Judge Says He Won’t Block Supreme Court Chief Justice Amendment

A federal judge in Madison has rejected Justice Shirley Abrahamson’s request for a temporary injunction blocking a constitutional amendment that stripped her of her role as chief of the state’s high court.

Lawyers for the state Justice Department say Friday’s ruling by Judge James Peterson makes it clear that Justice Patience Roggensack is now chief of the high court. She was elected by four of her conservative colleagues last month after voters approved a referendum that requires the seven justices to elect their own chief.

Abrahamson argued that she has a right to remain chief until her term ends in 2019. Peterson said Roggensack hasn’t proposed any radical changes, so there won’t be any harm to the state court system if she leads the court until he decides the merits of Abrahamson’s claim later this summer.

The judge said the court would benefit from creating a transition plan for the change in leadership, but said it’s not his role as a federal judge to order a state court to change its procedures. Peterson said his job is to decide whether implementing the new election requirement violated Abrahamson’s federal due process rights.

Lawyers in the case will submit their final briefs by July 1. Peterson has promised to rule soon after that.