They Keep Digging

The liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has gotten itself off to a disastrous start. They’ve dug themselves a hole and they just keep digging. 

On their very first day in power the four liberals fired what appears to be a perfectly competent, low-profile public servant. Courts administrator Randy Koschnick was sacked without explanation. Because speculation loves a void, commentators (including me) rushed in with the suggestion that Koschnick was dumped because he was a conservative. He had run against liberal icon Justice Shirley Abrahamson in 2009, but had not done anything that indicated political motivations in his courts administrator job, which he had held since 2017. 

But on the very next day after his firing the Court announced that they had replaced Koschnick with Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Audrey Skwierawski, at least on an interim basis. That suggests that Skwierawski was teed up to take the job before Koschnick was fired. But Skwierawski was appointed to her seat by former Gov. Scott Walker. So, it would appear the liberals replaced a conservative with a conservative. 

So, now what is the explanation? Well, it would be real helpful if the Court would provide one. But instead the Court’s liberals are issuing terse letters and statements and otherwise not returning phone calls. Again, in the absence of any honest, straightforward answers, people will think the worst. 

I certainly think the worst. I’m going to guess that, since new liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz was also a Milwaukee circuit court judge, she knows Skwierawski and she’s either rewarding a friend or putting in place someone loyal to her and her liberal colleagues. 

Now, you could make an argument that governors and legislatures do this kind of thing all the time. They switch out political appointees regardless of job performance. But those are partisan bodies and it’s easy to forget — especially after this last ugly election — that the Court is not a partisan body. Maybe you could say that this Court majority is now just acting like the de facto partisan institution it has become. They’re acting more like a legislative majority than like the independent jurists they’re supposed to be, but maybe your argument is that that was always a myth anyway.

But let’s not forget the high minded stuff that Protasiewicz and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley said during Protasiewicz’s swearing in ceremony.

“The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s execution of our duties without favor to special interests, political pressure or our own personal beliefs is vital to giving the people of our state trust and confidence in our judicial system,” Protasiewicz said.

And Walsh Bradley said: “Our challenge, the challenge of the seven justices … is to work to enhance the public trust and confidence of the people in the judiciary and to return this court to the national reputation that it once enjoyed.”

Nice words, but the Court’s first action calls into question their worth. Will this matter in the long run? I doubt it. It’ll probably be forgotten by next week. It’s still an awful way to start.

And related to this.. Journalist Bill Lueders, who also heads the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, wrote this:

The firing of Randy Koschnick, director of state courts since 2017, by the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s new liberal majority is deeply troubling.

Purges of court personnel for unspecified reasons is no way to demonstrate the commitment to “fairness and impartiality” that newly inaugurated Justice Janet Protasiewicz has promised. Koschnick, a former judge, has in my experience proven himself to be competent, responsive and a defender of court transparency, despite being a conservative.

The court’s four liberals need to explain their reasons for this action.

Bill Lueders, president, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council