Top Stories Milwaukee

Imagine standing before seven justices in long black robes in a room that never fails to impress visitors. In your imagination, you are there on behalf of a client, let’s say the non-partisan League of Women Voters, and just as you begin to address the court, imagine that one of the seven yells at the presiding officer, the chief justice. He hollers that the chief is a “total bitch” and says he will “destroy you and it won’t be a ground war.”

Had this happened, I believe your knees would go wobbly, your mind would race to 45 high school students in the room at the invitation of the chief justice. Yes, the one labeled a “total bitch.”

Imagine the shock of the teacher accompanying the students. Hand raised, “Question, chief justice, is this normal behavior in our highest court?”

(No one has ever witnessed anything like the Justice Prosser explosion in conference other than the seven in the room, so there are no precedents to guide or follow. But no one denies Prosser said those words.)

While Prosser yelled his insults outside the court his statements were printed in the newspaper and calls are coming in from around the country. “What’s going on in your courts?”

Words matter, particularly when uttered by a justice of our state Supreme Court. Civility matters, mutual respect matters. Justice Prosser responded to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he may have
“over-reacted.” No kidding!

But, he explained, she goaded him into this temper tantrum. Blame the victim! I’m not making this up.

Such behavior should bring action from the Bar, but will any lawyer take on a sitting justice? How about at the joint appearance today? Will the moderator ask what Prosser had in mind when he threatened to “destroy” the chief justice? My goodness. We try for civility in court–Prosser is not the example we want to set for young people in the law.

Prosser, at a Marquette forum last night, took a stab at shifting attention from his inexcusable conduct by focusing on a post on his opponent’s Facebook page. Sorry, Justice Prosser, you said it now you must explain it. Blaming the victim won’t cut it.

His former campaign manager urged support for Prossser to preserve the court’s conservative majority. No mention of civility.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.