Calls for Prosser Resignation More Than 10,000 Strong

MADISON, Wis. — More than 10,000 concerned citizens have signed One Wisconsin Now’s petition launched Monday calling for the resignation of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser. One Wisconsin Now started the petition after Justice Ann Walsh Bradley said Prosser put her in a “chokehold” during an argument over Prosser’s effort to muscle through a court decision in favor of GOP Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, who endorsed Prosser’s 2011 re-election campaign.

“The people of Wisconsin have sent a unified and unmistakable message: ‘David Prosser has got to go,’” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. “The people have rejected Prosser’s abusive behavior and feel he can no longer represent them on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”

Prosser’s temper and caustic demeanor towards his colleagues has been well documented for nearly two decades. In the spring, One Wisconsin Now made public footage of Prosser charging at a colleague on the Assembly floor in the mid-1990s. Prosser was denounced in March for calling Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson a “bitch” and threatening to “destroy” her.

Currently, the Dane County Sheriff’s office and the Wisconsin Judicial Commission are investigating Prosser. This Wisconsin Judicial Commission investigation is only the third one against a sitting justice; all three investigations have occurred over the last five years.

The Supreme Court may ultimately be the body making the decision as to punishment in this investigation. All findings of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission will be passed on to the Supreme Court for them to decide whether to call for Prosser’s suspension or removal. Prosser was previously the deciding vote to prevent fellow pro-corporate, conservative Justice Mike Gableman from being held accountable for a false ad against his opponent that was cited as the most racist television ad in the history of Wisconsin politics.

“If David Prosser’s attack had happened in the private sector, he would have been fired on the spot,” said Ross. “Wisconsin can’t function with a partisan time-bomb like Prosser ticking on the court, intimidating and assaulting the other Justices, and demeaning the Supreme Court.”