed in the criminal courts, but still open before the Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the all-important court of public opinion.