The Wisconsin #Republicans 'We Hate Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson" Amendment
Well, I will not be one to vote out as the Chief Justice!
@WisDems: The Wisconsin #Republicans 'We Hate Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson" Amendment http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2015/01/20/the-we-hate-shirley-amendment/ … #wipolitics @TheDemocrats
Bill Lueders
The “We Hate Shirley” Amendment
Republicans' constitutional amendment to end seniority as method to choose chief justice is a shot at Shirley Abrahamson, opponents argue.
By Bill Lueders, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism - Jan 20th, 2015 11:49 am
Shirley AbrahamsonThe left-leaning Center on Media and Democracy called it “a coordinated GOP attack” on Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. Neil Heinen, editorial director of WISC-TV in Madison, said it “borders on frivolous abuse of the constitutional amending process.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorialized that Republicans apparently want “to retroactively overturn an election.”
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Abrahamson has blasted this amendment, along with a GOP proposal to impose a mandatory retirement age on judges, per an earlier constitutional amendment: “The Wisconsin constitution should not be used to target judges. If the Legislature adopts these proposals, it is frustrating the electorate and injecting the ugliness of partisan politics into the judiciary, a nonpartisan independent branch of government.”
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At the hearing, state Rep. Gary Hebl, D-Sun Prairie, urged lawmakers to prove the amendment is not an effort to remove Abrahamson by exempting her from its reach. But his efforts to effect this change were rejected.
“We know exactly what is going on here,” Hebl said in an interview. “Clearly, this is going against Shirley.”
But while Hebl sees ample grounds to oppose the amendment, he expects voters to approve it. The public, he said, likes the idea of elections and the proposed change, at first glance, “sounds like a good idea.”
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