Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines a judge as ""a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court."" Judges do this by exercising their judgment. How do we determine their judgment? Their record.
In the race for state Supreme Court, Linda Clifford, a Madison attorney, has a much better record of judgment than her opponent does, mainly because Clifford has no record—she has worked as an attorney for years and not as a judge. Conversely, although candidate Annette Ziegler has the judicial experience, she has a severely blemished judicial record.
According to a Wisconsin State Journal report, Ziegler failed to disclose a conflict of interest in 46 cases involving West Bend Savings Bank. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? Well, her husband is a member of the bank's board of directors, and she has received $3.1 million in loans from the bank.
Conflict of interest? Under the state Code of Judicial Conflict, Ziegler was required to disclose this conflict of interest to the parties involved or recuse herself from the case. While Ziegler claims she decided the case without bias, that is not the point—the point is she did not exercise good judgment by not disclosing the conflict.
Ziegler also presided over 22 cases involving companies in which she owned more than $50,000 worth of stock. The Judicial Conduct Committee ruled in 2000, albeit in a non-binding advisory, that any judge owning more than $20,000 worth of stock in a company whose case they are hearing should withdraw from that case.
Once again, Ziegler failed to do so, saying in the Appleton Post-Crescent, ""There has been no decision that has been judged to be legally wrong"" and, ""There has been no suggestion of bias."" Again, the issue of bias is not the problem here—it is the inherent lack of judgment.
All judges really have in the end is their judgment and, in this instance, it is very hard to trust Ziegler to preside properly over state Supreme Court cases.
It seems absurd to elect a judge, someone who is supposed to epitomize nonpartisanship. However, due to Ziegler's utter lack of judgment, we feel Clifford is the right woman for the job despite her lack of experience. The law is the law, and we hope Clifford realizes that.
