Recent talk of impeaching a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice has ignored the actual process of removal for an ethics violation, which requires a two-thirds Assembly vote
Author Archives: Jack Kelly / Wisconsin Watch
Jack Kelly joined Wisconsin Watch in August 2023 as a statehouse reporter. He previously was a Wisconsin Watch contributing reporter on judicial and environmental issues and covered the statehouse for the Capital Times. He has a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison and a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Posted inGovernment
Evidence lacking in GOP case against top Wisconsin election official Meagan Wolfe
Critics have railed against many Wisconsin Elections Commission decisions, but they were made by bipartisan commissioners, not the administrator.
Posted inGovernment
Wisconsin Supreme Court emails detail chaotic first week of liberal control
Justices clashed publicly over rules changes and firing top administrator, but new records highlight key conflict over how quickly court business should move.
Posted inGovernment
Read the emails from the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s first week under liberal rule
Wisconsin Watch obtained the following emails under the Wisconsin open records law from Chief Justice Annette Ziegler and Justices Rebecca Bradley and Brian Hagedorn, the members of the court’s conservative minority.
Posted inGovernment
Wisconsin Democrats on ‘veto watch’ after Tony Evers blocks 10 bills
Republicans don’t control two-thirds of the Assembly, but they only need two-thirds of those present on a session day to override the governor’s veto.
Posted inJustice & Safety, Justice Deferred
‘Skipping the middleman’: Defendants faced shifting demands in Outagamie County judge’s one-man drug court
The judge says it met a need, but the self-styled program lacked structure and meant longer punishments for some.
Posted inJustice & Safety, Justice Deferred
Judge’s rigorous collection of court-ordered debt atypical in Wisconsin — even in his own county
Outagamie County Circuit Judge Vincent Biskupic has held dozens of review hearings stretching over years to push defendants to pay overdue court costs
Posted inJustice & Safety, Justice Deferred
Man decries lengthy ‘de facto probation’ in Outagamie County
Beau Jammes filed a complaint against Judge Vincent Biskupic, arguing that being subject to the judge’s scrutiny for months was ‘illegal’ — and unhelpful.
Posted inJustice & Safety, Justice Deferred
‘Why do you keep harassing me?’: An Outagamie County judge controls defendants after sentencing
A Wisconsin Watch and WPR analysis shows Judge Vincent Biskupic is the top user of this ‘de facto’ probation, which raises questions of judicial authority — and fairness.
Posted inJustice & Safety, Justice Deferred
Behind the story: How we reported on a judge’s unusual sentencing practices
The analysis required help from a court data firm and intense scrutiny of 142 cases.