Liberal, Activist, Unchecked, and on the Bench. Freedom’s Nightmare.

 

In just 10 days we will learn if Wisconsin voters seize the opportunity to begin to reverse the extremely liberal, activist, and unchecked majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The principled campaigning of conservative candidate Maria Lazar, focused on the importance of adhering to the facts of the case and the letter of the law in all judicial proceedings, stands in stark contrast to Chris Taylor, the liberal candidate, whose campaign is relying on lying about Maria Lazar as the only hope she has of defeating her. Taylor’s own record, as an advocate for some of the most extreme liberal policies while working for Planned Parenthood and then as an elected Democratic member of the Wisconsin Assembly, is way out of sync with mainstream Wisconsin voters. We have not heard Taylor commit to adhering to the letter of the law and the facts of the cases that come before her. To the contrary, she speaks the language of political activists, and she has been doing all she can to keep the truth about her activist past from Wisconsin voters.

 

Unethical and Unchecked

 

The Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct establishes mandatory ethical standards for judges and judicial candidates to regulate behavior on and off the bench. The Code is located in Supreme Court Rule Chapter 60. https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/rules/chap60.pdf  It requires maintaining integrity and independence, avoiding the “appearance of impropriety” in all activities, impartiality in the performance of official duties, and refraining from political activity.

 

Jill Karofsky, the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, has been actively campaigning for Chris Taylor, endorsing her along with the 3 other liberal Justices, and aggressively and deceitfully participating in interviews that seek to mischaracterize Lazar’s work history and judicial philosophy. Karofsky’s conduct is such an obvious breach of the Code of Judicial Conduct it led me to investigate what happens when the Code is violated.

 

The Wisconsin Judicial Commission is the agency within the Judicial branch that oversees the conduct of judges and judicial candidates. The Commission has 9 members, 4 appointed by the Supreme Court and 5 appointed by the Governor with confirmation by the Senate.

 

A complaint made about judicial conduct starts the investigative process.

The Executive Director conducts an initial review and decides if the complaint is legitimate or frivolous. The dismissal rate at this stage is greater than 90%. Complaints that move to the Commission members and have a probable cause finding move as a formal complaint to the Supreme Court. It is up to the Court to determine what, if any, formal discipline is appropriate.

 

During my research, Jill Karofsky’s name came up again. Her blatant disregard for her obligation to refrain from politics is not new. In 2021, a complaint was filed against Karofsky for her inappropriate behavior and remarks made during a lawsuit that came before the Court, seeking to have votes thrown out of the 2020 presidential election count due to the voting irregularities that occurred in Dane and Milwaukee Counties.

 

Among her inappropriate comments during oral arguments, Justice Karofsky told Attorney James Troupis that he had targeted people living in Milwaukee and Dane Counties because of their diverse populations and history of voting Democratic and said, “This lawsuit smacks of racism.” She further claimed, “and what you want is you want us to overturn this election so that your King can stay in power.” 

 

In August 2021, Justice Karofsky received notice from the Judicial Commission informing her of the details of the complaint and requesting a response by the following October. The Commission subsequently dismissed the complaint with an “expression of concern.” They cautioned Karofsky to be more careful about “appearing” to have chosen a side in legal disputes. “Regardless of the nature of the case being addressed by the court, a judicial official should take special care and remain mindful of their role in proceedings as a neutral and detached magistrate, as opposed to an advocate, and avoid sarcasm when making statements from the bench, given their obligations…,” the Commission said. Karofsky was defiant in response to the Commission’s slap on the wrist. She called the complaint an attempt to silence those who “stand up for democracy.”

 

There is only one conclusion to be drawn from the evidence before us. Liberal, political activist Justices dominate the Wisconsin Supreme Court. They have no intention of refraining from political activity and there is no authority to rein in their misconduct.

 

Bad Choices Produce Dire Consequences

 

In 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court flipped to a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years. It is a threat to our freedom to let the significance of this shift escape Wisconsin voters. The liberal majority has shown itself to be an activist court with no reservations about legislating from the bench. Shifting the critical balance among the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches to an Executive, Legislative, and Super Legislative branch risks subjecting the citizens of the state to the whims of a Court that decides cases based on what they think the law should be rather than what it is.

 

The Institute for Reforming Government was founded in 2018 “to remove the stumbling blocks that have created a slow-moving, expensive behemoth of governance that works against the will of the people”. They recently released an update of their 2025 Court Watch Spring Report, which can be found in its entirety at:

https://reforminggovernment.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IRG-Spring-Report-Updated-Cover-copy.pdf

The Institute describes the goal of Court Watch as “to help citizens understand how judicial philosophy influences decisions that ultimately affect every community in Wisconsin.”  The importance of how judges understand their roles, “whether they see themselves as interpreters of law or architects of policy” will shape the lives of every Wisconsinite for years to come.

 

The Report highlights some of what is at stake for Wisconsin when we allow activist judges to seize control of the Supreme Court, including reversing Act 10, which saved taxpayers billions of dollars since its inception in 2011; eliminating school choice which serves 59,000 children and has been the law of the land for 30 years; blocking measures to secure verifiable elections; restricting the gun rights of the 458,000 concealed carry holders and hunters across our state; limiting religious freedoms; and expanding the power of the unelected bureaucrats in state agencies by limiting the power of the Legislature to rein them in.

 

The epic battle to take our country back pits freedom loving Americans against liberal extremists who are seeking to fundamentally change the country. The liberals are joined every step of the way by the left-wing media and pollsters who seek to influence rather than inform. Last Tuesday Marquette Law School released its latest Supreme Court poll. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel immediately led the front page of its Wednesday edition with the headline, “Taylor polls ahead of Lazar 2 weeks out from election”. The survey was a sample of 850 registered Wisconsin voters. Of likely voters, 30% favored Taylor and 22% favored Lazar. Of the registered voters, 23% favored Taylor and 17% favored Lazar. The margin of error (the amount by which the result could be higher or lower) was +/-5.3 for likely and +/- 4.4 for registered voters. Limitations with the polling methodology are significant, and have been discussed extensively in previous Blasts. That never stops the corrupt media from using the data to create headlines that have no basis in truth. They want voters to think the race is over and they disgrace journalism with their deception. An honest journalist interested in creating a headline from facts could have said “46% of likely voters and 53% of registered voters report they have not decided which candidate they prefer”. This race is far from over.

 

We are about to elect a new Supreme Court Justice. Allowing the liberal majority to increase its margin would have dire consequences. It takes three Justices to agree to accept cases on appeal to the Supreme Court. A conservative minority of 2 would be powerless to prevent the liberal majority from denying any appeals for any reasons. Our votes have never mattered more. Tune in to the only debate that Chris Taylor would agree to, which is rescheduled for Thursday April 2 at 7:00 pm, and, in the meantime, do whatever you can to get out the vote for Maria Lazar. Liberal, activist, unchecked Justices dominating the Supreme Court are one of freedom’s worst nightmares.

 

Acknowledgement: I would like to acknowledge, and express appreciation for, the important reporting of Bill Savage of the Wisconsin Conservative Digest and the publishers of the Appleton Weekly Digest which served as the catalyst for the research that informed today’s Blast.