![]() "Evers' judges" is our effort to present information about Gov. Tony Evers' appointees to the bench. The information is taken from the appointees' own judgeship applications. WJI also will continue to profile former Gov. Scott Walker's appointees who are still in office. Name: Beau Liegeois Appointed to: Brown County Circuit Court Appointment date: Sept. 20, 2019. (Elected to a six-year term in April 2020) Education: Law School – Valparaiso University, Valparasio, IN Undergraduate – University of Wisconsin Madison High School – Green Bay West High School Judge Advocate General training – U.S. Army JAG's Legal Center and School Recent legal employment: 2008-present – Brown County District Attorney's Office 2010-2018 – Wisconsin Army National Guard 2007-2008 – Brown County Corporation Counsel's Office Bar and Administrative Memberships: State of Wisconsin General character of practice before becoming a judge: Mostly criminal prosecution; also active in developing treatment court as an alternative to incarceration. Describe typical clients: Represented military personnel as a defense counsel while a JAG. Also assisted with family law issues, wills, and powers of attorney. Number of cases tried to verdict or judgment: 27 jury trials, 50+ court trials. Describe up to three significant trials, appeals, or other legal matters in which you participated as a judge or lawyer in the past seven years: State v. Riemer – 2015 – Wisconsin Army National Guard – recruiter misconduct – I was assigned as Assistant Trial Counsel (military prosecutor). This was the first General Court Martial in the history of the Wisconsin National Guard. The recruiter committed offenses that were not civilian crimes so the local district attorney was unable to prosecute. However, they were very serious military crimes, so the Adjutant General wanted the offenses prosecuted in a military criminal court. The co-Trial Counsel, CPT Criag Lambert, and I had to draft many court documents from scratch because we were utilizing the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice, Chapter 322 of the Wisconsin Statutes, for the first time in our state's history. The defendant pied guilty to felony offenses and received the first jail sentence in the history of the Wisconsin National Guard. At the conclusion of the case, Craig and I received a meritorious challenge coin from the Adjutant General, Major General Donald Dunbar. State v. Brittany Mefford – Brown County case 13CF295 – 1st degree reckless homicide – delivering drugs – My role was the prosecutor at the jury trial where the defendant was found guilty. This was a complicated case where mulitple (sic) individuals delivered the heroin in a chain before the heroin reached the overdose victim. This defendant was the highest in the chain of deliveries and the first drug dealer in the chaine (sic) who was actually profitting (sic) from the sale of heroin. The overdose victim's family was very involved in the case. The victim's grandmother attended every court hearing, but his mother was so emotionally devastated that she was unable to even walk into the courtroom. The defendant was found guilty at trial and sentenced to 6 years of initial confinement in prison. State v. Maria J. Patino – Brown County case 12CF1570 – Conspiracy to deliver THC – My role was the prosecutor at the jury trial where the defendant was found guilty. This case was part of a large-scale drug trafficking organization that shipped drugs and firearms from California to Brown County. The most significant participants in this conspiracy ended up pleading guilty and received long prison sentences. This conspirator went to trial on her case. It was a difficult case to try because there was no evidence that the defendant ever actually handled the drugs. Her role was laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars that were the proceeds from drug transactions to support the drug trafficking organization. She was sentenced to 2 years of initial confinement in prison. Experience in adversary proceedings before administrative bodies: Represented defendants and the government before the administrative separation board Previous runs for political office: Ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. Position or involvement in judicial, non-partisan, or partisan political campaign, committee, or organization: None All judicial or non-partisan candidates endorsed in the last six years: Tony Evers, governor Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Senate Mandela Barnes, Lt. governor Josh Kaul, attorney general Sarah Godlewski, state treasurer David Lasee, Brown County district attorney All of the endorsements were in 2018.
