Sunday, June 26, 2011

Judge Prosser Needs A Check-Up From The Neck Up

A rather disturbing story out of Wisconsin this weekend:  State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, who won this year's special election and recount under very dubious circumstances and then was the key vote in allowing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting bill to become law, is now being accused of trying to choke a female justice on the court after a heated argument.

New details are emerging in this weekend's story that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser -- a member of the court's 4-3 conservative majority who was just re-elected to a ten-year term in a heated race that involved a recount and vote-tabulating controversies -- allegedly attacked liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley during an argument over the court's recent decision regarding the upholding of Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union legislation. Now, Bradley is speaking up, and saying publicly that she was assaulted by Prosser.

"The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold," Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Meanwhile, an unnamed source who is on Prosser's side of the argument accused Bradley of initiating the violence. "She charged him with fists raised," the source told the paper, saying that Prosser "put his hands in a defensive posture" to block her, and made contact with her neck. Bradley is then said to have immediately complained of being choked, while another, unnamed Justice responded, "You were not choked."

In response, Bradley told the paper: "You can try to spin those facts and try to make it sound like I ran up to him and threw my neck into his hands, but that's only spin.

"Matters of abusive behavior in the workplace aren't resolved by competing press releases. I'm confident the appropriate authorities will conduct a thorough investigation of this incident involving abusive behavior in the workplace."

Assault like this is no laughing matter if it's true, and whatever investigation into this affair needs to be completely transparent and above board.  If it turns out Prosser did assault another judge on the court, I would have to imagine he'd face impeachment hearings at the very minimum.

Where this will go I have no idea, but I'll certainly be keeping an eye on this case.

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