A government watchdog group requested an investigation into a series of conflict of interest cases involving state Supreme Court candidate Annette Ziegler on Monday.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed a request asking for a review of several cases that Ziegler presided over since 2004 because of a potential conflict of interest.
Critics say Ziegler presided over cases that involved banks and other businesses in which she owned $50,000 worth of stock or more, and did not inform the parties of her connection.
""We found dozens of cases, we focus on sixteen of them, in our request for an investigation,"" said Mike McCabe, Executive Director of the WDC. ""There are many more, upwards of four dozen cases, where Judge Ziegler had significant conflict of interest and chose not to disclose it to those involved in the cases. That's a huge problem.""
According to a statement from the WDC, the Judicial Commission leading the investigation recommended that ""judges who have an interest of $20,000 or more with a party in a case before them withdraw or tell all of the parties and let them decide whether to seek another judge for the case.""
Part of the judicial code of conduct says a conflict of interest occurs when judges or their family members are a party in a case or ""an officer, director, or trustee of a party"" in a case before them. WDC said Ziegler's husband serves on the Board of Directors for West Bend Savings Bank.
Marci Van Adestine, spokesperson for Judge Ziegler, said ""the judge will welcome a fair and impartial review of her record, [which] will show she had no bias, she had no financial gain.""
With the election approaching on April 3, it is questionable whether the Judicial Committee could complete a properly conducted investigation before voting takes place.
""It would be unlike the Judicial Commission to be able to act that quickly,"" McCabe said.
Ziegler's opponent, candidate Linda Clifford, has been publicizing the heated issue in a series of campaign commercials. Ziegler has fired back by saying that if Clifford were elected, she could possibly preside over cases involving her trial lawyer husband.
Jay Heck, Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin, a group that advocates ethics in state politics, said ""The saddest part about this election is that it is the most expensive and negative campaign that Wisconsin has ever had for a Supreme Court race.""
