Shirley Abrahamson

Shirley Abrahamson
Associate Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office 1976
Preceded by	Horace W. Wilkie
Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
In office August 1, 1996 – April 29, 2015
Appointed by	Patrick Lucey
Preceded by	Roland B. Day
Succeeded by	Patience D. Roggensack
Personal details
Born	(1933-12-17) December 17, 1933 New York, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Seymour Abrahamson
Alma mater	New York University (A.B.) Indiana University (J.D.) University of Wisconsin-Madison (LL.M., S.J.D.)

Shirley S. Abrahamson (born December 17, 1933) is a member and former Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey, becoming the first woman to serve on Wisconsin's high court. She served as the only woman on the court from 1976 until 1993. Abrahamson was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 1979, 1989, 1999, and 2009. She became Chief Justice on August 1, 1996 and served in that capacity until April 29, 2015, when Patience Drake Roggensack was elected to the position.

Abrahamson initiated a federal legal challenge seeking reinstatement as Chief Justice. On May 15, 2015 U.S. District Judge James Peterson denied her request to be reinstated as chief justice. Her appeal of this decision was dismissed on July 31, 2015.^[1] and she withdrew her lawsuit on November 10, 2015.^[2]

Biography

Early life and education

Abrahamson was born and raised in New York City, where she attended Hunter College High School.^[3] She earned an A.B. magna cum laude from New York University in 1953, a J.D. with high distinction from Indiana University Law School in 1956, and an S.J.D. in American legal history from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1962.

Career

Abrahamson practiced law in Madison, Wisconsin for 14 years and was a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey, becoming the first woman to serve on Wisconsin's high court. She became Chief Justice on August 1, 1996 and served in that capacity until April 29, 2015.

Abrahamson has authored more than 450 majority opinions and participated in more than 3500 written decisions of the court. She has been involved in deciding more than 10,000 petitions for review, bypasses, certifications and lawyer and judicial discipline cases.

She is a member of the Council of the American Law Institute and serves on the board of directors of the Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration at New York University School of Law. She has been President of the Conference of Chief Justices and Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts and has served on the board of visitors of several law schools. She served as a member of the United States National Academies Committee on Science, Technology and Law, and was chair of the National Institute of Justice Committee on the Future of DNA Evidence.

In 1997 she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,^[4] and in 1998 she was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, two scholarly societies in the United States. She is a member of the Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2004 she was awarded the first annual Dwight Opperman Award for Judicial Excellence by the American Judicature Society. She has received the Margaret Brent Award from the American Bar Association.

She has received numerous other awards and fifteen honorary degrees from universities and colleges across the U.S. She is featured in Great (Top 100) American Judges: An Encyclopedia (2003), The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2005), and The Lawdragon 500 Leading Judges in America (2006). She won re-election on April 7, 2009, defeating Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Randy Koschnick.^[5]

In April, 2015 voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that changed the way that the chief justice of the Supreme Court was selected. Previously the justice with the most seniority held the position, but the amendment allowed court members to choose the chief justice. On April 29, 2015, the day the vote canvass was certified by the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, the justices elected Justice Patience D. Roggensack as the new chief justice. According to Abrahamson's own opinion in the 2002 case, State v. Gonzalez, "“[U]nless a constitutional amendment provides otherwise, it takes effect upon the certification of a statewide canvass of the votes,” Since that date, as there is no wording in the amendment saying it should not take effect after the canvass, and no stay or temporary restraining order on the amendment, Justice Roggensack became the Chief Justice, and she has acted in that position in court business since then.

Abrahamson filed a federal lawsuit challenging the immediate implementation of the constitutional amendment, contending that she should remain chief justice until the expiration of her current term in 2019. Her lawsuit was heard on May 15, 2015. Five of the seven justices asked the federal judge to dismiss Abrahamson’s lawsuit.^[6] That day, the federal court denied Abrahamson's request for immediate reinstatement as Chief Justice. U.S. District Judge James Peterson determined there was no harm in Roggensack serving as chief justice while Abrahamson's lawsuit continues.^[7]

On May 27 she appealed that decision to the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals.^[8] However, she dropped the lawsuit on November 10, after deciding that, no matter what happened in her lawsuit, her term would be close to ending by the time the litigation finally ended.^[2]

Personal life

Abrahamson and her husband, Seymour, have been married for 54 years; they have one son.

Notes

External links

• Wisconsin Court System profile of Justice Abrahamson