Judges Gone Wild: One Judge Allegedly Choked Another Judge

Ann Bradley Accuses Fellow Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser Of Choking Her
The Huffington Post  -  June 26, 2011

MADISON, Wis. -- A Wisconsin Supreme Court justice has accused another justice of choking her during an argument in her office earlier this month – a charge her colleague denied.  Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Justice David Prosser put her in a chokehold during the dispute. She contacted the newspaper late Saturday after Prosser denied rumors about the altercation.  "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," Bradley told the newspaper.  Prosser said in a statement the allegations "will be proven false" once a "proper review of the matter and the facts surrounding it are made clear."  Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, quoting anonymous sources, reported Saturday that the argument occurred before the Supreme Court's decision earlier this month upholding Republican Gov. Scott Walker's bill eliminating most of public employees' collective bargaining rights.  The argument allegedly took place in front of several members of the court. Messages that The Associated Press left with several justices and Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs were not returned.  A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision that included a blistering dissent, ruled that Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi overstepped her authority when she declared the polarizing union law void.  The fight over passage of Walker's collective bargaining bill came in the weeks leading up to a hotly contested state Supreme Court election, which conservative incumbent Prosser eventually won after challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg conceded defeat in late May. Supporters of Walker largely backed Prosser in hopes he would uphold the union rights bill in a legal challenge.