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Supreme Court FAQs

Q. How is the Wisconsin Supreme Court structured?
A. The state’s highest court is made up of seven justices who are elected to 10-year terms in statewide non-partisan elections – meaning they don’t run as Republicans, Democrats or members of any other political party. As Wisconsin’s court of “last resort,” the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over all Wisconsin courts and has discretion to determine which appeals it will hear. The Supreme Court may also hear cases that begin in the high court, know as original actions.

Q. Does the Supreme Court perform other functions in addition to hearing and deciding cases?
A. Yes. The court has superintending and administrative authority over all courts in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has four Courts of Appeal, 241 circuit courts (all but six of Wisconsin’s 72 counties have at least one circuit court branch) and 244 municipal courts. The chief justice of the Supreme Court is the administrative head of Wisconsin’s judicial system and exercises administrative authority according to procedures adopted by the Supreme Court. It also oversees the disciplinary apparatus for attorneys.

Q. So, what is the Supreme Court’s main function?
A. A primary function of the Supreme Court is to ensure independent, open, fair and efficient resolution of disputes in accordance with the federal and state constitutions and laws.

Q. Who are the current Supreme Court justices?
A. The court is led by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. Other justices include Ann Walsh Bradley, Patrick Crooks, David Prosser, Pat Roggensack, Annette Ziegler and Michael Gableman.

Q. Do most states elect their Supreme Court justices?
A. It’s a mix. Wisconsin is one of 22 states with an elected judiciary. In another 16 states, judges are appointed, but voters get to decide whether they should be retained. In the remaining 12 states, judges are selected by governors or legislatures, and voters have no direct say in the process.

Q. How do cases come before the Supreme Court?
A. There are four ways:

• A party who has lost a case in the state Court of Appeals may file a petition for review.
• Any party may ask the Supreme Court to bypass the Court of Appeals and take a case.
• The Court of Appeals may ask the Supreme Court to take a case by certification.
• A party may begin a case of statewide significance (known as an original action) in the Supreme Court.

Q. How many cases does the Supreme Court hear in a typical year? What is the nature of those cases?
A. About 100 cases are accepted for review each year out of roughly 1,000 petitions for review. It takes the vote of at least three justices to take a case on a petition for review. More than two-thirds of the cases reviewed by the Supreme Court concern civil law, as opposed to criminal law.

Q. Are most of these cases decided on close votes by the court’s seven justices – say, 4-3 votes?
A. Not really. Of the 80 cases decided by the Supreme Court in its last session, 42 were unanimous.

Q. What recent cases have led to sharp divides in Supreme Court decisions?
A. Three 2005 cases expanded the liability rights of injured parties. One ruling, involving the fatal crane accident at Milwaukee’s Miller Park, loosened the standard for punitive damages. Another struck down the state’s $350,000 cap on economic damages for medical malpractice; a cap since reset at $750,000 by the Wisconsin Legislature. A third allowed a child allegedly poisoned by lead paint to sue lead-paint manufacturers without proving those manufacturers were specifically to blame.

The court has also split on what to do about wrongful convictions. In 2005, on a 4-3 vote, the court disallowed a minor’s coercively obtained confession and ruled that, henceforth, interrogations of juveniles could not be used as evidence unless they were recorded.

Cases involving family law often produce split decisions. For example, a series of decisions has broadened the ability of the state to terminate parental rights. In 2001, the court voted, 4-3, that a father of nine children by four different women who has intentionally refused to pay child support regardless of his ability to do so can be required by the court to avoid having another child unless he shows he can support that child and his current children.

Q. So, how much as citizens do we really know about the court?
A. Not much, if you believe the results of a recent public-opinion poll. A poll of 509 likely voters commissioned by the Federal Society found that only 22 percent knew the court has seven justices, only 16 percent could name one of the seven justices, but 71 percent favor continuing the tradition of electing judges.

Q. What kinds of questions can we ask of the candidates during the March 27th forum that would best draw out the differences between them?
A. Let’s start with what you probably cannot ask: Questions about cases that are likely to appear before the court will not be answered by judicial candidates because it would appear prejudicial. In other words, they would be giving their opinion on a case before the facts and the legal questions are presented to them.

- Compiled by We the People/Wisconsin from press reports, court documents and other public sources.