High court working to clear rules docket, bids farewell to Prosser

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court is on its way to clearing its rules petition docket for the term.

Chief Justice Pat Roggensack at Tuesday’s open rules conference, which is the last one for the term, shared the status of various orders that the court has circulated but not approved. Although the judges have already voted on those matters in public meetings, the orders contain the final language of any new or modified rules the court has chosen to adopt. The orders also indicate why the court has chosen to deny or dismiss a petition.

The court’s agenda for the meeting contained six orders regarding petitions that were waiting for the justices’ final sign off when the agenda was released last week. Of those six orders, two were ready to be issued by Tuesday’s meeting, Roggensack said. The two orders involve a petition to create the Access to Justice Commission and a petition to amend the rules of civil procedure so that unclaimed class-action settlements may be channeled toward civil legal aid.

The remaining four petitions are either waiting on a writing from Justice Shirley Abrahamson or a vote from Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Abrahamson has until June 25 to submit a separate writing to the court’s order to deny the State Bar’s request that the court let people charged with a crime but never prosecuted take down online records of those charges. Abrahamson has already submitted separate writings on the other petitions, which include a rules change giving attorneys continuing legal education credits for pro bono legal work and expanding the ability of in-house counsel to do pro bono work.

The court on Tuesday also voted to uphold a statute that gives circuit court judges the ability to transfer cases to tribal courts and unanimously voted to dismiss a petition Roggensack had filed in 2013 to suggest a process the court could use to streamlines its rule-making process.

Roggensack made the motion to dismiss the petition, which was seconded by Justice Rebecca Bradley. She said that she no longer believes the change is necessary.

Tuesday’s rules conference was also Justice David Prosser’s last appearance in public with his colleagues on the court. Prosser had announced in April that he is retiring July 31. Roggensack thanked him for his service on the court. The justices, as well as others attending the rules conference, gave him a standing ovation. Follow @erikastrebel