MADISON, Wis. — Recent reporting exposed right-wing Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler for using a made-up quote, ostensibly from a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling, to support her legal position in her dissenting opinion in cases related to Congressional redistricting. In addition to a fabricated quote, Ziegler radically misrepresented what the U.S. Supreme Court decision she referenced says.
While Ziegler’s dissenting opinion posted on the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s website appears to have been edited to remove her fabricated quote, the faulty representation of the precedent she used to try to support her position in the dissent remains.
A Better Wisconsin Together Communications Director Lucy Ripp said the people of Wisconsin deserve answers from Ziegler, who served as Chief Justice of the court until recently, saying, “Justice Ziegler just got exposed making up a quote to support a misportrayal of what a U.S. Supreme Court decision said in a major case before the state Supreme Court. Wisconsinites deserve answers from Justice Ziegler to the serious questions of integrity and competence raised by this incident.”
Ziegler’s embarrassing error comes less than two months after right-wing judge and current Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Maria Lazar was caught not knowing the most basic details of perhaps the most infamous U.S. Supreme Court case in our nation’s legal history (Dred Scott v. Sandford).
Ripp noted these recent blunders from Ziegler and Lazar are incredibly concerning and serve as a reminder that who we elect to represent us in our judicial system matters just as much as any other public office.
Ripp concluded, “The people of Wisconsin deserve to know that the justices on our state’s highest courts are qualified, knowledgeable of the law, and won’t re-write history for political gain. Not knowing or mischaracterizing the fundamental facts of high-profile, major U.S. Supreme Court cases – especially ones that deal with democracy and our rights and freedoms – is unacceptable.”
