ICYMI: Records Detail Arrests of Conservative State Supreme Court Candidate Michael Screnock for Trespassing and Obstructing Law Enforcement Officers

MADISON, Wis. — Media reports this week uncovered Scott Walker Sauk County Circuit Court appointee and conservative candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court Michael Screnock was arrested for trespassing and resisting or obstructing officers on two occasions and that he failed to fully disclose the incidents on a judicial application. The arrests stem from his participation in protests to block women from being able to enter and access legal health care services at a Madison clinic, raising serious questions about his fitness to serve on the bench.

“Michael Screnock’s actions reveal an extremist whose views are far beyond the mainstream on women’s health care. Yet he feels his personal beliefs are above the law and that he is entitled to impose them upon others,” said One Wisconsin Now Research Director Joanna Beilman-Dulin.

Per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story:

“… Screnock and dozens of other protesters calling themselves “rescue workers” blocked access to the Bread and Roses Women’s Medical Center in Madison, which has since closed. Like many of the others, Screnock at first refused to give his name and had to be booked as John Doe until he identified himself.

Screnock also refused to cooperate with law enforcement at the time of his arrest:

“The officer who arrested Screnock and two others in June wrote in a report that the three would not go with police once told they were being arrested.

‘It was necessary for us to physically pick each of them up off the ground and place them in the portable chair provided by the Fire Department,’ the officer wrote, referring to a wheelchair that police used to ferry protesters to police vehicles.

Screnock did not initially identify himself and like most of the other protesters did not have identification with him.”

He also remains unrepentant about his actions, telling a reporter:

“… it’s not something I’ve ever regretted doing.”

As reported by the Associated Press, Screnock was also less than forthcoming about his criminal record on his application for his current judicial appointment:

“Gov. Scott Walker appointed Screnock as a Sauk County judge in 2015. In his application for the position, Screnock checked “no” when asked if he’d ever been cited or convicted. Later in the application, however, he noted he had been cited during the protests in a short summary of the incidents.”

Beilman-Dulin concluded, “Screnock’s extremist beliefs are so deeply held, he lied to law enforcement after he was arrested and he withheld information from the Governor to become a judge. How can the people of Wisconsin possibly trust Screnock not to lie to us, particularly when it comes to women’s constitutional right to access health care?”