Lawmakers Preserve Legal Oversight Panel In Budget Vote

GOP lawmakers have blocked Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to strip Wisconsin’s Judicial Commission of its independence.

The Judicial Commission has the power to launch investigations against lawyers, judges and state Supreme Court justices, and it hasn’t been shy about using that power.

The Commission found that Justice Mike Gableman violated the state’s judicial code when he ran a campaign ad that made knowingly false statements. It also found that Justice David Prosser violated the judicial code in an altercation with fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.

Gov. Walker would have placed the agency under the power of the state Supreme Court, but every Republican and Democrat on the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted to block the move.

Lawmakers also voted to preserve Wisconsin’s Judicial Council, which generates ideas for how to run the court system. Walker’s budget would have eliminated it.