MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) -- Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack said last week she favors judicial elections over appointments for appellate courts.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board Thursday, the incumbent justice said she never would have been appointed, citing a lack of connections to the governor.
Former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, took the office in 2003 and left in 2011. Roggensack was elected to the high court in 2003.
"So I'm biased for elections," she told the newspaper, according to its blog.
The justice also told the Journal Sentinel she believes such elections are voters' right under the state constitution.
"I don't think you take away people's rights because someone else is behaving badly," she said, referring to past judicial campaigns, some of which turned nasty.
Last month, Roggensack and Marquette University law professor Edward Fallone received the most votes in the state's primary, besting Milwaukee attorney Vince Megna.
Roggensack and Fallone will now face each other in the state's April 2 general election.
The winner will serve a 10-year term on the Court.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.
Wis. SC justice says she supports judicial elections over appointments
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