Wisconsin - Crime and Courts: Legal scholar unimpressed with Prosser defense
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/crime_and_courts/blog/crime-and-courts-legal-scholar-unimpressed-with-prosser-defense/article_8464eca4-94d1-11e1-b925-001a4bcf887a.html
Geyh has been observing the high court’s problems from afar for some time now, as the level of dysfunction has increased. And he’s not the only one. He says national groups like the American Bar Association, the Alliance for Justice, the Brennan Center for Justice and others with an interest in judicial matters are taking a keen interest in what’s going on in the Badger State. And the general impression is not positive. “It’s embarrassing in the state, and it’s embarrassing in the nation,” he says.
There’s really nothing else like it. A few years back, the Michigan high court was beset with collegiality issues as justices sniped at each other in public and partisanship ran wild, Geyh says. But now, it appears, Wisconsin can claim the mantle of the worst supreme court in the country.
“What strikes me, and I think strikes the larger community, that is so unusual about Wisconsin is the bare-knuckled, naked political overtones of not just their decision-making, but of their interrelationships,” he says.
He adds, “I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s making a joke of the court, but it’s certainly making them a poster child for when collegiality runs amok. And it’s complicating the ability of the court to function effectively.” As an example of just how far off the deep end the court has gone, Geyh notes that Prosser defended his “total bitch” comment in an interview by saying, “I probably overreacted, but I think it was entirely warranted.”
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