WISCONSIN zztti^ of history I Cenf togra She VOTE FOR Delores Lein Republican Candidate -for- SHERIFF Of Sawyer County Du* to tho antlquatMl law which forbids a sheriff to hold office for more than two consocutlvo tonna, the name Delores Lein appears on the ballot instead of Ernest Lein. Authorized and Paid for by the Candidate See Other Side of Card Courtesy of Delores Lein t one time Wisconsin led the nation in the number of women elected to the office of sheriff. It would be easy to ascribe this seeming enlightenment to the state's progres­ A sivism, but that's not the case. In the early and mid-twenti­ eth century, women like Delores Lein, shown here with her husband, Ernie, in a Sawyer County campaign ad from 1966, sought the office solely to keep their husbands employed as sheriff. This strategy met with great success at the polls, where voters did not seem to mind bla- tantiy bypassing the spirit, if not the letter, of a highly controversial state law that limited consecutive terms for sheriffs. The back of this campaign card provided details about the law's history. Dorothy Schulz and Steven M. Houghton explore Wisconsin's unique story of gender and law enforcement in their article beginning on page 22. m Editor J. Kent Calder Managing Editor Diane T. Drexler Associate Editor Margaret T. Dwyer Production Manager Deborah T. Johnson Reviews Editor Masarah Van Eyck Research and Editorial Assistants Joel Heiman John Nondorf Naomi Patton John Zimm Designer Kenneth A. Miller THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY, published New Cases and Changing Faces 2 quarterly, is one of the inany benefits of membership in the Wisconsin Historical Society. Individual memberships are P The Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2003 $37.50 per year; senior citizen individual, $27.50; family, $47.50; senior citizen family, $37.50; institutional, $55; sup­ By Ann Walsh Bradley porting, $100; sustaining, $250; patron, $500; life (one per­ and Joseph A. Ranney son), $1,000. To receive the Wisconsin l\/lagazine of History, join the Society! To join or to give a gift membership, send a check to Membership, Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State PoUtics in Play 10 Street, Madison, Wl 53706-1482, or call the Membership Sociahsm, Free Speech, and Social Office at 888-748-7479. You can also join via e-mail, [email protected], or at the Society's Web site, Centers in Milwaukee www.wisconsinhistory.org (click on "Become a Member"). The WMH has been published quarterly since 1917 by By Elizabeth Jozwiak the Wisconsin Historical Society (Phone 608-264-6400). Copyright © 2003 by the State Historical Society of Wiscon­ Married to the Job 2Z sin. Permission to quote or otherwise reproduce portions of this copyrighted work may be sought in writing from the pub­ Wisconsin's Women Sheriffs lisher at the address above. Communication, inquiries, and manuscript submissions may also be addressed to By Dorothy Moses Schulz [email protected]. Information about the magazine, and Steven M. Houghton including contributor's guidelines, sample articles, and an index of volume 84 can also be found at the Society's Web site by following the "Publications" link from the home page. Photographs identified with PH, WHi, or WHS are from The Writing on the Walls 38 the Society's collections; address inquiries about such pho­ Badger Grafitti in tos to the Visual Materials Archivist, 816 State Street, Madi­ son, Wl 53706-1482. Many WHS photos are available Civil War Virginia through the Wisconsin Historical Images digital service available on the Web site. (From the home page, click By James S. Pula "Archives.") The Wisconsin Historical Society does not assume responsibility for statements made by contributors. ISSN Cream City Beat 50 0043-6543. Periodicals postage paid at Madison, Wl 53706- Photographs of Milwaukee 1482. Back issues, if available, are $10 plus postage (888- 748-7479). Microfilmed copies are available through I By J. Robert Taylor University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106. On the front cover: For more than three decades, Mil­ waukee's social centers, many of them housed in the city's Editors' Choice 59 public schools, were a melting pot of practicality, politics, and play. Photos: Milwaukee Public Schools Department of Letters from Our Readers 62 Recreation and Community Services. Back Matters 64 VOLUME 86, NUMBER 3 / SPRING 2003 A SUPR s^^ ^v. 150 YEARS New Cases and Changing Faces The Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2003 By Ann Walsh Bradley and Joseph A. Ranney No longer solely the realm of black-robed gentlemen,'' the Wisconsin Supreme Court has changed a good deal since Justice Timothy Brown explained its workings in this magazine in 1952 for the court's centennial This sesquicentennial update describes the changes that have taken