Ann Walsh Bradley (born July 5, 1950) is a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She was elected to the Supreme Court in 1995.
Justice Bradley was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin. She earned her bachelor's degree from Webster University in St. Louis. She worked as a high school teacher at Aquinas High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin before entering the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she earned a law degree in 1976. Justice Bradley worked in private law practice until becoming a circuit court judge in Marathon County in 1985.[1]
Justice Bradley is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a former associate dean and faculty member of the Wisconsin Judicial College, a former chair of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference, and a lecturer for the American Bar Association's Asia Law Initiative.
Contents |
Bradley was first elected to the Court in 1995, and re-elected in 2005 (for a term expiring July 31, 2015).
On June 13, 2011, Bradley had a confrontation with Justice David Prosser, Jr., which alleged became violent. Prosser, Bradley, and all other justices besides Patrick Crooks were informally discussing the next day decision that would overturn Judge Sumi's ruling on the collective bargaining law in Bradley's office. There are different accounts as to what occurred.[2] According to Bradley the discussion became heated after Bradley asked Prosser to leave her office and said she was bothered by his disparaging comments towards Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. Prosser allegedly then put his hands around Bradley's throat in what was described as a choke hold, but did not apply pressure. Prosser himself said that these reports will be proved false.[3]
According to other anonymous sources, Bradley attacked Prosser. "She charged him with fists raised," the source said. Prosser "put his hands in a defensive posture," the source said. "He blocked her." In doing so, the source said, he made contact with Bradley's neck.[4] Shortly after the incident, Bradley told the other Justices in the room she had just been choked by Prosser, to which an unknown Justice stated "You were not choked". Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs was notified of the incident shortly after and he met with the entire Supreme Court. During the meeting, Chief Justice Abrahamson actually reenacted the incident on Chief Tubbs. Abrahamson emphasized that Prosser had exerted “pressure” on Bradley’s throat. “There was no pressure,” interrupted the justice who had initially broken up the incident between Bradley and Prosser. “That’s only because you broke us apart,” shot back Bradley. This exchange led several meeting attendees to believe Bradley was making up the charge, as they took her rejoinder as an admission that there was no pressure applied to her neck.[5] The incident was reportedly being investigated by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, which investigates misconduct among judges in the state. However, James Alexander, executive director of the commission, said that "we can neither confirm nor deny" that the incident was under investigation. The incident broke the media on June 25, nearly two weeks after the incident, when Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism broke the news of an ongoing investigation of their own into the incident and revealed they had been talking to "reliable" anonymous sources. Justice Prosser denied he choked Bradley saying "Once there's a proper review of the matter and the facts surrounding it are made clear, the anonymous claims made to the media will be proven false." However, Justice Bradley said Prosser had choked her, stating: "The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold." An investigation into the incident is ongoing.[6][7][8]
The Dane County Sheriff's report indicated that there was no choking, that Justice Bradley "did not recall Justice Prosser squeezing or applying pressure around her neck", and that Justice Bradley rapidly approached Justice Prosser, going "face to face to confront him", in her own words.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media outlets reported that Neither Supreme Court Justice David Prosser nor fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley will face criminal charges from the incident.
|
|||||