Bradley
Bradley, center, meets with the board of directors of the International Association of Women Judges in London.
MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - A group of international women judges has elected Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley to its board of directors.
The International Association of Women Judges, or IAWJ, is a non-profit organization with 4,000 members from 103 nations. It trains judges on issues related to domestic violence, human trafficking, property rights and other topics that affect women and families, and encourages women to seek judgeships.
Bradley will represent its North American region, which is comprised of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
"The IAWJ does extraordinary work across the globe on a broad range of issues related to human rights and access to justice," the justice said in a statement Thursday.
"I have been privileged to work with this group and I am honored and delighted to have been selected for this leadership role."
Bradley's election took place during the IAWJ's Biennial International Conference, held last week in London.
Joining Bradley on the board are judges representing Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and the South Pacific.
The IAWJ's next meeting will be held in Tanzania in 2014.
Bradley, who was elected to the state's high court in 1995 and reelected in 2005, is currently at the center of a case brought against fellow Justice David Prosser.
In November, the Wisconsin Judicial Commission notified Prosser that it was investigating allegations that he physically attacked Bradley in her chambers last June. It has since accused Prosser of violating the state's ethics code.
According to the Journal Sentinel and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Prosser allegedly attacked Bradley on June 13, 2011. That was the day before the state's high court released an opinion upholding Gov. Scott Walker's controversial Budget Repair Bill.
"Three knowledgeable sources" told the Center that Prosser and Bradley were arguing about the ruling in front of the other justices. When Bradley asked Prosser to leave her chambers, Prosser then grabbed her neck with both hands, the sources said.
Bradley, herself, recounted the attack to the Journal Sentinel.
"The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold," she told the newspaper.
However, others told the Journal Sentinel that Bradley charged Prosser and that the justice put up his hands to defend himself, coming in contact with Bradley's neck.
Prosser, who was reelected to the Court last year, has said Bradley's claims will be "proven false."
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.