We have been following the intra-court war on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the recent narrow victory of conservative Justice David Prosser in his reelection. The prior controversy involved Prosser calling Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson a “total bitch.” Now, fellow justice Ann Walsh Bradley has accused Prosser of putting her in a chokehold during a dispute. Prosser denies the allegation.
Other reports state that it was Bradley who “charged” Prosser, who raised his hands to defend himself and made contact with her neck.
At the rate they are going, the Wisconsin Supreme Court could be perfect for the next reality show on Fox.
Notably, in the earlier controversy, Prosser included Bradley in his complaint about being harassed and pushed to profanity: “I probably overreacted, but I think it was entirely warranted…They (Abrahamson and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley) are masters at deliberately goading people into perhaps incautious statements. This is bullying and abuse of very, very long standing.”
Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the incident and described the encounter:”The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold.”
The confrontation reportedly occurred before the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month upholding Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s bill eliminating most of public employees’ collective bargaining rights. It was a 4-3 decision overruling Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi.
There is no report of an assault charge by Bradley who says that she came forward after she heard Prosser deny the allegation.
Source: USAToday
Jonathan Turley
@AY, “cite your sources”
I did — Christian Schneider (a senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.) and ANON provided a link to the article.
No, you didn’t. Cause you don’t even have the guts to admit what kind of smear you are peddling.
He’s a single, repressed, conservative, creepy, republican that hates women who would not press charges against a priest and voted down sexual liberation laws, and you just have to wonder why, but no, you did not call him gay.
Shameful.
since I don’t consider you an idiot
Don’t be so quick to dismiss this assumption.
I’ve read about 50 of Mike S’s posts in the last month and he hasn’t made any sense in any of them. That’s just too high a number to attribute to chance.
Anon: “LK’s post is ad hominem innuendo and completely unrelated to whatever happened in the chambers”
—
Again, I didn’t say he was gay. He sure is creepy to me though and I’ve been known to make a couple of purely ad homonym attacks. Add this one to the list. I embrace it, take full responsibility for it and inappropriate or not, I am not persuaded he is less creepy (and potentially hypocritical) if he was getting laid while voting to keep unmarried sex illegal.
Regarding his willingness to sweep the allegations of child sexual abuse of children by a priest (in the hope that the priest would be reassigned) well no, I don’t think that it happened 30 years ago mitigates. I don’t think that any Church or public official that had an opportunity to pursue that wrong-doing and passed it up should get a pass. The priest in question was not transferred and went on to continue his pedophilia. Outrageous.
That Prosser assisted in the priests prosecution some 30 years later after more harm was done does not cleanse him of his earlier ‘error’. Prosecutors are powerful people, he could have and should have initiated a more in-depth investigation if he felt he needed more proof. I don’t think that was the case. I think that like way too many people in the Church and public he just wanted the matter to go away.
Prosser is a creep on a number of levels IMO and as I think it’s a character flaw I’m comfortable with an ad homonym attack. Just how creepy he is time may tell.
Mike,
LK’s line of logic is this:
”
33 years ago, AND long before the Catholic scandals broke out, a prosecutor declined to press charges.
32 years ago, this conservative prosecutor now conservative politician “opposed removing criminal penalties on sexual activity and cohabitation between unmarried, consulting adults”
He has never married.
He is Republican.
THEREFORE,
He is a probably, I am not suggesting he is, I am saying what my creepdar is saying, he is a creepy repressed homosexual.
”
Mike, if you don’t see that anywhere in the spectrum of nonsensical, speculative, innuendo based on gaybashing, then there is not much to discuss between us in this thread, and frankly, since I don’t consider you an idiot, it leads me to doubt your integrity and intellectual honesty in debates.
“Come on dude, you try to be this neutral, wise, individual, but lottakatzatz was pure gay bashing innuendo.”
Actually Anon, all I try to be is myself. Though I know in the world of the anonymous internet it is easy to portray oneself as anything, I’m just being me. I’ve never claimed neutrality or wisdom. In this particular instance you are wrong, but conveniently using the gay bashing charge as what you think is a sly tactic. It really doesn’t work.
kd,
cite your sources…unless you can’t and you are like the rest of the tea’s….make it up as you go along….rove taught you well huh…
Characterizing his actions as an assault is actually your opinion.
Here are the FACTS as conveyed by witnesses:
Bradley charged toward Prosser, shaking her clenched fist in his face.
They were “literally nose to nose.”
Prosser then put his hands up to push her away.
Then, Prosser put his hands on Bradley’s shoulders to push her away, and in doing so, made contact with her neck.
Whether that amounted to assault is for a judge to decide, should it ver get that far.
Four more opinions.
The FACT is that Prosser assualted her in her own office after ordering him out. THAT is criminal, and if I had done something similar in somebody’s office, I would be in jail. There is NO disagreement that he DID lay his hands on her and on her neck. He had NO right to be where he was after being told to leave. There is NO legal or moral defense.
It is not surprising that the judges want this to be swept under the table since it makes them look bad. He needs to be sanctioned by the Bar.
That’s why I posted it. It’s not like the rabid attack dogs were going to post anything that rebuts their heretofore one-sided narrative.
kderosa,
I can appreciate a spirited defense of Prosser, but Schneider’s article reads more like a defense case than a newspaper article it mimics in style.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/270679/more-details-emerge-wisconsin-s-chokegate-christian-schneider
But it is a reasonable take on the opposing viewpoint.
From Christian Schneider (a senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.)
