Retired Judges Want Wisconsin Supreme Court to Tighten Recusal Rules

Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 -- 12:01 PM

(Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio) Following a string of multimillion dollar judicial elections, a group of retired judges wants the Wisconsin Supreme Court to tighten recusal rules in cases where judges or justices receive campaign donations from litigants.

According to Rich Kremer with the Wisconsin Public Radio, the judges say the current recusal rules are “broken,” and while the court’s former conservative majority rejected attempts to change them, there’s hope the current liberal majority will consider it.

In recent years, Wisconsin Supreme Court races have become more partisan and far more expensive. At the same time, more litigants in politically-charged cases have asked justices to recuse themselves from proceedings because of comments and political donations from the campaign trail.

For the most part, those justices have declined the invitations. Currently, it’s up to justices and judges themselves to decide whether to step aside from cases under the recusal rule, which was enacted by the Supreme Court’s former conservative majority in 2010.

Retired Dane County Circuit Court Judge Sara O’Brien told WPR the current rules were written by the lobbyist groups Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and Wisconsin Realtors Association, and were aimed at protecting donors, “not to protect fair courts.”

“So, it literally says if I got $100 million from a party, I can still hear the case unless there’s some other reason to think I’m biased. And I think everyone knows that’s ridiculous,” said O’Brien.

O’Brien is one of nine retired circuit court judges who petitioned the Supreme Court in January to change the recusal process. Their proposed rule would make it mandatory for judges and justices to remove themselves from cases if donations raise “a reasonable question concerning the judge’s ability to be impartial.”

The petition includes nine factors to consider, such as the size of a contribution, the timing, the nature of a contributor’s “political activities or support and prior relationship with the judge,” and whether that support “causes the judge’s impartiality to be questioned.”

O’Brien pointed to record-setting spending in the 2023 and 2025 Supreme Court races as a reason to enact the recusal standards now. She said some liberal Supreme Court justices on the bench have previously called for recusal changes.

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