Wisconsin Right To Life, Residents File Lawsuit Challenging State Judiciary Electoral, Recusal Rules

Wisconsin Right to Life and eight state residents on Friday filed a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in Madison, Wis., challenging state rules that prohibit judicial candidates from making public comments on issues, such as abortion, and that require judges to recuse themselves from cases on which they have taken sides publicly, the AP/CBS 5 reports (AP/CBS 5, 1/2). Wisconsin Right to Life is suing the Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the state Office of Lawyer Regulation, alleging that the rules prohibit judicial candidates from expressing their views on "cases, controversies and issues" that are likely to come before them and that they are unconstitutional because they violate candidates' constitutional rights to free speech and association, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The suit says the group was unable to use its survey in 2006 -- which asked judicial candidates questions concerning their positions on issues, such as abortion -- because six of the seven candidates declined to answer, citing the state Supreme Court rules. According to the brief, "It is in the public interest for citizens to know about the views on disputed political and legal issues espoused by judicial candidates, that they might make an educated decision in casting their vote in the upcoming elections." The suit said that while the goal of the rules is to maintain an impartial judiciary, the result is the opposite, adding, "Since it is apparent that judges and judicial candidates have views on disputed legal or political matters, there is also a danger that silence inspires the suspicion that they are hiding their views to mask their impartiality or bias." The heads of the state judicial commission and state lawyer regulation office declined to comment and said they have not seen the lawsuit and request for injunction (Hall, Wisconsin State Journal, 1/3). According to the AP/CBS 5, the lawsuit asks a federal judge to rescind the rules before the April elections, which include a contest for state Supreme Court, three unopposed state appeals court races and several county judge elections (AP/CBS 5, 1/3).

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