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But following two contentious Supreme Court races in which special-interest groups funneled millions of dollars to run distorted ads that misled the electorate, those days are gone, said panelists at a forum on judicial standards Monday.
The forum, organized by the League of Women Voters of the La Crosse Area, featured a judge, a political science professor, attorney and legislator, who all agreed something must be done to restore credibility to the way the state elects Supreme Court justices.
The need for reform came to the forefront following the two most recent Supreme Court races, in which Annette Ziegler and Michael Gableman earned seats on the state’s high court thanks to the large financial support of conservative special-interest groups.
In both cases, more liberal special-interest groups spent equally astronomical amounts of money to support the opposing candidates, panelists pointed out.
La Crosse attorney Ellen Frantz, who has practiced since 1980, said those races have had a negative effect on how the public views the entire judicial system.
“It has shown me the big money coming in from both sides ... is a big problem. If it doesn’t actually taint fair and impartial justice, it certainly gives the perception that it is the reality,” Frantz said.
These groups essentially take the race away from the candidates and allows the special interests to develop the campaign issues, Frantz said.
The special-interest groups in most cases focused on crime and punishment, she added, even though the Supreme Court rarely acts on criminal cases and the groups have no interest in public safety issues.
While Wisconsin’s most recent history puts it at the forefront nationwide, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political science professor Joe Heim said it is a nationwide problem.
“This is now perceived as a national move by some forces — mainly conservatives — to essentially go after the third branch of government and take it over,” Heim said. “The assumption is if you can’t get the executive and legislative branches to do what you want, you get the Supreme Court.”
Seeing outside groups spending $4.8 million and candidates another $1.2 million for one Supreme Court race is chilling and a sign of a real problem, said La Crosse County Circuit Judge Ramona Gonzalez.
Having to spend that kind of money to get elected — and the way both candidates are dragged through the mud — can make more qualified candidates reluctant to run because of the cost and the negative effect it will have on them and their family.
A legislative effort last year to reform campaign financing for justice races by offering candidates $100,000 for primary races and $300,000 for the general election failed when Assembly leaders refused to bring it for a floor vote, said state Rep. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse.
Campaign finance reform would be a step in the right direction, Heim said. However, it alone would not cure the problem because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it would be a freedom of speech issue to limit how much outside groups can spend on election races.
To make any headway in cleaning up the way justices are elected, the Wisconsin Bar Association must do more to point out when ads are false or misleading, Heim said, and judges and the media must do more to educate the public about what the Supreme Court does and to tell more about the candidates’ qualifications.
