A judge with poor judgment? Isnt that, like, kind of against the point?
Serially ethical recidivist Supreme Court ‘Justice’ Mike Gableman has made headlines again.
This time, he escapes by the skin of his now-perfectly aligned teeth to avoid reprimand from the Office of Lawyer Regulation for making illegal fundraising phone calls from his Burnett County District Attorney office phone.
Paul Schwarzenbart, lawyer for OLR wrote “for lack of any other explanation, one can infer that at least some of these calls may have related to Gableman supporting Gov. McCallum and the Cable fundraiser.” And just so we’re clear: state law clearly says using government phones and computers for campaigning is strictly prohibited, even if the state is reimbursed.
Too bad Gableman got a case of the ‘Alberto’s’ and just couldn’t recall what the heck he was talking about with GOPer fundraisers and campaign folks. OLR said that proving a violation occurred would be tough, given the unwillingness of Gableman and many others to cooperate with investigators.
What OLR did say is what One Wisconsin Now has been saying for more than a year ‘ Mike Gableman has a history of practicing bad judgment. For a judge on the state’s highest court, one would think ‘bad judgment’ would be an immediate disqualifier.
Other bloggers have taken notice. Cory Liebmann over at Eye on Wisconsin reminds us of Gableman’s dishonest and misleading loophole ad:
‘I don’t know about you, but that sounds an awful lot like a giant loophole that Gableman just skated through. I wonder how much he dislikes loopholes now?’
‘Poor professional judgment: it’s not the best quality in a judge.’
The ethics troubles for Gableman don’t stop at OLR. He’s still under investigation by the state Judicial Commission for making false statements in an ad his campaign aired. We’ll continue to bring you updates as they happen.
A judge with poor judgment. What a joke.