Posted on 05/22/2015 1:41:34 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Madison— Days before three state Supreme Court justices skipped ceremonies to admit new lawyers to the bar, Justice N. Patrick Crooks accused newly elected Chief Justice Patience Roggensack of breaking court rules by threatening to throw him off a case without any authority.
Crooks and another justice also contended Roggensack had violated court rules by scheduling a conference to discuss three cases without the permission of all seven justices, emails between the justices show.
The exchanges are the latest sign of turmoil on a court that has drawn national attention for infighting. Their disputes have been on public display in recent weeks because of a fight over who should run the court.
Former Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson sued the other justices a day after voters approved an amendment to the state constitution allowing members of the court to choose the chief justice. Before that, the job went to the longest serving member of the court.
After the amendment passed, Roggensack and the three other conservatives on the court chose her to lead the court. Abrahamson contends in her lawsuit she should serve as chief justice until 2019, when the 10-year term on the court she was last elected to expires.
The most recent display of friction on the court came on Monday, when Abrahamson, Crooks and Justice Bradley skipped ceremonies to induct recent Marquette University Law School students into the bar.
Those are the three justices who did not support Roggensack for chief justice, and their move was viewed in legal circles as a protest of her leadership.
Abrahamson and Bradley are liberals. Crooks is a swing vote. He had hoped to serve as chief justice under the new constitutional amendment and has been critical of both Abrahamson and Roggensack.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
More drama on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
FReep mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
“Crooks” is a pretty bad name for a Judge.
How about Savage, Lawless, Crooks for a fictional law firm name?
Not quite as good as Dewey Cheatum and Howe perhaps.
My brother used to send fake lawyer letters to companies with whom he had beefs. He called his firm Warsaw Berlin & London, something like that.
M J-S just trying to stir up some muck.
In some states, representing yourself as a lawyer is a crime. Imagine that!
More liberal whining from the losing side.
Oh I don’t know...you might have something there. Try mixing the order of the words.... such as “Lawless, Savage, and Crooks(inc.)”. If you make any money with my suggestion...you can buy me pizza and wings, as a thank you!
Well, he didn’t represent *himself* as a lawyer, he’d make up some fake lawyer and write a cease and desist letter.
Hey, this was back in the bad old days of the 1970s, you wouldn’t get away with it today, I’m sure.
There was a woman here in NJ, her name was, I think Betty Lawless. She was the head of the Hudson County Board of Elections. I always felt like: yeah, that’s about right.
I’m sure she’a a lovely women, I mean no slur upon her.
“I’m sure she’s a lovely woman, I mean no slur upon her”.
She is from Hudson County and in politics so she must be a democrat.
So slur away as much as you like cause I am sure she would slur you.
Crooks? A fine name for a chief justice indeed?
“Crooks is a swing vote. He had hoped to serve as chief justice under the new constitutional amendment and has been critical of both Abrahamson and Roggensack.”
Well, now isn’t that “special.” At least he has the right last name. I’m wary of anyone who uses their first initial, or their middle name. Signifies too much self-importance.
When I lived in TX, the neighbors in my cul de sac were named Outlaw, Crooks, and Rape. There was a Lemon family on the block too, thrown in for good measure. LOL
LOL too funny! Glad you survived that cul-de-sac, sounds like it was a near run thing!
“More liberal whining from the losing side.”
BUMP!
We were used to the Crooks and the Outlaws, but it was amusing as heck to watch the neighbors struggle with the pronunciation of Mr. & Mrs. Rape’s name when they moved in. People just didn’t know what to call them. They’d say “Rah-pay”, or some other version. I asked Mr. Rape directly, however, and he laughed and said, “It’s Rape — just like it looks.”
He told me that his father had owned a country garage and gas station, and they never could keep a sign on the place. Kids were always stealing it.
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