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WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT LIMITS WHAT IT WILL DISCUSS PUBLICLY
WPR News - Wisconsin Supreme Court limits what it will discuss publicly
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Friday April 27, 2012
by Gilman Halsted
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A decision by the state Supreme Court to limit the agenda of its open administrative meetings is now final. But the new policy didn't go into effect until four of the justices staged a walkout.
The new policy means the court won't be discussing its internal operating procedures in public meetings. It was passed on a 4-3 voice vote in February but was not officially published until this week when Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson who opposes the rule asked for final approval in an open meeting. The four justices who support the rule walked out and didn't return until Abrahamson sent them a note assuring them the rule is now in place. Former state Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske says she's disappointed the court has decided to limit transparency, "I think to go behind closed doors and keep discussions away from the public only gives the heightened concern that personalities and politics are playing a role in the decision making."
But another former Supreme Court Justice Jon Wilcox disagrees. He says the open meeting policy has only been in effect since 1999. He says voted with the majority to open the meetings hoping it would help solve personal and political disputes occurring then among the justices, "I think they are changing it because frankly it hasn't worked. They tried it for a total of 13 years, and maybe because of some of the recent occurrences, felt well this isn't working we'll go back to closed conferences as they were for a hundred and some years before 1999."
The recent occurrences Wilcox refers to is the alleged physical confrontation between Justice David Prosser and Justice Anne Walsh Bradley last summer. A complaint against Prosser filed by the Judicial Commission is still causing acrimony among the justices.
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