Chief Justice of Wisconsin Supreme Court Makes Accusations of Secret Meetings; Other Justices Deny

Tuesday, August 8th, 2023 -- 12:01 PM

(By Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio) The new liberal majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court has been in place less than a week, but there's more controversy swirling with the chief justice alleging secret meetings and GOP leaders calling decisions by the court unlawful.

According to Corrinne Hess with the Wisconsin Public Radio, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, a conservative, released a statement Friday accusing the four liberal members of the court of going "rogue" and meeting in "a secret, unscheduled, illegitimate closed meeting," in an attempt to cut her authority.

"Court business concerning Internal Operating Procedures and Supreme Court Rules is conducted when seven members of the court convene with an agenda prepared by the Chief Justice and at a time set by the Chief Justice during the court’s business year, which is September-June," Ziegler wrote in a statement.

"The rogue justices' attempt to go outside of this recognized procedure is an imposition of will and a raw exercise of overreaching power. Any such attempted action is illegitimate and unenforceable."

Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet responded to Ziegler's allegations with a statement late Friday afternoon. According to Dallet, the justices asked several times, beginning in May, for a meeting to be scheduled in August. She said Ziegler refused.

Dallet said proposed rule changes from the new majority were shared with all the justices, and all were invited to attend a meeting Friday or to vote by email. "Contrary to the Chief’s assertion, the court has not yet approved a calendar for this term. Any court member can move to hold a meeting, and a majority agreed that a meeting would be held today," Dallet stated.

Ziegler has been critical of the liberal justices' recent firing of Randy Koschnick as the state court system director. But liberal Dallet said the moves the majority is making advances a number of transparency and accountability measures.

"First, we have made a series of rules and operating procedures changes to make Court decision-making more inclusive, timely, and responsive," Dallet said in a statement released Friday.

"Second, we are committed to making all orders more readily accessible on our website. Third, we have voted to re-open our administrative conferences. And fourth, we will be announcing the creation of a bipartisan task force to study the issue of recusal and to present us with recommendations."

The back and forth between the justices comes one day after Republican legislative leaders said the appointment of a Milwaukee judge to interim position of state court system director, one day after firing Koschnick, is unconstitutional and should be rescinded.

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