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​”Evers’ judges” is our effort to present information about Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees to the bench. The information is taken from the appointees’ own judgeship applications.

Italics indicate direct quotes from the application.​ Typos, including punctuation errors, come from the original application even though we have not inserted “(sic)” after each one. WJI has left them as is.

Name: David O. Hughes

Appointed to: Kenosha County Circuit Court

Appointment date: Dec. 23, 2025, to term ending July 31,

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Continue Reading Evers’ judges: David O. Hughes

There’s some consensus among lawyers that ethics rules already cover the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence in court submissions, but a recent petition to the Wisconsin Supreme Court is asking for more.

The rule change petition seeks to mandate explicit disclosure to the court and disclosure by the court when generative AI is used in the preparation of everything from court filings to opinions.

The petition was filed by frequent pro se (self-represented) litigant Jay Stone.

Stone’s

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Continue Reading Generative AI Disclosure for Court Documents – Necessary or Redundant?

​”Evers’ judges” is our effort to present information about Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees to the bench. The information is taken from the appointees’ own judgeship applications.

Italics indicate direct quotes from the application.​ Typos, including punctuation errors, come from the original application even though we have not inserted “(sic)” after each one. WJI has left them as is.

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Name: Owen Piotrowski

Appointed to: Milwaukee County Circuit Court

Appointment date: Jan. 7, 2026, (effective Feb. 1, 2026) to term ending

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Continue Reading Evers’ judges: Owen Piotrowski

Just seven judicial races across Wisconsin were contested in yesterday’s elections. You’ve likely already heard about Judge Chris Taylor winning the open Supreme Court seat over Judge Maria Lazar.

No Wisconsin Court of Appeals races were contested, so Judges Joe Donald and Rachel Graham were reelected to Districts 1 and 4 respectively, and newcomer Anthony LoCoco will join the appeals court in District 2.

What happened in the six contested circuit court races? Here are results from the unofficial

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Continue Reading Judicial Elections Roundup: Results from Around the State

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When AI Provides Courtroom Expertise
Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic in every field, but, too often, when it comes to the legal system, it is lawyers’ and judges’ struggles with AI that make news, time after time. But while everyone is talking about “hallucinated” case citations, some are focusing on the other ways AI is entering the courtroom. For decades, expert evidence has required a human witness—a physician, engineer, accountant, or other specialist applying…
Continue Reading When the ‘Expert’ Is an Algorithm

In last week’s Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate debate, Wisconsin Justice Initiative’s legal challenge to the spring 2020 ballot question underlay one of the final questions.

WISN 12 in Milwaukee held and broadcast the debate between Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judges Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar on Thursday, Apr. 2.

About 10 minutes before the end, WISN moderator Matt Smith asked Taylor why she had voted against the constitutional amendment known as Marsy’s Law when she was a state legislator.

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Continue Reading Supreme Court debate includes reference to WJI’s lawsuit challenging the 2020 Marsy’s Law constitutional amendment

Candidates Aaron Marcoux and Angeline Winton-Roe vie for the seat on the Washburn County Circuit Court currently held by Winton-Roe. The election is April 7.

Marcoux is the Washburn County district attorney, having been appointed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2019 and elected to four-year terms in 2020 and 2024. Before then he was an assistant district attorney, and before that an assistant state public defender. He graduated from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 2010. A

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Continue Reading Meet the Candidates for Washburn County Circuit Court

As Wisconsin prepares for a Supreme Court election between two appellate judges, examining judicial track records is helpful for understanding a candidate’s potential impact on the high-court bench.

Past rulings can provide insight on how the candidates approach the cases before them, reason and interpret law to get to their decisions, and explain those decisions to lower courts and the public.

Court of Appeals Judges Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor vie for an open seat on the Supreme Court.

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Continue Reading Sample Opinions from this Year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidates

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For two decades, Wisconsin courts have followed the approach to statutory interpretation established in State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane County, 2004 WI 58, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110. As noted in a recent blog post from Stafford Rosenbaum, that framework may soon change.

