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3/23/2007
The Ziegler Case
Is she unethical? Naïve? Hardworking and committed? Or all of the above?
If you’re just returning from wintering in Monaco (or Arizona or Florida even), Washington Co. Circuit Court judge and State Supreme Court Justice candidate Annette Ziegler, and her prominent West Bend family are shareholders in scores of Wisconsin-based and national firms. The Wisconsin State Journal (WSJ, a client of Ziegler’s opponent, Linda Clifford) has accused Ziegler of ruling on a number of cases in which they allege she had a conflict of interest, due to her varied equity holdings. Ziegler and her campaign have heartily and consistently refuted those charges.
Here’s what I know.
- The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (WDC), a very credible, nonpartisan “openness in government” group says they talked to “dozens of lawyers” (none of them from West Bend) before deciding to file a Request for Investigation with the secretive Wisconsin Judicial Commission, citing 16 specific cases.
- When asked if in any of these cases Judge Ziegler was involved a contested decision, WDC didn’t cite one case. They did say there was clear involvement in each, citing, for example, phone calls being made by the Judge or her office.
- One of these cases was filed not even two weeks ago. I can’t imagine Judge Ziegler has even seen it or talked about it, much less ruled on it.
- Milwaukee County Chief Judge Kitty Brennan said the size of a county and the workload of its judges may factor into a judge's decision to recuse or not. Washington County is "a small burg" where a shift in caseloads can have dramatic consequences. Brennan said she was not surprised that other judges are sticking with Ziegler because "she's a straight shooter" and many of them know her.
- Former Supreme Court justice Janine Geske said based on what she has read about the cases, there are no indications that Ziegler financially gained from her rulings and, as a result, her lack of disclosure "is not some horrible thing." She suggested that if the case does come before the Judicial Commission, Ziegler might be reprimanded but would probably not face any severe discipline.
- Judge Ziegler has been assigned 25,000-some cases in the 10 years she’s been on the bench. The WSJ culled about four dozen in which they think the judge should have acknowledged a potential conflict.
Here’s what else I know. We don’t need candidates for justice throwing mud at each other. What we do need on the bench of the state’s highest court is someone with a wealth (10 years) of experience as a circuit court judge and with a wealth of experience in her community. Ziegler’s family’s holdings in a wide variety of public entities are a testament to her worldliness and intellect – just the sort of person we want and need on the Supreme Court.
COMMENTS
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is about as non partisan as moveon.org
Yeah,....I know where you're coming from. JE
Vince Noir (Fri Mar 23 08:49:56 2007)
Exposing an opponent's repeated violation of ethical rules is not "slinging mud." Where competitive campaigns bring such obviously important and relevant issues to the public's attention, it's Democracy at its best.
The apologists for Ziegler who seem to say its ok to violate the rules so long as the rule-breaker seems like a decent person are way off. The rules exist to protect the public and the courts. Ziegler, who has basically confessed to repeated violations and conflicts of interest, doesn't get a free pass because she has a few friends willing to say nice things about her.
She is an unethical judge and would be an unethical supreme court justice.
boblaughalott (Fri Mar 23 11:49:29 2007)
Except for that pesky Judicial Code of Ethics thingie. A judge doesn't get to decide if they benefit from a certain case or not. The Code say the judge must recuse or inform the parties and get a waiver.
That Ziegler used her "gut" rather than her head shows a lack of judgment at the very least. If the definition of an "activist" judge is one who would go with the gut rather than the law, then we've seen the perfect example in the sloppiness of Judge Ziegler.
grumps (Fri Mar 23 13:13:52 2007)
Whose gut do you trust? Jo Egelhoff's, Annette Ziegler's or mine? Rules for lawyers and judges are created so you don't have to make these kinds of decisions. But when people like Annette Ziegler don't obey the rules, we are left with no alternative. In the absence of a bathing suit contest to help you make the decision (Jo's gut is pretty flat, mine is pretty distended and we don't know about Annette's because she keeps it under a robe...) let's review what we do know. Ziegler said she uses a "gut check" to decide if she has a conflict of interest, and that her husband's position on a bank's board of directors didn't affect her judgment in a number of cases. No big deal, she says. Jo says her gut check tells her the same thing. My gut tells me the same thing too, but it leaves me with a case of indigestion because judges are supposed to be the ones who say that rules are rules are rules, and even if they're stupid rules, we should obey them. So shouldn't they? It doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference because (as the Beloit Daily News said recently) this is an election in which the uninformed will be choosing among the unknown. Maybe
Wow, you guys are angry. How about if we wait for the findings of the Judicial Commission and check their gut? The only problem is, there's an election coming up in 10 days. That's a real problem. JE
Rich Eggleston (Fri Mar 23 15:50:29 2007)
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is more about creating sensationalism by finding real and imagined scandals. Take a look at the Green decision of the Elections Board. What role did the WDC play?
I take your point Roger JE
Roger Cross (Sat Mar 24 01:32:16 2007)
Yes, we're angry because she broke the rules and exercised poor judgment. Judgment--something a judge should know something about. Then there are apologists like you who think saying there was "no bias" is a justification for breaking straight-forward rules.
Erik (Sat Mar 24 13:56:43 2007)
Yep, except for that pesky business about rules. The thing is that every one of her decisions may have been correct and she may not have profited financially from her decisions, but none of that is actually the point. The point is that judges with BIG financial interests in a case are required to let the attournies involved know it. There are sound, ethical reasons for doing so. Failing to follow a simple thing like this, something that any "gut check" should have required, suggests a kind of carelessness we don't need on the Supreme Court.
Mpeterson (Sun Mar 25 22:46:51 2007)
Washington County may be a little burg compared to Milwaukee, but compared to the rest of the state, it is quite large, with four judicial branches. Many counties only have one or two.
Kinda Cranky (Tue Mar 27 12:26:24 2007)
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