Justice Matters: Vote Ed Fallone

"I have spent my entire career fighting
for equal access to Justice."

- Ed Fallone  

Photo: http://falloneforjustice.com/

I have been a huge fan of Ed Fallone since I first chanced upon his brilliant entries in the Marquette University Law School Faculty blog, and he has been a consistent voice of reason at a time of chaos on the Supreme Court and in Wisconsin in general.  He earned my respect through his intelligent and well-reasoned writing, but he's earned my trust through his community involvements and where he chooses to volunteer his time, and after meeting him in person and hearing him speak at the recent forum our grassroots group organized, he's earned my vote. He stands up for the constitution, stands up for integrity and civility, stands up for those most struggling for equal access under the law, and stands up - in every instance - for justice. And justice is exactly what I want from the Supreme Court.  Patience I can do without.  I have very little myself at this point.

Here's what I like about him: even though he's a professor of constitutional, corporate, and criminal law (translation: he's a genius), he continues to do amazing work to equalize access to justice that proves he's rooted to and invested in the community.  He insists that the Court needs to hold itself accountable, and to the highest standard, and work together to be an effective body - something we all know they aren't doing right now, as their bickering and partisanship has disrupted the number of cases they hear, and even their ability to conduct disciplinary hearings when one of their own (Justice David McChokey Prosser) assaulted a fellow Supreme Court Justice in the presence of witnesses (including his esteemed colleague, Patience Roggensack, who recused herself from the disciplinary hearing to avoid testifying against him).

If elected, he'll be Wisconsin's first Latino Supreme Court Justice, and the Court would infinitely benefit from both the diversity and Fallone's expertise in immigration law and experience with the communities disproportionally disenfranchised by our (admittedly flawed) justice system in Wisconsin, where minority incarceration rates are among the worst in the nation. (While the number of white males in our prisons is in tune with the national average, we are second only to South Dakota in the number of African Americans currently incarcerated.)

Meanwhile, we're gearing up for another Prosser/Kloppenberg-style spendfest as the out-of-state ALEC/Koch $ is pouring in to team Roggensack.  We know much of that money is coming from the same education privateers who paid so handsomely to re-elect Prosser (and Roggensack is already being accused of not properly reporting these contributions).  Why are these "pro-choice" out-of-state voucher-pushers so invested in buying seats on the Wisconsin Supreme Court?  Because other states are already challenging the constitutionality of these programs, which pour public money into private schools with little to no accountability and in violation of the free and equal education clauses of the constitutions of most states.  These major funders want to fix the Court so their investment remains unthreatened, and they can ultimately profit on the lucrative fleecing of Wisconsin taxpayers that these voucher programs provide.

Roggensack's reelection assures the status quo and prolongs Walker's increasingly brazen powergrab with a Republican majority in every seat of government.  Her allegiances to her party and its funders over the letter of the law are no secret.  And those on the right are not being shy about the need for securing this imbalance of power:  According to the "Fairly Conservative" blog:

Justice Pat Roggensack is up for re-election. If Wisconsin wants to keep the changes our elected Republican Governor, Republican State Senate, and Republican Assembly have made and will make, Wisconsin Republicans have to flat work their butts off to keep this woman elected.

Yes, I’m going to be that blunt about it.

Personally, I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican or (like me and many others) an independent voter who just wants a government that puts the welfare of the people before any political agenda. This kind of "us vs. them" thinking is what got us into so much political trouble in the first place. 

We need balance.  We need reason. And we need justice.

Wisconsin has a clear choice in this election, and a good one: vote for Ed Fallone. 

Justice matters. And so does this election.

I've said my peace.  Look forward to hearing me say it again and again until April 19.  In the meantime, you can do two things:

VOTE.  Early voting NOW until Feb. 15 (at City Hall or wherever they do it in your town), primary is Feb. 19 (at your usual polling place).  Please take 10 minutes to stop and vote in this primary to make sure Ed Fallone's name is on the spring ballot.  Then vote in the spring election on April 2 (early voting will take place from March 18-29 (note that March 29 is Good Friday; might want to check with your clerk about hours for early voting that week).  But vote. And bring a friend.

SUPPORT. You can donate, you can volunteer, you can write letters to your local paper, you can spread the word to your friends and family to let them know how much this election matters. Support Ed Fallone for Justice however you can, but don't sit this one out.
Campaign website: Fallone for Justice.  Facebook : Ed Fallone for Wisconsin Supreme Court!  

- Heather DuBois Bourenane

The most telling photo from a recent forum with the candidates for the Supreme Court organized by the Sun Prairie Action Resource Coalition.  While her busy schedule allows her to attend fundraiser after fundraiser, Patience Roggensack has declined invitations to all of the dozen-plus citizen-organized forums to which she's been invited.  Wisconsin's tradition of an elected judiciary means this sort of pay-to-play politics should have no place on our court.