A proposed reprimand for Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler is no surprise to the group that helped raise concerns about her judicial record.
A special panel is recommending a reprimand for Justice Ziegler on charges of judicial misconduct, based on claims that she heard cases as a judge in Washington County that involved a bank where her husband was also a paid director. Ziegler admitted to wrong doing, and the panel's recommendations will ultimately be decided by the rest of the Supreme Court.
Mike McCabe is with the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which helped bring attention to the cases. He says the recommendation sends a poor message to other judges, because it essentially says they can violate ethics laws and get away with a slap on the wrist.
However, McCabe says the panel's recommendations are not a surprise. He says there's a history of the high court going light on judges, by handing out only minor punishments for behavior that would get attorneys in much more serious trouble. He also points to a hearing held late last year, where the panel signaled then they didn't want to do "much of anything" to discipline Ziegler.
