SOROS MAN: Robert S. Peck, representing Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, sits on the board of George Soros’ Justice at Stake.
Posted on 04/16/2015 5:02:24 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
MADISON, Wis. — The Washington, D.C., attorney representing Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson in her civil rights case against her peers serves on the board of directors of a George Soros-backed judicial group.
Robert S. Peck is founder and president of the Center for Constitutional Litigation, which bills itself as “among the most sought-after appellate litigators within the plaintiffs’ bar.”
Abrahamson tapped the constitutional law expert to represent her in a civil rights case that aims to save her powerful chief justice position from a voter-backed, state constitutional amendment approved at the polls last week. The amendment allows Wisconsin Supreme Court justices to choose the chief justice, ending the 126-year practice of seniority deciding the high court’s leader.
Abrahamson, who has held the top spot for nearly 20 years, contends her constitutional rights of due process and equal protection would be violated should she lose the chief justice position and the additional $8,000 per year in pay with which it comes. To that end, she is suing the state and her fellow justices in federal court, asking that implementation of the amendment be delayed until her term is up in 2019.
Peck, former legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, has pushed — and won — some interesting constitutional cases in his distinguished career, perhaps best known for his battles against tort reform. But Abrahamson’s civil rights complaint has to rank high on his list of intriguing litigation.
He certainly is familiar with Abrahamson, leader of the state Supreme Court’s liberal wing. Peck, according to his resume, is co-chair of the Lawyers Committee of the National Center for State Courts. He has served with Abrahamson on the annual Justice Roundtable event, which brings together state justices.
And Peck serves as secretary and member of the executive committee of the board of directors of Justice at Stake. The “nonpartisan” group backed by billionaire liberal George Soros aims to get rid of judicial elections like those in Wisconsin and “replace them with nominating commissions that allow state bar associations to hand-pick judges,” as the Wall Street Journal notes.
“This tends to make state courts more liberal than the states themselves,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote following the filing of the chief justice’s lawsuit. “Justice Abrahamson is their kind of judge, but her suit should be laughed out of court.”
Justice at Stake called the adoption of the constitutional amendment a “siege of special interest money” and that “big-money hardball politics” was the real winner at the polls.
“An interest group that couldn’t defeat Justice Abrahamson at the polls spent more than $600,000 targeting her through an innocuous-sounding ballot measure, and succeeded,” the group said in a statement, referring to the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce-backed campaign to educate the public on the referendum. “For almost a decade, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has endured a siege of special interest money and pressure from all sides, and the insulation that is supposed to protect judges from political bullying is wearing thin.”
But to many voters in Wisconsin, the dysfunction on the court is wearing thin, and they see its longest-serving member and leader to blame for much of the discord that has made the Wisconsin Supreme Court a national laughingstock.
Peck told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Abrahamson is paying for his work. “If she wins her case, she can get state taxpayers to cover her legal costs.” The attorney did not respond to a Wisconsin Watchdog request that he provide proof of the chief justice’s payment or retainer agreement.
Cullen Werwie, spokesman for the state Department of Administration, said the agency does not have a record or knowledge of how Abrahamson’s legal bills will be paid at this point.
“It is worth noting that since one of the people she is suing is Secretary (Scott) Neitzel in his official capacity as DOA Secretary, the costs associated with this defense will be paid by taxpayers,” Werwie said.
He added that, if there are any special counsel contracts for this case moving forward, they would go through the Governor’s office.
If Abrahamson cannot explain her use of Peck’s services it could raise ethical questions as those kicked up by the left in the case of Justice Michael Gableman, accused of failing to explain a fee arrangement with a law firm that had represented him.
SOROS MAN: Robert S. Peck, representing Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, sits on the board of George Soros’ Justice at Stake.
Swell!
FReep mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Stalins’s attorney sits on board of Soros-supported judicial Socialist group (WI)
WOW! Wat a surprise!
These b@stards have their cancerous fingers in EVERY pie!
@#$%^&*!
And...why can’t OUR side be this devious?!?!?
Why can’t we serve the devil too? Wah!
No. We’re just not pro-active. We need to have a system in place that thwarts EVERYTHING the LefTards do to us.
Chess isn’t all that hard!
There is a question that has been bothering my beliefs and culture for some time. Why do we not have any conservative Christian WASPS represented as a primary demographic on the US Supreme Court?
Every American needs representation in our system of justice and not just minorities.
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