Dallet, Burns Talk Values During Debate Outside Milwaukee

With less than a month to go until the primary election, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Tim Burns and Rebecca Dallet continued to battle for votes at a debate Monday night.

At the debate in Greenfield, the two candidates considered to be more liberal differed over the value of being a judge. Sauk County Judge Michael Screnock, the third candidate in the race, was not able to attend the debate, according to organizers.

Dallet, a circuit court judge in Milwaukee County and former prosecutor, said only 20 percent of Wisconsin judges are women.

“And that is something we need to change. We need to be at the table to have the conversations and to protect the interest. To know what it’s like to not have a level playing field gives you a certain perspective. I think to be able to make sure that it is level for everyone in our system,” said Dallet, who has handled many domestic violence and sexual assault cases.

Dallet also touted her 10 years on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court bench, saying her background would help her restore trust and faith in the state Supreme Court.

But Burns, a Madison lawyer, said the judicial system is broken.

“We don’t need a part of that judicial system to come in and try to fix another part of the judicial system. This is the time for someone who has not been of the Wisconsin judicial system,” Burns said.

Burns said he’s spent his career standing up to big business and special interests. But Dallet said some of Burns’ cases against insurance companies have been on behalf of large corporations.

Also during the debate, Burns criticized Dallet for supporting Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack, considered to be conservative, in the 2013 Supreme Court race. Burns said appellate judge and former Supreme Court candidate Joanne Kloppenburg, who’s considered to be liberal, is backing him.

The primary is Tuesday, Feb. 20.