Hearing of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette K. Ziegler.

• Date: 26 November 2007
• Author: Zemlicka, Jack

Byline: Jack Zemlicka

The facts are undisputed and the punishment agreed upon by both sides in the violation of judicial ethics case brought by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission against state Supreme Court Justice Annette K. Ziegler.

But the seemingly black-and-white case bore shades of gray during a Nov. 19 hearing in front of an appointed panel of three appellate judges.

The panel raised questions concerning the severity of the infringement, its impact on public confidence in the judiciary and whether Ziegler should have known to recuse herself from 11 cases pertaining to West Bend Savings Bank, where her husband sits on the Board of Directors.

James R. Troupis, counsel for Ziegler and James Alexander, chairman of the Judicial Commission affirmed their stances that a public reprimand was satisfactory punishment, but the panel will deliver its own recommendation to the Supreme Court.

No timetable has been set as to when the recommendation will be submitted.

During the hearing, presiding Judge Ralph A. Fine said Ziegler's admitted improper involvement in the 11 cases brought forth in the complaint, pales in relation to what other judges were found to have done in past cases.

He went on to infer that the level of misconduct was a blip on the screen compared to prior incidents where judges have lied to investigators or worse. The parties involved agreed that there was no intent behind Ziegler's actions, but Alexander said that the violations, inadvertent or not, should...