Bice: Justice Rebecca Bradley rips her opponents' partisan activity while defending her own

For state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley, partisanship is just fine for me, but not for thee.

In a Dec. 22 dissent, Bradley accused the four members of the high court's new liberal majority of being "handmaidens of the Democratic Party" who "deliver spoils" to Democrats and "trample the rule of law."

Youch.

Bradley was especially upset that Justice Janet Protasiewicz's campaign had accepted nearly $10 million from the Democratic Party in last year's spring election and then voted to overturn Republican-favored legislative maps. Protasiewicz's victory gave liberals a one-vote majority for the first time in more than a decade.

But it turns out Bradley, one of three conservatives on the bench, was involved in her own partisan political activity just weeks earlier.

On Dec. 5, Bradley swore in the four leaders of the Republican Women of Waukesha County.

"By accepting this post, do you promise to exert every effort to conduct federation activities that will attract women in your community who believe in the Republican Party and its principles and in electing Republicans to all levels of government?" Bradley asked the female GOP leaders, according to a video that was made private this week.

Electing Republicans to all levels of government? The four women all pledged they would.

This, however, isn't just another GOP group.

The Republican Women of Waukesha County once gave a standing ovation to the mother of Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of killing two men, wounding another and endangering two more in a series of shootings during a night of protests in Kenosha in 2020. The president of the group, Alexandra Schweitzer, also gained widespread attention nearly a year ago for bringing sex toys as props to a Merton School Board meeting.

And the featured speaker at one of the group's 2022 events was conservative influencer Brandon Straka, who previously pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of engaging in disorderly and disruptive conduct after being part of the mob of rioters outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

You get the idea.

Still, justices and judicial candidates of all political stripes go to party events while running for office. But Bradley was taking this a step further by participating in ministerial functions of an overtly partisan political organization by speaking to and then swearing in its officers.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske said she never would have performed this task during her time on the bench, especially when the justices were hearing and deciding cases.

"After the election was over, I just stayed away from both parties completely," Geske said, "because I didn't think it was appropriate as a nonpartisan judge to do that."

These days, many people view the Supreme Court justices through a partisan lens, Geske said. For this reason, she said, the members of the high court should avoid political entanglements with either party, particularly when the court is in session.

"It would seem to me imperative that each one of those justices stay away from the political parties in any way so that it doesn't really emphasize the fact that people are attached to political parties," Geske said.

But Bradley said she saw nothing wrong with her actions.

In fact, she said it was an honor to swear in community volunteers to various organizations — no matter their party. In the past, she has accepted donations from the state GOP and the party’s billionaire supporters Diane Hendricks and Richard Uihlein.

"Supreme Court justices regularly administer the oath of office to both Democrats and Republicans as well as school board members," Bradley said by email. "Equating this ceremonial service with Janet Protasiewicz manipulating the law to rule in favor of the Democratic party after receiving a $10 million campaign contribution once again displays your liberal bias."

Still not over that, apparently.

But can you really equate swearing in leaders to a group like the Republican Women of Waukesha County with doing the same for members of the local school board?

Chris Walloch, executive director of the liberal group A Better Wisconsin Together, said there's a big difference. Justices swear in public officials like legislators and school board members who are nonpartisan because those public officials are required by law to take an oath of office, he noted.

"That’s not what Rebecca Bradley was doing here," Walloch said. "She was encouraging partisan private citizens to elect more MAGA Republicans like herself."

Even if they're elected to supposedly nonpartisan offices.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Justice Rebecca Bradley rips foes' partisanship but defends her own