The latest alleged incident involving Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser can’t be viewed in isolation. Last year, Prosser exploded at Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson in a closed door meeting, calling her a “bitch” and threatening to “destroy” her.
That incident came to light during Prosser’s re-election campaign earlier this year. Prosser admitted to using the word “bitch,” but said it was justified. “I probably overreacted, but I think it was entirely warranted,” he said in March.
Why did Prosser think it was warranted? “They (Abrahamson and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley) are masters at deliberately goading people into perhaps incautious statements. This is bullying and abuse of very, very long standing,” Prosser claimed.
That’s the same Ann Walsh Bradley with whom Prosser allegedly got in a new argument last week, in her chambers, where his hands ended up around her neck, in the presence of other justices, in the midst of their deliberations over the legality of Gov. Scott Walker’s union-busting bill. Presumably because she was bullying and abusing him again.
David Kurtz
David Kurtz is Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo where he oversees the news operations of TPM and its sister sites.