Four vie for Green County Circuit Court bench

Four people are vying for the Green County Circuit Court Branch 1 seat. They are Faun Marie Phillipson, Daniel R. Bartholf, Peter B. Kelly, and Jane Bucher.

Bartholf and Phillipson are in private practice. Bucher is an assistant state public defender. Kelly is in private practice and is a Green County court commissioner.

​The primary election is Feb. 16. The top two finishers will advance to the April 6 general election.

WJI asked each of the four candidates to answer a series of questions. Two, Bartholf and Phillipson, provided answers. The two others, Bucher and Kelly, did not. The questions are patterned after some of those on the job application Gov. Evers uses when he is considering judicial appointments.

Bartholf's resume is here; WJI is awaiting Phillipson's.

Bartholf

Why do you want to become a judge?
 
Response:  A core guiding principle for me is that I want to make a difference, a positive impact, and to improve the lives of my clients or those organizations that I volunteer or participate in.  Being a judge will allow me to have even more of a positive impact on the whole Green County community.  My dedication to public service and my reserved and calm demeanor makes me a great fit to be judge.

Name one of the best United States or Wisconsin Supreme Court opinions in the last thirty years and explain why you feel that way.
 
Response:  As a circuit court judge, my job would be to apply the law that is currently in place.  While I am not trying to evade this question, it just doesn’t matter my opinion as to any particular decision.  I will apply the law no matter if I like or dislike the decision.  I have no desire to make new law from the bench.

Name one of the worst United States or Wisconsin Supreme Court opinions in the last thirty years and explain why you feel that way.
 
Response:  As a circuit court judge, my job would be to apply the law that is currently in place.  While I am not trying to evade this question, it just doesn’t matter my opinion as to any particular decision.  I will apply the law no matter if I like or dislike the decision. I have no desire to make new law from the bench.

Describe your judicial philosophy.
 
Response:  For those that know me, I am on the reserve side.  I listen more than I talk.  This is how I will operate in my courtroom.  I will make sure each side, whether represented or not, has an equal and fair ability to present his or her case.  I will fully review all testimony and evidence, weigh the credibility of witnesses, and determine the relevant facts.  I will then apply those facts to the underlying law and arrive at a prompt and unbiased decision.  

Describe the two most significant cases in which you were involved as either an attorney or a judicial officer.
 
Response:  When I take a new case or take on a new client, I do not treat one client’s matter as more important than another.  I take great satisfaction when I have resolved a client’s matter.  For example, in a divorce no matter if it is client that has little property to divide or a client that has significant funds or highly contested placement issues, helping a client through the process and bringing the case to a final conclusion is very satisfying.  Working hard on the case, keeping the client informed along the way, will lead to satisfied clients, even if the trial results may not always go their way.

Describe your legal experience as an advocate in criminal litigation, civil litigation, and administrative proceedings.
 
Response:  I am a general practice lawyer and I have been practicing over 21 years in many areas of the law that a circuit court judge will handle.  This includes family, municipal, Guardian ad Litem, guardianships, child abuse and neglect and other juvenile law, business, real estate, probate, contracts, small claims and civil litigation, among other areas.  This significant and well-rounded experience will be an advantage because I will not have to learn on the job. 

Have you ever been convicted of a crime, either misdemeanor or felony?
 
Response:  No.
 
Have you ever been cited for a municipal offense?
 
Response:  No.
 
Do you support requiring any justice to recuse him/herself from cases involving donors and indirect supporters who contribute money or other resources to the judge’s election?  If not, why not?  If so, why?  What contribution limits would you set?
 
Response:  Yes.  Most of my donors are family, friends or clients that I would recuse myself anyways.  Making a donation to a judge’s campaign, other than something nominal, brings the impression that the judge has a conflict or will not act in an impartial manner.  I believe that if a donor would make a donation over $100 to a campaign that the judge should recuse him or herself. 

What are the greatest obstacles judges face when trying to deliver true justice?  What can or should be done by them?
 
Response:  For judges to make fair, impartial and informed decisions, they need to be able to effectively receive all relevant information.  This can be hard with pro se clients or minorities (especially those that English is not their primary language) that don’t understand how to present that information.  Being prepared and informing the litigants in advance so they can know what to expect in contested hearings is important.  Being patient, calm and taking the necessary time will be necessary.
 
Provide any other information you feel would be helpful to potential voters deciding whom to vote for.
 
Response:  I have been practicing law my entire 21.5-year career in Green County. I currently have the most expansive law practice of any of the candidates for this position. A Green County Circuit Court Judge will hear cases of all practice areas - from family law, small claims, juvenile law including child abuse and neglect, guardianships, probate matters, evictions, restraining orders, contracts to civil litigation trials. These are all areas that I currently practice and no other candidate can say the same.  Combined with my reserve and even-handed demeanor, I am the best fit for judge for Green County.

Phillipson

Why do you want to become a judge?
 
I would like to put my skills, my experience and my education to work for Green County in the best way I know how. I’m smart, I have 20 years of experience practicing law in state and federal courts, and I am unbiased. I believe in a judicial branch that doesn’t play politics, and I embrace our judiciary as a strong foundation of the balance of power. I want to be part of that tradition. I believe my home county deserves the best of the best.
 
