Abrahamson withdraws from 3 cases

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Long-time Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson has suddenly withdrawn from participating in three cases.

At the beginning of the high court’s oral arguments on Monday morning, Chief Justice Pat Roggensack said that Abrahamson would not be present and had withdrawn from all three of the cases scheduled for argument before the court.

Those cases were Ann Catau v. National Insurance Services of Wisconsin Inc., John Teske v. Wisconsin Mutual Insurance Co. and State v. Jessica Randall.

Abrahamson withdrew from the three cases Monday morning and did not withdraw from any other cases, said a staff member who answered the phone at Abrahamson’s office Monday. The staff member declined to say why Abrahamson decided to withdraw from the cases.

Abrahamson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Abrahamson announced in May that she would not be seeking re-election for her seat and then in August announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Nevertheless, she said she intended to remain in office through July 31, which is the end of her term.

Since then, Abrahamson has attended oral arguments in person and by telephone. As part of the University of Wisconsin Law School’s 150th anniversary celebration events, Abrahamson gave a talk in October while seated in a wheelchair.

Abrahamson, who was appointed to the court in 1976, is the state’s longest-serving supreme court justice.