Bradley took on political correctness, mascot

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By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The latest on fallout from Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley’s writings as a college student:

3:34 p.m.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote several columns on hot-button issues while in college, not just the one deriding gay people that she’s apologized for this week.

An Associated Press review of the Marquette University student newspaper on Tuesday uncovered columns by Bradley where she defends the school’s Warriors mascot and criticizes political correctness as a “frightening trend.”

She wrote in April 1992 that “The PC movement is entirely the agenda of feminists, gays, liberal extremists and 1960s radicals who never left school and consequently are largely ignorant of the real world.”

And in a May 1990 column defending the mascot, Bradley wrote that the “American Indian population at Marquette should feel privileged to represent our school.”

The mascot changed to the Golden Eagles in 1994 due to concerns it was disrespectful to Native Americans.

12:44 p.m.

Wisconsin’s two gay representatives in Congress are blasting state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley for anti-gay opinion pieces she wrote as a college student 24 years ago.

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan on Tuesday called on Bradley to meet with members of the gay community and those living with HIV/AIDS. And U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin sent an email to her supporters saying “hate speech has no place in our state’s highest court.” She says Bradley’s comments raise serious questions about her fitness to serve.

Bradley has rejected calls for her to resign, and she’s apologized twice in the past days, saying she no longer believes what she wrote then calling gay people “queers” and “degenerates.”

12:29 p.m.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley calls the application process she underwent to be appointed to three judicial vacancies by Gov. Scott Walker “really extensive” and “very lengthy.”

Bradley did not disclose any of those times that she was a columnist for the student newspaper at Marquette University. Anti-gay opinion pieces she wrote back then have come back to haunt her as she runs for a full 10-year term on the Supreme Court.

Bradley said in an interview on WTMJ radio Tuesday that she did her best to respond to all the questions asked on the application.

Walker tells reporters that not everything a judicial applicant wrote as a student is brought up in the appointment process. He says, “we go through looking at any opinions they’ve written, how they’ve written as a lawyer, things they wrote in law school.”

12:20 p.m.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley says her views began to change almost immediately after an anti-gay column she wrote as a college student at Marquette University was published.

Bradley said in an interview Tuesday on WTMJ radio that the negative reaction to her piece calling gay people “degenerates” made her realize that her “poorly chosen words” had an effect on people.

Bradley says she’s also become a “much better person” in the past 24 years, and she is deeply sorry for what she wrote.

Bradley says as a judge she has presided over adoptions to gay couples who were providing loving homes to children.

She says, “My views on these issues have changed and I am a fair and compassionate person to every person who has come before me as a judge.”

11:55 a.m.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley says she is “deeply sorry” for anti-gay opinion pieces she wrote 24 years ago as a college student.

Bradley said in an interview Tuesday on WTMJ radio that what she wrote in 1992 referring to gays as “degenerates” and “queers” in no way reflects the person she is now.

Bradley was appointed to the state’s highest court in October by Gov. Scott Walker and is running for a 10-year term in the election to be decided April 5.

Bradley says blowback she got from her writings in 1992 began changing her attitudes on the topic, which she says were also shaped by people she’s met and other life experiences.

She says, “I have become a much better person that I was back then.”

9:33 a.m.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote as a college student 24 years ago that abortion is a “holocaust of our children” and equated it with murder.

The 1992 column Bradley wrote while a student at Marquette University was unveiled Tuesday by the liberal attack group One Wisconsin Now. On Monday it released three other pieces Bradley wrote where she referred to homosexuals as “queers” and “degenerates” and expressed no sympathy for AIDS victims.

Gov. Scott Walker appointed Bradley to the Supreme Court in October and she is running for a full 10-year term in the April 5 election.

Walker on Tuesday said it’s irrelevant whether he would have appointed Bradley as a judge if he had known of her college writings.

Bradley has apologized for the anti-gay writings.