On June 21, Wisconsinites had their last chance to watch the state Supreme Court meet to discuss its rules and procedures in an open session.
You can catch the meeting on WisconsinEye, and see Justice Michael Gableman push through a proposal to hide future administrative court proceedings from public view.
The video footage is a graphic illustration of the dysfunction on our court — and of the deep trouble we are in both as a state and as a nation. Gableman’s rude treatment of Justices Shirley Abrahamson and Ann Walsh Bradley is stomach-turning, as is his proposal that the court handle procedural matters privately — a measure he does not summon a single argument to defend, apart from saying the open meetings were an “experiment” whose “time has passed.”
Since he does not plan to run for re-election, it seems likely that Gableman’s right-leaning colleagues on the court selected him as the best representative for the indefensible shutdown of public scrutiny.
And why not? Gableman’s jowly mug is the face of corporate contempt for democracy.
It is also, not coincidentally, the face of sexism. Gableman’s dripping condescension toward two women justices who are far more distinguished than he is parallels the ape-like behavior of the 13 male Republican senators in Washington who secretly crafted health care legislation that eliminates funding for Planned Parenthood, while freezing out the two Republican women on the health care committee.
The rudeness, the incompetence (some of Gableman’s own conservative colleagues withdrew their support for him when he first ran, citing his disregard for the truth and cavalier attitude toward the law), not to mention the brazen disregard for the public trust, fits a pattern.
Gableman himself has refused to recuse himself from cases involving a law firm that gave him free legal help — defending him against ethics charges.
He proudly stands for crude power that concedes nothing, scorns civility, and pushes to conduct its business in darkness.
It’s the Donald Trump brand!
You may recall that Gableman was first elected after a dirty, Willie Horton-style campaign in which he smeared Louis Butler, the first African American judge on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, with a series of lies and race-baiting ads. That race made national news both because it was so ugly and because of the way outside money came to play an outsized role in what used to be a low-dollar state race.
We now have a court where the majority banded together to oppose ethics standards that would make justices recuse themselves from cases involving their own campaign donors, who pony up millions to get friendly treatment when they have business before their pet judges.
Watching the last-ever public rules conference gives you a glimpse into how our state’s highest court really works. Clearly, the conservative justices had already discussed Gableman’s proposal before they met. Rebecca Bradley, who was out attending to a family matter, sends a text message which Gableman reads aloud, saying she is familiar with the proposal and votes in favor.
Ann Walsh Bradley, meanwhile, is clearly blindsided — and outraged. She notes that she asked days earlier for details on this item on the agenda and got no reply. “I have been shut out of this matter,” she says.
Abrahamson, opening a big file of documents on the history of open records in Wisconsin, points out that open meetings are not a passing “experiment,” but part of a proud state tradition. She denounces what she calls “a court of supreme secrecy, which this has become.”
Gableman hits back below the belt: “Your history is unsurprisingly self-serving and incomplete, and, Shirley, for you and Ann to sit here and be so accusatory is beyond hypocrisy.”
In the creepiest moment of the entire session, Gableman begins reading an email to Abrahamson from the late Justice Patrick Crooks, suggesting the court hire a mediator to resolve “deep-seated disputes.”
Bradley is shocked. “Where did you get this?” she demands of Gableman. “Those are all internal, private. . .”
“Oh, they’re private?” Gableman sneers. “Miss Sunshine? Miss ‘Let’s open it to the public?’”
The diminutive Bradley reaches across to try to get a look at the pages the portly Gableman is holding and he recoils like a little girl terrified by the big, mean playground bully: “Don’t grab papers from me! What are you doing! Good heavens, Ann! Have you lost leave? My God, what is wrong with you?”
And so ends the last open rules session of our state Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Patience Roggensack calls the vote. Wisconsin Eye shuts off its cameras.
Permanently.
Ruth Conniff is editor-in-chief of The Progressive magazine.