On April 1, Wisconsin will vote to elect Susan Crawford or Brad Schimel to the State Supreme Court in what will be one of the most consequential elections in 2025.
Judge Crawford, who sits on Dane County Circuit Court Branch 1, has a history of protecting worker’s rights, domestic violence victims and reproductive health, while “Top Cop” Schimel of the Waukesha County Circuit Court is dangerously conservative and backed by billionaire Elon Musk.
The choice should be clear: We do not need partisan justices presiding over the Supreme Court. We need fair, impartial leadership. We need Susan Crawford.
Before she was a judge, Crawford worked as a private-practice attorney and a prosecutor. She built strong relationships with victim advocates, protected voting rights and represented Planned Parenthood to defend abortion access in Wisconsin.
In their only debate, Schimel attacked Crawford’s record by claiming she has doled out light sentences to child sex offenders such as Curtis O’Brien. This is a dangerous lie that reveals Schimel’s misunderstanding of the law and disloyalty to the truth.
O’Brien was charged with repeated sexual assault of a minor in 2018, a felony with a maximum sentence of 60 years. However, the defendant was found incompetent because his IQ was in the 60s and 70s and he had spent over two years in jail during his trial.
These mitigating factors led to O’Brien receiving two more years in prison with six years of supervised release. While Schimel complained that the victim pled for a harsher sentence, experts warn that Crawford cannot give maximum sentences without ample justification.
Jonathan LaVoy, defense attorney of 25 years and partner with Kim & LaVoy Attorneys at Law in Milwaukee, told Wisconsin Public Radio that a defendant’s competency is “incredibly significant and very, very important to a judge” during sentencing.
LaVoy told WPR that judges are required to consider the lowest restrictive sentences, or they risk the case being overturned by a higher court.
It should be no surprise that Schimel does not know how the law works, because despite his record as a prosecutor, Attorney General and circuit judge, he frequently disregards it.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he disobeyed a state court directive by refusing to wear a face covering while presiding in court and was barred from court by Chief Justice Patience Roggensack until he agreed to wear a mask.
Schimel violated Wisconsin state law that prohibits judges from engaging in partisan political activity by emceeing at an Ozaukee County Republican Party fundraising event and attending a rally for Donald Trump as a self-proclaimed Trump supporter.
He is much more than a sellout for MAGA Republicans though, he is a complete partisan puppet. Musk, an advisor for the Department of Government Efficiency who sunk more than $277 million into Trump’s presidential campaign, has now spent $6.5 million on Schimel, putting him in the company of other Musk-backed politicians including the Neo-Nazi adjacent AfD party in Germany.
Wisconsin does not need Musk to meddle in our elections and push politicians that break the law and play identity politics. Schimel is bringing the culture wars that have become the new normal in national politics to a Wisconsin election, but we can refuse to play those games by voting for fair, intelligent leadership on April 1st.
Marquette University students over the age of 18 that are Wisconsin residents or have a valid Wisconsin Voter ID issued to them by the university are eligible to vote on election day or at early voting sites listed on the City of Milwaukee’s website.
Most students living in residence halls can vote at the Alumni Memorial Union, with the exception of students living in Straz Tower, who can vote at the Central Library, Centennial Hall; 733 N. 8th Street. Students living off-campus can also find their polling location on Marquette’s website or on the City of Milwaukee’s website.
Our editorials are written by Executive Opinions Editor Joseph Schamber, a sophomore majoring in journalism in the Diederich College of Communication. The editorial communicates the voices of the newspaper and the Marquette Wire as a whole. We believe press endorsements are a crucial part of the journalistic mission, and this is us stepping forward to fulfill that mission and protect our democracy.
