Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates spar over 'rule of law' comments

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - State Supreme Court candidate Rebecca Dallet laid into an opponent this week for using “all this rhetoric about rule of law garbage,” prompting pushback from her rival’s campaign.

Dallet, a Milwaukee County circuit judge, took the shot at Sauk County Circuit Judge Michael Screnock at a Wednesday campaign event in Milwaukee that her campaign posted on Facebook.

"He’s talking about all this rhetoric about rule of law garbage that is basically — it’s rule of law until it’s something you want changed and then you just go ahead and change it," she said.

"He’s just saying the same tired old thing that doesn’t mean anything. Because I believe in the rule of law. But guess what my job is. I’m a judge and I do it every day. When the Legislature gets it wrong and they violate someone’s rights, it’s my job to say no. I am not a rubber stamp of whatever the Legislature does or whatever the governor does."

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates, from left: Rebecca Dallet, Timothy Burns and Michael Screnock.

Screnock spokesman Sean Lansing expressed alarm over her comments.

"It is shocking to hear a sitting judge, let alone a candidate for our state's highest court, use this language, and it seriously calls into question her ability to serve the people of Wisconsin as an impartial arbiter of the law," Lansing said in a statement.

Dallet, Screnock and Madison attorney Tim Burns face one another in a Feb. 20 primary. The top two will advance to the April 3 general election.

Screnock has campaigned as a conservative and Burns as a liberal. Dallet has made appeals to liberals while also trying to lock up moderate voters.

Dallet campaign manager Jessica Lovejoy said Screnock’s campaign was distorting Dallet’s comments by taking them out of context.

“If they bothered to listen to the whole speech, it’s clear Judge Dallet truly believes in the rule of law — but Michael Screnock doesn’t,” Lovejoy said in a statement. “He was willing to proudly break the law to block women from accessing health care. And he supports the flawed John Doe decision designed to help his political allies avoid legal accountability. But what truly is garbage are the tired talking points designed to hide Screnock’s extreme right-wing political agenda.”

Lovejoy was referring to Screnock getting arrested and ticketed twice in 1989 for trespassing and obstructing officers when he and other protesters blocked access to a Madison abortion clinic.

She also took issue with Screnock’s support for a 2015 state Supreme Court decision that found GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign had done nothing illegal and ended a John Doe investigation of political spending and fundraising. Burns and Dallet have said the high court should not have ended the investigation.

At her campaign event, Dallet criticized Burns for what she dubbed his lack of experience.

"I’ve got a guy in Madison who is not a judge," she told supporters. "He has spent barely any time in a courtroom in Wisconsin. He has hardly ever handled a criminal case and he is running and saying he is the most progressive person in the world and that is why he should be elected."

In a statement, Burns shot back by criticizing her for a ruling that found a police pat-down of a black man who was lingering outside a gas station was legal. An appeals court overturned the finding in a blistering opinion in 2013.

"Much of the problem with the current court system in Wisconsin is that the prosecutors office and personal cash have become quick paths to the bench," he said in his statement. "It leads to judges with little life experience, no private client experience and little sympathy for the rights of the less fortunate. I’m the only candidate in the race with a national reputation as a lawyer, so Judge Dallet’s attacks on my experience is just the silly-season baloney that we’ve come to expect from center-right candidates running for public office."