place in the last fifty years and the challenges it faces in the future. n an article that appeared in the autumn 1952 issue of episodes in legal history. At half past one o'clock in the afternoon of this magazine marking the centennial ofthe Wisconsin the Grst Monday of each month (except for Labor Day and during I Supreme Court's existence as a separate judicial body, the summer recess) seven gentiemen in black silk gowns Gle into this Justice Timothy Brown chronicled the evolution ofthe court room and take their seats behind a long desk or table while a crier and described its workings in the early 1950s. His colorful proclaims, "The Supreme Court ofthe State of Wisconsin is nowin opening paragraph offers a good place to start in measuring session. Silence is commanded!" Thereupon, two or more lawyers some ofthe changes that have taken place in the court in the advance to the bar of the court, begin their arguments, and the last fifty years: recentiy summoned Silence retires, not to return until, some Gve days and twenty to thirty arguments later, the tumult and the shout- In the State Capitol at Madison there is a handsome chamber pan­ ingdies, and the captains andldngs of litigation depart leaving their eled in marble and adorned by mural paintings illustrating salient causes for the consideration ofthe black-robed gentlemen. Left: A program called Court with Class brings an estimated three thousand Wisconsin high school students to the capitol each year to watch a Supreme Court proceeding and meet with justices. All photos by Mark Hertzberg, © The Journal Times, Racine, unless otherwise credited. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY Justice Ann Wakh Bradley questions an attorney during oral argument. While the murals are still there, and the court sessions still appointed Shirley S. Abrahamson as the first woman to serve begin with a command for silence, the Wisconsin Supreme on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In 1996 she also became Court is no longer made up of "black-robed gentlemen" only. the first and as yet only woman to serve as chief justice. Abra­ Fifty years later, the face and the workings of the Supreme hamson was the sole woman on the court until 1993, when Court have been modified to reflect the changing times, a Janine Geske was appointed. Justice Geske resigned five years changed caseload, and the court's enhanced administrative later and has since served as interim Milwaukee County responsibilities. Executive and dean ofthe Marquette Law School. When the Wisconsin Supreme Court celebrated its one In 1995 Ann Walsh Bradley defeated four opponents in a hundredth anniversary, forty-seven men had served as mem­ primary election and was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme bers of the court. They varied in age at the commencement Court. Four years later Diane Sykes joined the court by way of their service from Charles Larrabee at twenty-eight of appointment. Thus, ofthe seventy-seven justices who have (1848-1853) to Burr Jones at seventy-four (1920-1926). They served on the Supreme Court, only four have been women. varied in length of service on the court from the thirty-seven Currently, as the court celebrates its 150th anniversary, three years of Orsamus Cole (1855-1892) to the twenty days of ofthe seven justices, including the chief justice, are women. service by Theodore Lewis (1934), who died from pneumonia The court's caseload has also changed dramatically during without participating in any decisions of the court. Their the last fifty years as a result of the court reform of 1977, birthplaces were from as far away as Norway and Ireland to which created the court of appeals as an intermediate appel­ as close as just down the road from the state capitol. Yet they late court.' The new appellate court hears direct appeals from had one thing in common; the face ofthe court was all male. the judgments ofthe circuit courts throughout the state. Now, That changed in 1976 when Governor PatrickJ. Lucey relieved of that role, the Supreme Court is able to select for SPRING 2003 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OE HISTORY pros and cons of accepting the case. After reviewing the commissioner's memorandum and the memoranda of law submitted by the parties, the court decides whether to accept the case. When accepting a petition for review, at least three of the seven justices must vote to take the case before it is deemed accepted by the court. ^ Because the Supreme Court is not a fact­ finding body but was created primarily to hear appeals from unsatisfied litigants, it does not conduct trials or hear witnesses. Instead, when it "hears" the case, it does so by listening to the parties' oral arguments. Much the same proce­ dure for oral argument exists today as it did when the court celebrated its centennial.