Gavel Grab

Foes of a new Wisconsin law for public financing of state Supreme Court candidates recently filed two notable lawsuits challenging the statute. Now a Milwaukee newspaper is blasting those lawsuits and contending it is not the law that has a “chilling effect” on free speech, as these critics contend, but big-money support delivered to high court candidates.

In a bold editorial entitled “Unworthy lawsuits” the  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel answers the “chilling effect” claims laid out by lawsuit sponsors Judge Randy Koschnick, an unsuccessful high court candidate, and Wisconsin Right to Life.

Those parties who want to support court candidates are actually unrestrained in their right to speak, the editorial states, but the new law has  changed the ability of their targets to respond:

“And this, we suspect, is really what they [critics] object to. It’s in the public interest to have the fullest possible debate, not one that most favors those backed by the most money–from folks who want something in return. In public financing, the folks who ante up are the people.”

In fact, some groups opposing the new law really don’t want to see the elimination of their advantage to pump large sums into third-party “issue ad” efforts, the editorial contends. It explores recent political history in Wisconsin to make its case and deplore the outcome:

“This kind of money in court campaigns is corrupting–if not actually swaying court decisions, then planting in the public’s mind the notion that such bias might be at work. The court should be above even the perception.”

You can read about the lawsuits, and about Wisconsin’s new law, in earlier Gavel Grab posts. To learn more about public financing of judicial elections, click here for Justice at Stake’s issue page on the topic.