Last Thursday, the State Bar of Wisconsin announced the formation of a Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee to monitor judicial campaign advertising, particularly in the upcoming race for state Supreme Court justice.
The seven-member committee, created by State Bar President Tom Basting, is a citizen group designed to encourage respectful and nonpartisan campaigning among judicial candidates. The group will also try to educate the public about the role of the judiciary branch within the state government, according to a statement.
The establishment of the committee is partially a response to the controversial race for Supreme Court justice last spring between Linda Clifford and Annette Ziegler.
“I felt it was necessary to try to do something to educate the public on why campaigns for judicial offices … are different than campaigns for legislators or mayors or governors or the typical political campaigns that we’re seeing now,” Basting said.
According to Basting, the committee is asking the candidates for Supreme Court justice to sign a pledge agreeing to honest and apolitical campaigning. He added that the group would “keep a watch on what goes on during the campaign and make comments to the public and the media.”
The Supreme Court race is currently between three candidates: incumbent Louis Butler, judge Michael Gableman and lawyer Charles Schutze. A statement from Butler’s office called the committee “an encouraging development.”
Thomas Solberg, spokesperson for the state bar, said the committee would have no regulatory power.
“This is a group of citizens speaking out … and we hope that the pressure from public perception might be enough to discourage [negative] ads from appearing in the first place,” he said. “Quite honestly, what we would like to do is have this committee do nothing except educate the public.”
Basting, who will hold a non-voting chair position in the committee, said he chose the members based on their previous legal experience and knowledge of politics. Some members include former judge and legislator David G. Deininger, former Gov. Anthony Earl, UW-Madison professor of political science Dennis Dresang and UW-La Crosse professor of political science Joseph Heim.
“What I tried to do was find people who, first of all … had absolutely no stake in the outcome, and number two, people who brought to the committee a broad diversity of backgrounds,” Basting said.
Heim said he felt the committee would remain sincere and neutral in their decisions.
“The other individuals have wonderful reputations for being honest and decent, and I think they will call things as they see it, regardless of party,” Heim said.