Name one of the best United States or Wisconsin Supreme Court opinions in the last thirty years and explain why you feel that way. 

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644, 135 S. Ct. 2584, 192 L. Ed. 2d 609 (2015). The Equal Protection and Due Process analyses are instructive and the reasoning is elegant. My favorite statement, from Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion, speaks to the core truths of both humanity and jurisprudence: “Marriage responds to the universal fear that a lonely person might call out only to find no one there,” and because each of us is capable of heart-wrenching loneliness each of us should have the right to togetherness. See Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. at 667. I remember sitting on my front porch reading the full opinion on the day it was published, thinking this application of Constitutional law to ordinary everyday rights was both academically brilliant and genuinely beautiful.

Name one of the worst United States or Wisconsin Supreme Court opinions in the last thirty years and explain why you feel that way. 
 
No comment.

Describe your judicial philosophy. 
 
Theories of judicial philosophy are many, varied and complex; you could spend an entire semester of law school deciphering this question. Let me break it down very clearly: I am running for Green County Circuit Court – which is the first and likely only court in which most citizens will appear. It’s imperative for the judge to get it right the first time, because few people have the financial ability, or time, to appeal.  If elected, I will approach my cases with intelligence and fairness and decide cases based on facts and law. I have no desire to legislate from the Bench, nor do I believe it is appropriate to do so.

Describe the two most significant cases in which you were involved as either an attorney or a judicial officer.
 
Significantly on a personal level, early in my career, I represented a woman with a variety of addictions. Several times, we fought – and beat – the charges against her. My firm ultimately withdrew as counsel for a number of reasons, but the former client had my cell phone number and would continue to call me regularly at all hours of the night. I chose not to answer. I eventually learned the woman had been found dead in her swimming pool in the Hamptons later that summer. To this day, I wonder if I should have answered the phone for her 3 a.m. calls, or if my firm should not have withdrawn as counsel, or whether the woman would still be alive had I refused to represent her and she had, instead, spent time in custody at Riker’s. The line between human and lawyer, between advocate and friend and, I imagine, between occupying a seat on the Bench and a space in the rest of the world is one that deserves serious thought and respect.
 
Significantly with regard to setting (not so great) precedent, I lost a matter that resulted in case law emphasizing the great deference given to arbitration awards – even if the findings are “implicit” in the arbitrators’ decisions. See Loeb v. Blue Star Jets, LLC, No. 09 CIV. 7858 (SAS), 2009 WL 4906538, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 17, 2009) (“It is well established that courts must grant an arbitration panel's decision great deference.”) Despite the loss, it was a total privilege to appear before the Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin.

Describe your legal experience as an advocate in criminal litigation, civil litigation, and administrative proceedings.   
 
I have been practicing law for 20 years, and I have had my own law firm for 16 of those years. My experience is broad and varied. At the beginning, when we first opened our firm, we took almost any case that came our way. At this point, the majority of my work is civil litigation – and mostly on the defense side. I am licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and New York, and I am admitted to practice before the following courts: U.S. Court of Appeals (Second Circuit); U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York; U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Have you ever been convicted of a crime, either misdemeanor or felony? If so, explain. When did the incident(s) occur?
 
No.
 
Have you ever been cited for a municipal offense? If so, explain. When did the incident(s) occur? 
 
No.

Do you support requiring any justice to recuse him/herself from cases involving donors and indirect supporters who contribute money or other resources to the judge's election? If not, why not? If so, why? What contribution limits would you set?

 I do not support a broad and overarching recusal standard for Circuit Court judges with regard to donors and indirect supporters of the judge’s campaign. Green County has a population of approximately 37,000 people according to the 2010 census. My hometown of New Glarus has a population of approximately 2,100 people, and the county seat of Monroe’s population is roughly 10,800 as of the 2010 census. It is possible, and even likely, that a judge will have a courtroom encounter with an individual they know or with whom the judge has been acquainted at some point. It’s pure math. If a person lives across the street and you wave at them every Sunday while taking out the garbage, must you recuse yourself? Probably not. If a person contributes $25 or $50 to your judicial campaign, must you recuse yourself? Probably not. The rules are clear: if bias or a perception of bias exists, then recusal is appropriate. See Wis. Stat. §757.19(g) (“[w]hen a judge determines that, for any reason, he or she cannot, or it appears he or she cannot, act in an impartial manner.”). See also S.C.R. 60.03 and 60.04. My campaign has been largely self-funded, and funded by my parents. I also have received contributions from friends, colleagues and community members in varying amounts. Those contributions – whether financial, or whether in the form of assistance in canvassing and putting up yard signs – would not bias my judgment.

What are the greatest obstacles judges face when trying to deliver true justice? What can or should be done about them?  
 
Let’s hope that I am elected this Spring, and that I can then answer this question appropriately from the judge’s point of view. For now, I will just say that one of the toughest aspects is probably balancing your human side with and against the need to be strong and impartial. Judges are not robots; if measuring facts against law was a purely technical exercise, then we could create an algorithm to feed into a computer and spit out the results of any given case. That’s not how it works; therefore, ultimately you want and need a judge who is strong, smart and fair. What can you do about this? Vote Phillipson for Judge.