Well, looks like it’s not only Congress that’s broken.
Stick a fork in the Wisconsin Supreme Court and its watchers.
They’re done.
The Wisconsin Judicial Commission has just announced that it won’t pursue the ethics complaint against Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.
Gableman’s colleagues on the court split 3-3 on whether his knowingly false race-baiting ad against Louis Butler had violated the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct.
Gableman’s three conservative allies argued that he hadn’t by coming up with a linguistic theory that’s utterly absurd.
The saner justices said Gableman’s ad was a lie, he knew it was a lie, and he violated the code.
The Judicial Commission isn’t backing Gableman’s ad by dropping the case.
The mission of the Judicial Commission is to investigate and prosecute allegations of judicial misconduct in order to protect the integrity of Wisconsin's judicial system. The Judicial Commission remains firmly convinced that the advertisement in question in this case was a misrepresentation of fact purposely made in violation of SCR 60.06(3)(c) Code of Judicial Conduct and that the prosecution of this matter was appropriate and a constitutional application of that valid rule. The Judicial Commission will be remiss in its duties if it does not seek enforcement of the rule in the future if the facts so dictate.
The Supreme Court's opinions are not exoneration or vindication of Justice Gableman's conduct. There is simply no justification for judges or candidates for judicial office to intentionally and purposely misrepresent facts concerning an opponent in a judicial election campaign. To do so, causes extreme harm to the public's confidence in the integrity of Wisconsin's judiciary.
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It’s just saying:
Due to lack of conclusive resolution of this matter in the opinions issued by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and lacking legislative authority to do otherwise, the Wisconsin Judicial Commission files this statement that it is discontinuing prosecution of the above captioned matter.
So because the majority of justices won’t discipline their own colleague, no one else will. Something’s really rotten here.
Paging John Grisham…
UPDATE:
Here's reaction from Citizen Action of Wisconsin, which filed the original complaint with the commission:
Judicial Commission Discontinuation of Gableman Prosecution
Citizen Action of Wisconsin, which filed original complaint against unethical campaign ad, reacts to dismissal of case
Milwaukee: This afternoon the Wisconsin Judicial Commission ended its prosecution of Judge Michael Gableman for the controversial campaign ad he ran against Justice Louis Butler in 2008. Citizen Action of Wisconsin, the group that filed the original complaint, made the following statement:
“This is a dark day for the integrity of Wisconsin’s judicial system,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “In yet another remarkable turn of events in this case, the Judicial Commission stated that its prosecution was valid, and that Judge Gableman should have been punished, but that they have no further authority to act given the division on the Supreme Court.”
“We understand that the Supreme Court deadlock placed the Judicial Commission in an extraordinarily difficult position, but believe that it should have followed the advice of Chief Justice Abrahamson, Justice Bradley, and Justice Crooks to hold a jury trial,’ Kraig continued. “The deeply disturbing message that is sent by the conclusion of this case is that Supreme Court judge’s are above the law, and that the institution does not have the capacity to police itself.”
The complaint, which was originally filed by Citizen Action of Wisconsin in March 2008, maintains that Justice Gableman made false and deliberately misleading statements in a campaign ad directed at Justice Louis Butler, violating the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct. The ad, which sparked outrage from the legal community, editorial boards, and the public at large, was compared by many to the infamous “Willy Horton” ads. It falsely charged that Justice Butler’s actions had led to the release of a felon who committed another crime. In October 2008 the Wisconsin Judicial Commission agreed with the Citizen Action complaint, ruling that an attack ad by Michael Gableman showed “reckless disregard for the truth” and constitutes “judicial misconduct.” The Judicial Commission found the ad to be willfully false, and a clear violation of the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct. The affirmed that opinion in their press release today announcing the dismissal of the case.
Last week the Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 on the case, leaving the case in legal limbo. In a well reasoned opinion, Chief Justice Abrahamson, Justice Bradley, and Justice Crooks found that the ad was willfully misleading and thus violated the Judicial Code of Conduct. "False statements knowingly made or false statements made in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity are not protected by the First Amendment," the justices concluded.