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![]() By Gretchen Schuldt State Supreme Court candidate Jill Karofsky won in most of the North Shore suburbs of Milwaukee County in Tuesday's primary election, while incumbent Daniel Kelly did better in the southern suburbs. Karofsky, with 47,432 votes, was the top Milwaukee County finisher in the Feb. 18 primary. Incumbent Daniel Kelly finished second, with 44,088 votes, and Ed Fallone finished third, with 25,963 votes. Statewide, Kelly finished first with 352,855 votes, Karofsky got 261,723, and Fallone received 89,181. Karofsky and Kelly will compete in the April 7 general election. In Milwaukee County Karofsky won in Bayside, Brown Deer, Fox Point, Glendale, Milwaukee, St. Francis, Shorewood, and Whitefish Bay. Kelly won in Cudahy, Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Hales Corners, Oak Creek, River Hills, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, West Allis, and West Milwaukee. Karofsky, a Dane County circuit judge, and Fallone, a Marquette University law professor, are considered more liberal than Kelly, who was appointed by former Gov. Scott Walker and is a member of the conservative Federalist Society. Kelly won in some communities because Karofsky and Fallone split the more liberal vote. All other things being equal, if Fallone voters back Karofsky in the general election, she will pick up Cudahy, River Hills, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, and West Milwaukee, all of which went for Kelly in the primary. She also would pick up an additional 96 wards in the city of Milwaukee. Statewide, Karofsky would need to pick up all of Fallone's votes, plus 1,952 more to unseat Kelly. Milwaukee County primary voter turnout was highest in Shorewood, at 34%, and lowest in West Milwaukee, at 18%. Kelly / Karofsky battle gets nasty at Supreme Court candidate forum; Fallone stays clear of it1/30/2020 ![]() By Gretchen Schuldt (We'll be coming back to this forum in later posts.) State Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly on Thursday accused challenger Jill Karofsky of "disgusting slander" before insisting that Karofsky apologize to Chief Justice Patience Roggensack, who hadn't been mentioned by anyone until Kelly brought her up. Marquette University Law Professor Ed Fallone, the third candidate vying for a 10-year term on the court, remained removed from the back-and-forth. "There may be people around the state of Wisconsin who are happy to see our Supreme Court elections descend to this level," Fallone said. "If there are, I've never met them." The Karofsky-Kelly battle occurred during a Supreme Court candidate forum sponsored by the Milwaukee Bar Association and WJI. Karofsky went after Kelly hard, saying he catered to right wing special interests. Near the end of the forum she said, "I just want to respond to Justice Kelly, saying I don't have any examples of him always finding (for) the right-wing special interest, and that's not true. The Koschkee case is a prime example. The lame-duck case is an example where the Supreme Court couldn't even wait to get their hands on that case to make a ruling." In Koschkee, a 2019 decision, the Supreme Court ruled the governor had the right to reject rules proposed by the State Department of Public Instruction. The ruling reversed the court's 2016 decision on the same issue. The "lame duck" reference is to the Supreme Court's 2019 decision to uphold laws passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature to strip newly elected Democratic leaders, including Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, of powers their predecessors enjoyed. "They plucked it from the circuit court before the circuit court could even hold a hearing on it," said Karofsky, a Dane County circuit judge, "and they did it in the budget veto case again, and no one is going to be surprised by how Justice Kelly rules on those cases. They pulled them from the circuit court so that they could make the decision that they want to make as soon as they possibly could." Kelly responded sharply, and then pulled Roggensack into it. "I think we really do have to take Judge Karofsky to task for this disgusting slander, not just on me, but on my colleagues as well," he said. "This is about your personal advancement and you don't care who you are going to lie about," Kelly said. "But that's really not even the worst of it." Since he and Roggensack often agree, he said, Karofsky must be referring with her criticism to the chief justice as well. "And that is an outrageous slander on someone who has been a paragon of integrity for the entirety of her career and the practice of law and her service on the bench," he said. "Now you owe me an apology for this disgusting slander," he said. "I don't think I'll get one. Because if you didn't have slander, you wouldn't have a campaign. But you do owe Chief Justice Roggensack an apology. She's not here. She's not been part of this campaign. And she did not ask to be slandered by some careless trial judge who can't even be bothered to keep her insults focused on the target. So this is your opportunity. Apologize to Chief Justice Roggensack right now." "I'm not going to be bullied by you," Karofsky responded. Karofsky, Kelly said, "does not have the judgment or the character to get anywhere near the Supreme Court."
Forum moderator Steve Walters gave Karofsky a chance to respond. The comments she made reflect "what the voters, the people in the state of Wisconsin, are seeing," she said. "They are seeing decisions made on the Supreme Court before anyone ever walks into the state Supreme Court chamber. That isn't what justice is." Justice, she said, "is when a judge looks at the law and the judge allows the facts to percolate in a trial court, where I sit, so that witnesses can answer questions so that there can be a fair hearing, so that there is a process that is followed that everyone can see. That is what justice is. And then after that, the law is applied to the facts of the case and that's how you reach the right answer. That is what people in the state of Wisconsin are asking for and that is what they deserve." ![]() By Gretchen Schuldt (Updated April 11 to reflect Lisa Neubauer's concession to Brian Hagedorn.) Franklin had one ward with a 16.6 percent voter turnout in the April 2 election, the lowest participation rate in any ward in all 18 Milwaukee County suburbs. Still, that Franklin ward had a greater turnout than 146 Milwaukee wards did. Fifty wards in the city had turnout below 10 percent. The overall city rate was 22 percent. Those participation levels can be considered either an