Is calling the chief justice of the state Supreme Court “a total bitch” speech protected by the U.S. Constitution?
That’s Justice David Prosser’s reply to discipline charges brought against him by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
The response is an early look at Prosser’s legal strategy in the case. He’s already asked four of his fellow justice to recuse themselves from hearing it, which would break the quorum needed to issue a final decision. Most were present for a 2011 incident in which (by his admission) he placed his hands on Justice Ann Walsh Bradley’s neck. The “total bitch” comment, which he also admits to, happened in 2010.
Prosser claims that the commission “may not investigate or prosecute protected speech, advocacy and etiquette of Wisconsin Supreme Court justices when they are deliberating in confidential closed conferences.”
The former Republican Assembly speaker is up against Milwaukee Attorney Frank Gimbel, the commission’s special prosecutor in the case.
UPDATE: Justice Patricia Roggensack has agreed to recuse herself from Prosser’s discipline case.
