A Covid-19 case brought by Justice R. Bradley big donor still pending

Two tips of the cap to the continually-invaluable Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

* First for shining an even brighter spotlight on Justice Rebecca Bradley's reprehensible role


in removing public safety science from Covid-19 prevention by disclosing her campaign committee's connection with a plaintiff in a second Covid-19 case that is still pending.

Conservative Justice Got $20K Contribution from Individual in Second Stay-at-Home Suit

Jere Fabick, of Oconomowoc, owner of FABCO Equipment, contributed the maximum $20,000 to conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley’s campaign in 2016 when she was elected to a 10-year term on the court. Rebecca Bradley is part of the high court’s 5-2 conservative majority. 

* And secondly for reminding us that the right-wing majority on the State Supreme Court went out of its way a few years ago to allow themselves through an obliterated recusal standard to accept campaign donations from parties to litigation before the Court.

Here is one post from my blog that incorporates much of that scandalous history:

I doubt that it will go anywhere [it didn't], given the current 5-2 conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, but dozens of retired Wisconsin judges are asking the state's high court justices to fix a conflict-of-interest enabling rule approved when conservatives had only a 4-3 edge that made it easier for judges to hear cases involving their campaign donors.

More than 50 retired jurists on Wednesday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to require judges and justices to step aside when hearing cases involving those who helped bankroll their elections. 

The proposal from the 54 former judges comes seven years after the high court adopted rules that said campaign spending, on its own, isn't enough to force a judge off a case.

I've been writing about this since 2014 - - updated here - - noting the unbelievable reality that the Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority not only approved a recusal rule that allowed state judges and justices to hear cases involving entities which had donated to the campaign committees - - they solicited the recusal rule draft from some of their special interest/donors, then approved it.