embarrassment or a great opportunity for improvement. They certainly helped Brian Hagedorn in his race against Lisa Neubauer for a seat on the State Supreme Court. Hagedorn leads by 5,960 votes and the two may be headed for a recount. (Neubauer conceded to Hagedorn on April 10.) A chart listing the 50 lowest-turnout Milwaukee wards and a map showing their locations are below.. Milwaukee win gives Danielle Shelton huge boost in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 40 win4/4/2019 ![]() By Gretchen Schuldt Circuit Judge-elect Danielle Shelton's big win in Milwaukee on Tuesday gave her a big boost in her decisive victory over incumbent Andrew Jones in the race for the Branch 40 bench, Milwaukee County election records show. Shelton's margin of victory in the city was 20 votes larger than it was countywide. Shelton, an assistant state public defender, won the race countywide by 18,243 votes, 71,647 to 53,404. In Milwaukee, she beat Jones by 18,263 votes, 38,414 to 20,141. Shelton won in 10 of the county's 18 suburbs. Her average suburban victory, however, was 442 votes, while her average suburban loss was 556 votes. Overall, she lost in the suburbs by 20 votes. Shelton's largest suburban win was in Shorewood, where she won by 1,608 votes and took 70 percent of the vote, the largest vote share either candidate won in the county. Shelton won 66 percent of the vote in Milwaukee, her second biggest vote share. Her largest loss was in Franklin, where Jones captured 61 percent of the ballots and won by 1,495 votes. The Branch 40 race did not attract the voter participation that the Supreme Court race between Lisa Neubauer and Brian Hagedorn did. There were 25,053, or 17%, fewer total votes cast for Shelton and Jones than there were for Hagedorn and Neubauer, who also faced off Tuesday. There were 125,051 votes for the two Branch 40 candidates and 150,104 for the Supreme Court contenders. Neubauer wins Milwaukee County in tight court race; turnout high in Shorewood, tanks in Milwaukee4/3/2019 By Gretchen Schuldt (Updated April 11 to reflect Lisa Neubauer's concession.) State Supreme Court candidate Lisa Neubauer handily outpolled opponent Brian Hagedorn in Milwaukee County, taking 62 percent of the votes in their contest for the State Supreme Court, according to county figures. That margin of victory did not reflect the statewide outcome. Hagedorn led early Wednesday afternoon in a tight race that may end with a recount. (Neubauer conceded to Hagedorn on April 10.) The voter turnout was fairly low in Milwaukee County - 29 percent - which likely hurt Neubauer's statewide chances. Big turnouts in the county generally help more liberal candidates, and Neubauer is considered to the left of the very conservative Hagedorn. The Milwaukee County turnout was 30 percent last year when Rebecca Dallet was elected to the State Supreme Court. The city of Milwaukee's turnout was an abysmal 22 percent, according to county Election Commission figures. Fewer than 10 percent of voters turned out in 50 of the city's 327 wards, the figures show. The lowest turnout – three percent – was in Milwaukee's Ward 192, just north of Marquette University. (There also was one ward where none of the five registered voters cast a ballot, but that ward is excluded from consideration here because of its tiny size.) The highest turnout in Milwaukee was 50 percent in Ward 300, just north of St. Francis on the city's South side. Only in Shorewood did more than half – 53 percent – of all voters turn out. Shorewood went in a big way for Neubauer, who won a whopping 83 percent of the votes. That is by far her biggest win in the county. In Milwaukee, she was backed by 73 percent of voters, her second-biggest victory. It was not a Milwaukee County sweep for Neubauer, however. She lost in Franklin, where she received only 39 percent of the vote. She also lost in Greendale (45 percent), Greenfield (44 percent), Hales Corners and Oak Creek (41 percent each), South Milwaukee (48 percent), and West Allis (47 percent). Milwaukee County Branch 40 judicial candidates Jones and Shelton discuss their litigation experience3/27/2019 By Gretchen Schuldt Danielle Shelton and Andrew Jones are competing for the Branch 40 judicial seat vacated by Rebecca Dallet when she was elected to the State Supreme Court in April 2018. Jones has held the seat since August, when he was appointed by former Gov. Scott Walker. This is the only contested Milwaukee County judicial race this spring. Shelton and Jones agreed to answer a series of questions from WJI to better inform voters about the race. Question 6: Describe your legal experience as an advocate in criminal litigation, civil litigation, and administrative proceedings.
By Gretchen Schuldt Andrew Jones and Danielle Shelton are competing for the Branch 40 judicial seat vacated by Rebecca Dallet when she was elected to the State Supreme Court in April 2018. Jones has held the seat since August, when he was appointed by former Gov. Scott Walker. This is the only contested Milwaukee County judicial race this spring. Jones and Shelton agreed to answer a series of questions from WJI to better inform voters about the race. Question 5: Describe the two most significant cases in which you were involved as either an attorney or a judicial officer.
Milwaukee County judicial candidates Jones and Shelton discuss their judicial philosophies3/24/2019 By Gretchen Schuldt Danielle Shelton and Andrew Jones are competing for the Branch 40 judicial seat vacated by Rebecca Dallet when she was elected to the State Supreme Court in April 2018. Jones has held the seat since August, when he was appointed by former Gov. Scott Walker. This is the only contested Milwaukee County judicial race this spring. Shelton and Jones agreed to answer a series of questions from WJI to better inform voters about the race. Question 4: Describe your judicial philosophy.
Milwaukee County judicial candidates Shelton and Jones ID bad U.S. Supreme Court decisions3/20/2019 By Gretchen Schuldt Andrew Jones and Danielle Shelton are competing for the Branch 40 judicial seat vacated by Rebecca Dallet when she was elected to the State Supreme Court in April 2018. Jones has held the seat since August, when he was appointed by former Gov. Scott Walker. This is the only contested Milwaukee County judicial race this spring. Shelton and Jones agreed to answer a series of questions from WJI to better inform voters about the race. Question 3: Name one of the worst United States or Wisconsin Supreme Court opinions in the last thirty years and explain why you feel that way.
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