Campaign
Fair Courts
We're educating Wisconsinites about our state's lack of effective judicial recusal rules, and pushing for stronger recusal standards to ensure impartial justice in Wisconsin courts.
Fair Courts
A strong democracy requires protecting everyone’s constitutional rights and ensuring our courts are fair and impartial.
Fair courts are one of the foundations of democracy. Yet today, Supreme Court judges are not held to a binding code of ethics, while many state-level judges are forced to raise money from special interests to sit on the bench, or are selected through an unfair process.
Common Cause advocates for transparency and fairness when it comes to picking judges and shaping our courts. Ensuring that judges are beholden only to the law and keeping courtrooms fair are keys to building a strong 21st-century democracy.
What We’re Doing
Campaign
Background and History of Judicial Recusal in Wisconsin
The landscape began to shift about a decade ago when outside special interest groups, for the first time, began to pour millions of dollars into the election of two State Supreme Court Justices.
Your financial support helps us make an impact by holding power accountable and strengthening democracy.
Related Articles
Article
To be truly fair Wisconsin courts must be free from big political money
Wisconsin needs to begin to figure out a better way to elect state Supreme Court justices and judges at all levels and those discussions need to begin in earnest now.
Blog Post
Wisconsin After the Most Significant Election of 2023
The national hype for this contest for ideological control of the State Supreme Court was justified and not over the top. It was by any measure, monumentally significant.
Blog Post
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice-Elect Hagedorn’s “Gratitude” to Republican Party Underscores Necessity for Stronger Recusal Rules
Hagedorn says he will be impartial when he is sworn in as a justice later this Summer. But in the absence of stronger recusal rules for Wisconsin judges, will he really be impartial, objective, and beholden only to the law and not his supporters?
Press
Press Release
Misguided State Supreme Court Ruling for “Least Change” Voting Maps Creates Urgent Need for Redistricting Reform
What can be done to counter the disgust and dismay that most Wisconsinites feel right now about what the gerrymandered Republican majority in the Wisconsin Legislature and now, the conservative activists on the Wisconsin Supreme Court have done to defy the will of the people and extend and cement into place their rigged voting maps for another ten years? The answer is clear and simple. We must redouble our effort and determination to change the current corrupt status quo.
Press Release
Don’t overlook Wisconsin’s critical Supreme Court election
A pivotal seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is up for grabs April 7, and the outcome could be a bellwether for the presidential race in Wisconsin later in the fall.
Jay Heck
Executive Director
Common Cause Wisconsin