The week before the legislature was set to re-pass the collective-bargaining provision, three of the four conservative justices were ready to issue a ruling reinstating the union law as originally passed. Prosser, on the other hand, wanted to wait longer, to avoid the appearance that the court was rushing their decision through. Prosser thought he had an agreement with liberal Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson to delay release of the opinion until Tuesday of the following week.
As Monday arrived, there was no word from Abrahamson on whether the decision would be issued the next day. At 5:30 p.m., Prosser and the other conservative justices marched around the chambers, looking for Abrahamson, who was found in Justice Bradley’s office. Prosser stood outside Bradley’s door, talking to the justices in Bradley’s office. The discussion got heated, with Prosser expressing his lack of faith in Abrahamson’s ability to lead the Court.
According to one witness, Bradley charged toward Prosser, shaking her clenched fist in his face. Another source says they were “literally nose to nose.” Prosser then put his hands up to push her away. As one source pointed out, if a man wants to push a woman who is facing him, he wouldn’t push her in the chest (unless he wants to face an entirely different criminal charge). Consequently, Prosser put his hands on Bradley’s shoulders to push her away, and in doing so, made contact with her neck.
At that moment, another justice approached Bradley from behind and pulled her away from Prosser, saying, “Stop it, Ann, this isn’t like you.” Bradley then shouted, “I was choked!” Another justice present replied, “You were not choked.” In a statement following the incident, Bradley maintained Prosser “put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold.”
On Monday night, Bradley called Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs to talk to him about the incident. On the morning of Wednesday, June 15, Tubbs joined the justices in a closed-door meeting, where he discussed “issues relating to workplace violence.”
During the meeting, Chief Justice Abrahamson actually reenacted the incident on Chief Tubbs — no doubt an amusing sight, as the diminutive Abrahamson mimicked choking the tall, portly police chief. During her demonstration, Abrahamson emphasized that Prosser had exerted “pressure” on Bradley’s throat.
“There was no pressure,” interrupted the justice who had initially broken up the incident between Bradley and Prosser. “That’s only because you broke us apart,” shot back Bradley. This exchange led several meeting attendees to believe Bradley was making up the charge, as they took her rejoinder as an admission that there was no pressure applied to her neck.
During the Wednesday meeting, Bradley urged the justices present to take a vote on whether Prosser should be forced into anger-management counseling. The threat was implicit — if they didn’t vote her way, she would be forced to “take the next step” against Prosser, which they took to mean filing a restraining order against him. The other justices balked, wondering whether they even had the authority to order Prosser into any type of counseling. Some thought it would be “demeaning” to Prosser to have to go to counseling when he had done nothing wrong. In the end, Bradley realized she didn’t have enough justices on her side and no vote was taken.
To date, Bradley has not filed any kind of charges against Prosser. Instead, the story was leaked to the George Soros–funded Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, who used three anonymous sources to back up Bradley’s story. There were six justices present at the time of the incident, four of whom would be more likely to back Prosser’s version of the story. That leaves Abrahamson and Bradley as the only two remaining justices present. One source present speculated the third source may have been Bradley’s law clerk, who likely didn’t actually see the confrontation but may have head Bradley shout “I was choked.”
Speculation is abundant as to why Bradley decided to forgo a criminal complaint against Prosser, deciding instead to go to the press ten days after the event. Some say Bradley’s complaint wouldn’t have stood up if given the scrutiny of a criminal investigation. Furthermore, others speculate that if any formal criminal proceedings had moved forward (a restraining-order filing, for instance), Prosser would be afforded evidentiary hearings, testimony, and discovery.
Furthermore, sources unanimously believed that it was Shirley Abrahamson who has been the impetus behind the story, managing the press operation from behind the scenes. Justices had been working together regularly since the incident without any signs of rancor until Abrahamson decided to make this an issue, sources believe.
“and then turn quickly into a vicious mob of rabid attack dogs,”
All the while making statements which show just how hypocritical they are in their views.
The lightening quick speed by which ‘educated’ progressives reach their erroneous conclusions based on one news story, and then turn quickly into a vicious mob of rabid attack dogs, never ceases to amaze.
nw, “the wife” is his mother.
(*spoiler* the surgeon is the patient’s mother as well)
Mike S,
Come on dude, you try to be this neutral, wise, individual, but lottakatzatz was pure gay bashing innuendo.
LK’s post is ad hominem innuendo and completely unrelated to whatever happened in the chambers.
@ lottakatzatz
Don’t know where the “never-been-married” thing comes from, though I’ve heard it elsewhere as well.
The page you linked to says: “Prosser was born in Chicago, Illinois to David T. Prosser, Sr., and his wife Elizabeth (Patterson) Prosser,[4] and was raised in Appleton, Wisconsin.”
I assume the wife is someone that he is married to.
@ Gary Welsh
I your comment, I noticed that “sources” quickly became “the source”. So, which is it?
“you’re not the only person I’ve seen to make some sort of sotto voce gay bashing closeted gays are child abusers and hate women and unmarried men must be closeted gays connections.”
Anon,
You couldn’t have missed the point more. “Closeted” gays have every right to be so, except when they hypocritically use their power to punish other gays, in the interest of maintaining their own secrecy. J.E. Hoover and Roy Cohn are perfect examples and yes there is ample suspicion that this judge might also suffer homophobia while gay. Self hatred can be a bitch.
Just a guess,it seems as if this may have happened before in the “mans” life.Any man who’s put in this situation IMHO would have walked away hastily in retreat or the very,and I mean the very last thought would have been to put your hands on this woman in any fashion.