Capitol celebration honors chief justice

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Using her wry wit, Abrahamson thanked everyone for helping her celebrate the mid-point of her career. Wisconsin Law Journal Staff Photo

If Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson had been inclined to play the Pick Three lottery on Sept. 6, those may have been the digits she would have chosen.

Monetary rewards aside, those numbers have proven extremely lucky for the current chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She has logged 50 years since joining the bar, 30 years on the State Supreme Court and the last 10 as chief justice.

Abrahamson celebrated her good fortune with a few hundred colleagues in her home away from home, the state Capitol, where a celebration was held in the rotunda to honor her historic career.

“This is probably one of the premier legal events of the year, if not the last several,” said Wisconsin Bar President-elect Thomas J. Basting Sr. “Lots of movers and shakers of the legal profession are here honoring a great justice of the Supreme Court. She’s been a superb justice and a wonderful administrator; I think that’s why you see so many people here today.”

The largely jocular event was emceed by State Bar President Steven A. Levine and featured comments from both state law school deans, State Bar Executive Director George Brown and former Gov. Patrick J. Lucey, who appointed Abrahamson in 1976 as the first woman to sit on the state Supreme Court.

Among those at the celebration were five of her colleagues Wisconsin Law Journal Staff Photo

Abrahamson survived critics and solidified her reputation on the court. She has been re-elected every decade since and became Wisconsin’s first female chief justice in 1996.

“I thought when I appointed her she would be strong and independent and she would last,” Lucey said, noting she has done all of those.

He also dispelled rumors that he had not supported her during one of her earlier elections and he went on to offer his endorsement of Abrahamson for re-election in 2009.

The sentiment was absorbed by Abra-hamson who during her address quipped, “This is a great celebration coming midway through my career.”

Lighthearted remarks on Abrahamson’s longevity were plentiful as Levine opened with an anecdote on the chief justice having known Moses. Justice David T. Prosser Jr., in a separate interview, spoke of knowing Abrahamson since she was his professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Humor aside, the majority of sentiments were sincere in their respect for Abrahamson and her accomplishments.

Gov. Patrick Lucey, who appointed her to the high court in 1976. Wisconsin Law Journal Staff Photo

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley borrowed a compliment from former Justice Janine P. Geske in saying Abrahamson is the “hardest working, smartest person she has ever met.”

Prosser also praised Abrahamson as a “visionary,” but also a “tough task-master.”

“She’s more than a formidable adversary when we’re not on the same side, and a great ally when we are,” said Prosser.

Both Levine and Basting offered their perspectives as attorneys who have argued more than a few cases in front of Abrahamson.

“The first case I argued was in 1978 and she’s been on the bench since 1976, so she’s been there for every case I’ve argued,” said Levine. “We’ve had some back and forth, but we’ve always gotten along very well.”

Basting mentioned Abrahamson’s initial dissension when the court of appeals was created, but credited her cooperation in spite of her early disagreement.

“I
think one of the things she has done so well is to administer the courts throughout the state, which she’s been in charge of now for the last 10 years,” said Basting.

“Wisconsin is not facing the problems of some other states on the issue of judicial independence, because she’s worked hard to make that an issue in Wisconsin and has not been challenged.”

Abrahamson’s acceptance and encouragement of change has been a natural compliment to her pioneering career. During her speech, she stressed the importance of teaching the public about the vital role of the judicial system.

Her actions as chief justice have reinforced that position as she opened the high court’s administrative conferences to the public. The court has also held oral arguments in a variety of counties around the state through its Justice on Wheels program and actively invites students into the courtroom at the Capitol through its Court with Class program.

Perhaps George Brown put it best when he characterized the chief justice with a comical phrase coined by author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in 1973: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”

Jack Zemlicka can be reached by email.