April 21 marked the final oral arguments for Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley before she officially leaves the court following the end of her term in July. She is the first justice to reach the bench after serving as both a circuit court and appeals court judge.
Chief Justice Jill Karofsky thanked Justice Bradley for her 11 years on the Supreme Court, saying in part, “You made me a better Justice. You have been prepared every single time you walked into this hearing room, and I never wanted to be less prepared than you were. Which wasn’t always an easy task. You pushed me to really analyze and defend my positions. You challenged me to think harder and to look closer.”
According to the Chief Justice, Justice Bradley participated in almost 500 oral arguments, authoring 61 majority opinions, 68 concurrences, and 59 dissents.
Third Branch eNews is an online monthly newsletter of the Director of State Courts Office. If you are interested in contributing an article about your department’s programs or accomplishments, contact your department head. Information about judicial retirements and judicial obituaries may be submitted to: Sara.Foster@wicourts.gov