Editorial Roundup: Wisconsin

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. May 30, 2024.

Editorial: Appearances matter for court officials

We’ve editorialized numerous times about the need for judges and court officials to not just be impartial, but to be seen to be impartial. We’ve said that means occasionally stepping back from what you might personally wish to do in order to ensure the court’s reputation is protected.

Most of those editorials have targeted the U.S. Supreme Court, which still rejects any meaningful code of conduct and whose members seem to have new embarrassments emerge on a weekly basis. This time it’s a judge in Wisconsin.

Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost is overseeing a challenge to the state’s law on collective bargaining, which bans almost all such organization for public employees. Frost’s name, address and what appears to be his signature are on a petition created in the wake of that law’s adoption in a recall bid targeting then-Gov. Scott Walker.

While we haven’t independently confirmed the signature, the fact it has the correct address and appears just above the signature of his wife strongly suggests legitimacy.

There was nothing particularly untoward about Frost signing the petition at the time. He wasn’t a judge then. He was an attorney, in private practice, who was to all appearances exercising his First Amendment rights. The problem isn’t then, though. It’s now.

For Frost to be in charge of the courtroom hearing a lawsuit on this very matter, one on which he appears to have clearly expressed his opinion, does no service to the courts. He should step back from the case and recuse himself because of the appearance of a conflict.

Gov. Tony Evers, who appointed Frost, has publicly disagreed with those calls. He called recusal “kind of a death knell of the judiciary.” Frankly, we’re not sure what he means by that.

Recusal does not mean the judge is ineligible to hear other cases. It does not mean the person must be removed from the bench, nor that other judges cannot fairly hear the case which triggers the recusal.

Far from being a “death knell,” recusal is in fact a sign of good health and conscientiousness. It means the judge in question is self aware enough to recognize that there appears to be a conflict, regardless of whether the judge believes they could rule fairly. It shows an understanding that the courts need to avoid any strong suggestion that they have prejudged a case, an inference that can be easily drawn in this instance.

The Associated Press said more than 24 judges signed the petitions, and we’d call that a lapse in judgement. The judges may well be correct in saying it was free speech, but there are also times when even such constitutionally protected speech raises questions. To cite a common phrase, you’re free to speak, but not to avoid the consequences of such speech.

By signing the petition, the judges made a political comment. That’s something we would urge any court official to be exceptionally cautious about.

Besides, the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct bars judges from participating in activities related to a political party, candidate, or anything that gives “the appearance of impropriety.” The petition to recall Walker may not have been in favor of a specific candidate or under the explicit aegis of a party, but it was undeniably a kissing cousin of the latter.

Frost has the opportunity to send a powerful message in support of a nonpartisan judiciary, one that rejects the open partisanship so often displayed in Washington. For the good of Wisconsin and for the good of the courts, he should take it.

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Wisconsin State Journal. June 2, 2024.

Editorial: Drop failed war on weed in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has lost its misguided war on marijuana. It’s time for the stubborn and outdated prohibitionists who run the Republican-run Legislature to finally surrender. They should let adults — those 21 and older, the same legal age for alcohol — make their own decisions about this relatively mild drug.

That’s what 24 other states do, allowing cannabis for recreational use. An additional 14 states permit marijuana for medical purposes.

Wisconsin isn’t just falling behind 3 out of every 4 states across the country in granting this small measure of freedom. Our leaders are way behind the voting public, too. Sixty-four percent of respondents to the statewide Marquette Law School poll said they back legalization for recreational use in Wisconsin, compared to just 30% opposed. And 83% favor medical marijuana.

Wisconsin residents already can — and do, by the tens of thousands — buy legal cannabis in neighboring Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. Dispensaries advertise on billboards along major Wisconsin highways leading to border communities. Illinois alone collected $418 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales in 2023. More than $35 millio n of that revenue came from Wisconsin buyers. That’s money that should be pouring into Wisconsin coffers instead.

Communities such as Appleton, Kenosha, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, Stevens Point, Waukesha and Superior have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana. The federal government plans to remove it from a list of hard drugs such as heroin and LSD, where it doesn’t belong. That will allow for more research on potential benefits and risks.

Cannabis has quickly become an accepted part of American culture. Witness the recent Willie Nelson concert in Madison. The decidedly older crowd at Breese Stevens Field was dotted with fans casually inhaling marijuana. The 91-year-old country music legend, who played in front of a giant American flag, featured marijuana leaves on his touring merchandize. He has even credited the drug for saving his life by supplanting alcohol and cigarettes.

Marijuana was recently found growing in the tulip gardens on the Capitol Square. The prank highlights just how pervasive the plant has become. Those “reefer madness” scare campaigns from last century are laughable today. Yet too many conservatives in the Legislature still cling to exaggerated fears of harm.

Even conservative Iowa allows medical marijuana, while other Republican-dominated states such as Alaska, Missouri, Montana and Ohio let their adults use the drug as they please. Florida could become the 25th state to legalize this fall (voters there already adopted medical pot in 2016 by a vote of 71% to 29%).

Candidates for the Wisconsin Legislature this fall should offer clear positions on legalization. Do they recognize reality or not? Big government control of this increasingly popular drug isn’t working.

That’s not to say legalizing marijuana won’t bring challenges. Some people will abuse it, just as some now abuse alcohol. Cannabis can damage the development of teenage brains, which is why it will stay banned for them. Driving high can be just as dangerous as driving drunk.

But the benefits of legalization outweigh those legitimate concerns. Legal dispensaries ensure marijuana isn’t laced with other substances, such as deadly fentanyl. Revenue from taxing marijuana — an estimated $166 million a year, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau — can help pay for schools, roads or health care.

Legalizing weed also will free up law enforcement and the courts to focus on more serious public safety threats. That should reduce disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws against Black people, who are four times more likely to be arrested for possession than white people in Wisconsin, according to the ACLU.

Our state shouldn’t be the last in the nation to treat its residents like adults.

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The Associated Press