State’s high court wrapping up term

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The Wisconsin State Supreme Court will finish up its term by taking up a pair of petitions dealing with transfers of child-support cases from state courts to tribal courts.

One of the petitions calls for simply for a review of rule 801.54, which lets circuit-court judges transfer cases, mostly child-support cases, to tribal courts. The other asks the court to eliminate the rule completely.

The rule allowing transfers to tribal courts was passed six years ago. It has since been modified to let tribes hear child-support cases sent to them by state courts.

The Supreme Court took up both petitions on Nov. 19 in a day-long public hearing. More than a dozen people testified.

Advocates for repealing the rule have said they want to see power taken away from the Oneida Nation’s judiciary system, which they argue is biased and favors nepotism over justice. Supporters have responded by arguing the rule establishes a neutral procedure that helps judges decide whether a case should be transferred to a tribal court. They also contend that it streamlines transfers of child-support cases.

The justices had agreed two times before to defer making a decision on the two petitions. They now plan to vote on the petitions at an open conference to start at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday at the Supreme Court Hearing Room in the state Capitol.

Although the Supreme Court’s term is almost over, some work still needs to be done. The court has voted to approve or dismiss various petitions, but has yet to issue final orders in those matters. According to an agenda released Monday, drafts of proposed final language have been circulated for six petitions but have yet to be voted on by the judges.

The petitions include:

•  A decades-old request from the State Bar of Wisconsin that would allow people who have not been charged with a crime to remove those charges from online records. The justices recently voted to dismiss the petition.
• Rule changes that would allow the state’s attorneys to earn continuing-legal-education credits for pro bono legal work and expanding the ability of in-house counsel to provide pro bono legal work. The court recently voted to approve the petition.
• A request from the State Bar to update the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys to match the model rules set out by the American Bar Association. The justices recently approved the request.
• A request for a rules change made by a Kenosha attorney that would clarify the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys so lawyers may discuss or write about public aspects of their closed cases. The justices voted at a recent meeting to dismiss the petition.