Schimel Gets Terrible Grades from Bar Association

The Milwaukee Bar Association (MBA) released its annual survey of members regarding the characteristics and qualifications of judicial candidates that appear on the ballot in Milwaukee County in the spring election. And Brad Schimel, the Republican-backed candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court received a very poor ranking, far below that for the Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford.

The group’s press release notes that “MBA members are in a unique position as they often appear before and/or have interactions with the judiciary and can offer helpful insights that can be pivotal in helping voters learn about each candidate.” They graded each candidate on the following:

• Judicial temperament
• Efficient administration of justice
• Knowledge of the law/legal experience
• Respect for litigants
• Written and oral communication skills
• Impartiality/integrity
• Community engagement

In every category Schimel got far worse grades than Crawford. Nearly 42% said Schimel did not meet expectations for “judicial temperament” while just 9% said this of Crawford. He got the same negative grade for “efficient administration of justice” (about 38% for Schimel versus just 8% for Crawford); for “knowledge of the law” (about 34% said Schimel doesn’t meet expectations versus 6% for Crawford); in “respect for litigants” (35% negative for Schimel and just 6% negative for Crawford); and for “written and communication skills” (41% negative for Schimel versus 6% negative for Crawford).

The other two categories are perhaps the most telling: Schimel got the worse grade for “community engagement,” with 56% saying he doesn’t meet expectations, versus just 6% saying Crawford doesn’t meet expectations.

And Schimel got his best grade, though still very low for “impartiality/integrity,” with 34% saying he doesn’t meet expectations, versus more than 11% saying this of Crawford. The fact that both candidates did their worst in this category might reflect a race that has become very partisan.

Looking at the rankings the opposite way, a large majority of respondents (up to 70%) ranked Crawford as meeting or exceeding expectations in all five categories, with only a minority (up to 46%) ranking Schimel as meeting or exceeding expectations.

If memory serves, Schimel has gotten a far worse ranking from the Bar Association than most judicial candidates in recent decades. However, the poll, which was restricted to MBA members only, had a 17.6% return rate.