The Wisconsin State Journal reported today that newly-elected State Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler will be reprimanded for ruling on cases in which she had a conflict of interest. The reprimand is a result of the preliminary agreement reached by Ms. Ziegler and the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, the organization responsible for conducting the investigation, but the final decision on her punishment still lies with the other six members of the state's highest court.
The State Supreme Court could decide to accept the terms of the agreement, issue a lesser punishment, or issue something stronger perhaps removing her from the Court entirely. Ms. Ziegler is certainly not the only politician in Wisconsin to be found guilty of misconduct while in office, but she is the most recent and I sincerely hope she is our last.
Before many of us were born, Wisconsin had a reputation as being one of the cleanest political states in the country. A state legislator was once run out of office for using a state phone to make a personal long-distance phone call to his son, even after he volunteered to reimburse the state. We all make mistakes in life, and in a statement issued today by her campaign Ms. Ziegler apologizes for what she calls "The unitentional error" she made in hearing the cases.
My intent here is not to call Ms. Ziegler a liar, I have far too much respect for the office she holds to do that. But I use this opportunity to bring up an important point. We do have corruption problems in our state, and regardless of your political persuasion we can all agree that the best government is a clean government. When government officials are held accountable only to the people who elect them and not to private interests citizens become less apathetic and more involved.
I hope that Ms. Ziegler's colleagues recognize that the buck stops with them in this case. What better time than now to send a strong ruling against corruption in our state and help change the tone of politics back to the days of the Wisconsin Idea.
The State Supreme Court could decide to accept the terms of the agreement, issue a lesser punishment, or issue something stronger perhaps removing her from the Court entirely. Ms. Ziegler is certainly not the only politician in Wisconsin to be found guilty of misconduct while in office, but she is the most recent and I sincerely hope she is our last.
Before many of us were born, Wisconsin had a reputation as being one of the cleanest political states in the country. A state legislator was once run out of office for using a state phone to make a personal long-distance phone call to his son, even after he volunteered to reimburse the state. We all make mistakes in life, and in a statement issued today by her campaign Ms. Ziegler apologizes for what she calls "The unitentional error" she made in hearing the cases.
My intent here is not to call Ms. Ziegler a liar, I have far too much respect for the office she holds to do that. But I use this opportunity to bring up an important point. We do have corruption problems in our state, and regardless of your political persuasion we can all agree that the best government is a clean government. When government officials are held accountable only to the people who elect them and not to private interests citizens become less apathetic and more involved.
I hope that Ms. Ziegler's colleagues recognize that the buck stops with them in this case. What better time than now to send a strong ruling against corruption in our state and help change the tone of politics back to the days of the Wisconsin Idea.
