To: Attorney Kathleen A. Brost, President, State Bar Attorney Cheryl Furstace Daniels, President-Elect, Wisconsin State Bar

Patience Drake Roggensack, The Honorable Chief Justice of the

We, the undersigned members of the Wisconsin State Bar, call upon the leadership of the State Bar of Wisconsin and the leadership of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to publicly and immediately denounce the vicious personal attacks on Justices Dallet, Karofsky,1 and Hagedorn2 for their decision in Trump v. Biden, 2020 WI 91 (12/14/20). The attacks are particularly vehement towards Justices Dallet and Karofsky, focusing on their religious affiliation.

As reported these vile attacks include: • Calling Justice “hooked-nosed” and posting a corresponding anti-Semitic caricature of her. Another called her a “terrorist” and said she should “have a massive fatal heart attack on live TV.” • Calling Justice a “traitor,” with the warning that “the best case scenario for you is that you actually get a trial. When the people rise up that won’t happen.” • The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi publication, published an article about Justices Dallet and Karofsky on Sunday, calling them “an elite Jew sitting next to another Jew determining the course of our government.” • A caller told Justice Karofsky, “You are the tyrant bitch who allows cheating and fraud to put a socialist puppet of China in the White House.” • Justice Hagedorn has “been called a traitor…, a liar…, a fraud.” He’s “been asked if [he’s] being paid off by the Chinese Communist Party.” He’s “been told [he] might be tried for treason by a military tribunal.”

Such attacks threaten the independence and safety of the entire judiciary and threaten the rule of law. Moreover, the judicial branch’s power rests in the public’s respect for our judges. Failure by the leadership of the Wisconsin State Bar and the Chief Justice to address these attacks is tantamount to accepting them as routine or normal. As members of the Wisconsin State Bar, we refuse to normalize these attacks on our highest court.

In conclusion, these attacks need to be met with swift and forceful condemnation by the Wisconsin State Bar and the entire judiciary, led by our Chief Justice. An unanswered threat to one or more Supreme Court Justices is a threat to all members of the judiciary, the Bar, and to the rule of law.

Sincerely,

1 https://wisconsinexaminer.com/brief/antisemitic-misogynist-attacks-on-wisconsin-supreme-court-justices-after- trump-ruling/ 2 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/20/us/politics/wisconsin-justice-brian-hagedorn.html

1 The undersigned:

Beth L. Cox, Municipal Judge, Oregon, Wisconsin Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, Systems Change Consulting, Madison, Wisconsin Keith Wessel, Wessel, Lehker & Fumelle Inc., Madison, Wisconsin Nicole (Nicki) Vander Meulen, Vander Meulen Law Office, Madison, Wisconsin Deborah Mulligan, Madison, Wisconsin Waring Fincke, Kewaskum, Wisconsin William B. Turner, Madison, Wisconsin Kelda Helen Roys, State Senator-elect, Madison, Wisconsin Daniel J. Krause, Krause Estate Planning & Elder Law Center, Oregon, Wisconsin Joel Ehrlich, Madison, Wisconsin Clifford E. Blackwell III, Madison, Wisconsin Andrea Lea Olmanson, Madison, Wisconsin LuAnne Purdy, Grafton, Wisconsin Paula Bezark, Madison, Wisconsin Linda Roberson, Hollywood, Florida Greg Fumelle, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Leslie Shear, Madison, Wisconsin Beth Whittemore, Oregon, Wisconsin Stephen R. Hawk, Racine, Wisconsin Betty A. Biernat, Arden Hills, Wisconsin Linda S. Balisle, Balisle Family Law Legal Counsel, S. C., Madison, Wisconsin Michael Rude, Racine, Wisconsin Myrna Solganick, LCSW, Middleton, Wisconsin Anne Colville, Belleville, Wisconsin Arthur K. Thexton, Thexton Law Offices, Madison, Wisconsin Gene R. Rankin, Madison, Wisconsin Jim Wrich, Madison, Wisconsin Kristina Rasmussen, Madison, Wisconsin Kathryn Bush, Madison, Wisconsin Tom Hirsch, Madison, Wisconsin Richard Alan Ginkowski, Municipal Judge, Village of Pleasant Prairie; President, Wisconsin Municipal Judges Association, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin Carol Gehl, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Aaron Tarnutzer, Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin Kristen Zorbini Bongard, Janesville, Wisconsin Linda Hoyt, Elk Mound, Wisconsin Greg Rosenberg, Madison, Wisconsin Steve Eisenberg, Eisenberg Law Offices, Madison, Wisconsin Jim Youngerman, Madison, Wisconsin Alicia Diehl, Dripping Springs, Texas George Relles, Goleta, California David Lasker, Lake Delton, Wisconsin

2 Stephen Youngerman, Youngerman & McNutt LLP, Santa Monica, California Stephanie Robinson, Madison, Wisconsin Constance Chesnik, Madison, Wisconsin Denorah Burns, Madison, Wisconsin Jeffrey A. Mandell, Stafford Rosenbaum, Madison, Wisconsin Mel Barnes, Madison, Wisconsin David Strauss, RiseKit, Chicago, Illinois John Greene, Madison, Wisconsin Daniel Evans, Reuter Whitish and Evans, SC, Madison, Wisconsin Aaron Abramson Seligman, Madison, Wisconsin David D. Relles, Reuter, Whitish & Evans, Madison, Wisconsin Carrie Santuli Schudda, Santulli Schudda & Cox Law Office, Oregon, Wisconsin

Cc: Justice Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet Justice Justice Jill J. Karofsky Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler

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