Supreme Court approval plummets

Justice David Prosser.

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.

If the Wisconsin Supreme Court isn’t careful, it could end up having lower approval ratings than Congress.

An opinion poll conducted by Justice at Stake, a nonprofit and nonpartisan group based in Washington, D.C., found that Wisconsinites’ confidence in their Supreme Court has nose-dived to 33 percent, down from 52 percent just three years ago.

“Wisconsin’s citizens are losing faith and confidence in their Supreme Court,” said Bert Brandenburg, the group’s executive director.

The survey, conducted in the wake of allegations of a physical altercation between Wisconsin Justices David Prosser and Ann Walsh Bradley, confirms that tensions on the court are having a negative effect on public confidence.

Eighty-four percent of respondents said they were aware of these allegations, first reported by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and Wisconsin Public Radio. And 80 percent reported knowing about an incident in which Justice Prosser called Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson a profane word and threatened to “destroy” her during an argument.

An even greater number of respondents — 88 percent — said they were “somewhat” or “very” concerned that rising spending on state Supreme Court campaigns is “compromising the fairness and impartiality of Wisconsin’s courts,” with 64 percent saying they were “very” concerned.

Despite that, only 23 percent of respondents said they preferred a system of merit selection to pick members of the court, while 59 percent were opposed. But nearly half said they would be more likely to support appointed justices if there were periodic retention elections, as are held in some other states.

The statewide opinion survey of 750 Wisconsin residents was conducted July 18-20 by 20/20 Insight Polling, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent.