WJI's Daily Reads for June 16, 2022

Associated Press: Dane County judge fines Michael Gableman $2000 per day for contempt and will refer him for discipline.

(Circuit Judge Frank) Remington chided Gableman for what he called his “unprofessional conduct” and for launching into “an irrelevant diatribe” at last week’s hearing. Remington forwarded the order to the office that hands down disciplinary actions against attorneys and judges in Wisconsin. Gableman could face additional sanctions that include suspension or revocation of his license to practice law.

His order cites comments Gableman made that were captured by the microphone while the court was in recess where he made sarcastic comments about the judge and the ability of American Oversight’s attorney Christa Westerberg to do her job without the help of the judge.
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Slate: National coverage of Gableman's courtroom behavior.

It is hard to see how (Michael) Gableman’s investigation can continue after this mortifying episode. As recently as Tuesday, Trump cited the Wisconsin audit as the one that was going to vindicate his lies about the 2020 election. Yet the public has no reason to trust the probe and every reason to dismiss it as an assault on free and fair elections in Wisconsin. Rather than root out nonexistent fraud, Gableman is fighting to save what’s left of his legal career. 

Courthouse News Service: Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacates District Judge William Griesbach's decision upholding school ban on gun t-shirts.

Courthouse News Service: Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds blood test of man arrested for driving drunk while parked in his driveway.

The defendant argued the blood draw after his arrest was unlawful because the warrant allowing it did not prove he committed a crime, something the judge who issued the warrant admitted might be true.

The New York Times: Lawyer helping Donald Trump talked of pressuring Supreme Court justices with idea of  "chaos" on Jan. 6, 2020.

“So the odds are not based on the legal merits but an assessment of the justices’ spines, and I understand that there is a heated fight underway,” Mr. (John) Eastman wrote, according to the people briefed on the contents of the email. Referring to the process by which at least four justices are needed to take up a case, he added, “For those willing to do their duty, we should help them by giving them a Wisconsin cert petition to add into the mix.”
The pro-Trump lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, replied that the “odds of action before Jan. 6 will become more favorable if the justices start to fear that there will be ‘wild’ chaos on Jan. 6 unless they rule by then, either way.”