Kalal established a two-step methodology for interpreting statutes. Courts first examine the statute’s text using only “intrinsic sources”—the statute’s language, structure, purpose, and closely-related statutes. If the meaning…
Continue Reading Is a Change to Wisconsin’s Statutory Interpretation Framework Imminent?

portrait of Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill J. KarofskyWisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill J. Karofsky.

Nov. 13, 2025 – Full of gratitude, praising the resilience of Wisconsin’s judiciary, new Chief Justice Jill J. Karofsky’s State of the Judiciary Address yesterday (Nov. 12) at the Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference in Lake Geneva also raised the hue and cry.

“[I]t gives me no pleasure to say this: the state of our judiciary … is troubled.

“In this moment, we see increasing attacks on judges and

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Continue Reading Chief Justice Karofsky Delivers ‘State of the Judiciary’ Address to State Judges

Closeup of Vote by Mail envelope
Closeup of a Vote by Mail envelope, official balloting material - business reply mail, USPS first class mail.

In August of this year, the US Post Office announced a new rule that included without much fanfare a MAJOR change in when letters are postmarked. Under this new rule, most letters will no longer be postmarked on the day the letter is received by a post office but instead postmarked a day later when the letter is processed at a regional mail processing facility.
It is important that mailers understand the distinction between the date when the Postal…
Continue Reading Postmark changes at the Post Office and late mail

Stock Photo of Gavel in Front of Flag​

Oct. 28, 2025 – The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Rebecca L. Taibleson to be the next judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Taibleson is Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and co-chief of the office’s Appellate Division. Her confirmation fills the seat of Judge Diane S. Sykes, who began senior status on Oct. 1.

The Senate voted 52-46 to confirm the nomination.

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Continue Reading Rebecca Taibleson Confirmed as Seventh Circuit Appeals Court Judge

When most people think about “convictions,” they picture criminal charges. But not all convictions are criminal. A conviction for violating a municipal ordinance, such as underage drinking, disorderly conduct, or certain traffic offenses, is classified as a civil forfeiture violation. 

On paper, these are “civil” cases. In practice, however, they are often described as “quasi-criminal.” That is because they cover a broad range of offenses and can still carry many of the same long-term consequences as criminal convictions. At…
Continue Reading Reopening and Vacating Municipal Court Convictions

seven people sit at a table on a stage facing one person standing at a podium, before an audienceThe Iowa Supreme Court recently heard a case at an Iowa high school. Photo: Trent Kubasiak.

I am a State Bar of Wisconsin nonresident attorney, and I recently found myself in the auditorium of my daughter’s high school, watching the Iowa Supreme Court hear live oral arguments in a pending case.

The justices sat on a temporary bench on the stage. Students, teachers and community members filled the seats. The case involved statutory interpretation, but the real lesson that…
Continue Reading When a Supreme Court Leaves the Courthouse

In In Re: Commitment of M.C., the Indiana Court of Appeals (the “Court”) dismissed M.C.’s appeal as moot because M.C. failed to demonstrate a particularized collateral consequence of his commitment or that the Indiana Constitution compelled the Court to hear his appeal on the merits. No. 24A-MH-1364, 2025 WL 658771 (Ind. Ct. App. Feb. 28, 2025). However, a recent decision from the Indiana Supreme Court held the expiration of a temporary commitment does not render an appeal moot unless…
Continue Reading Indiana Court of Appeals Clarifies Mootness and Collateral Consequences in Civil Commitment Appeals

May 20, 2025

Much as I would prefer any other topic for my column this month, the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan was the biggest story in local law in, well, forever.

In the event you’ve been living under a rock, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested April 25 at the courthouse on charges of helping a defendant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who had a case in her courtroom, evade immigration authorities who had a warrant for his…
Continue Reading Weighing the consequences of Judge Dugan’s arrest