Wisconsin Supreme Court justices are now allowed to hear cases involving their campaign contributors after the Court approved new rules on a 4-3 vote Thursday.
The new rules, written by a business lobby group that spent money on both Justice Michael Gableman and Justice Annette Ziegler's campaigns, are criticized for allowing justices to seek and accept campaign funds from companies or individuals with pending cases.
Mike McCabe, executive director of the government watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said an American Viewpoint poll conducted in 2008 showed five percent of Wisconsin residents believe judges' decisions are not swayed by campaign contributions.
""It is hard to imagine that would not be perceived as a conflict of interest for a judge by many, if not most, citizens. In this way, the proposal falls far short of what is needed to restore public trust and inspire confidence in the integrity of the judiciary,"" he said in a statement.
Proponents of the new rules say campaign contributions do not necessarily cause a justice to participate in decisions with bids.
In Justice David Prosser's rule amendment proposal, he said requiring justices to involuntarily recuse themselves from cases discourages ""the broadest possible participation in financing campaigns by all citizens of the state.""
The Court's decision to adopt the rules comes just days after a slew of judicial and legislative decisions, on both the national and state level, that affect campaign contributions.
In December 2009, Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law the Impartial Justice bill, legislation that provides qualified Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates with full public financing.
—Hannah Furfaro
