Court Opinion

ID: 9709752
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 03:54:09.063677+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:51.239329
License: Public Domain

ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J.
(concurring). I agree with the majority opinion's conclusion that § 757.19(2)(g) involves a subjective test and that the circuit court judge in this case made the requisite determination that he could remain impartial. The subjective nature of § 757.19(2)(g) was decided by this court in State v. American TV & Appliance, 151 Wis. 2d 175, 182, 443 N.W.2d 662 (1989). This court should not abandon such precedent without strong justification, because adherence to precedent is fundamental to "a society governed by the rule of law." City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc., 462 U.S. 416, 420 (1983).
The Supreme Court has recognized certain factors which may provide significant justification for departure from precedent, including: (1) the rule has proven *673to be intolerable simply in defying practical workability; (2) the rule is subject to a kind of reliance that would lend a special hardship to the consequences of overruling; (3) related principles of law have changed or developed such that the rationale behind the old law has been undermined; (4) facts have changed, or come to be seen so differently, as to have robbed the old rule of significant application or justification. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 854-55 (1992) (joint opinion of O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter, JJ.) (citations omitted). We have not been presented with any of these justifications in the intervening years since American TV was decided.
Therefore, I acknowledge that review under § 757.19(2) is "limited to establishing whether the judge made a determination requiring disqualification." American TV, 151 Wis. 2d at 186. However, I write separately to emphasize that due process requires that every person has a right to a fair trial by an impartial and unbiased judge. State v. Walberg, 109 Wis. 2d 96, 105, 325 N.W.2d 687 (1982), rev'd on other grounds, 766 F.2d 1071 (1985). I agree with Justice Abrahamson that § 757.19(2)(g) does not foreclose consideration of this fundamental due process right. Aetna Life Ins. v. LaVoie, 475 U.S. 813, 825 (1986). However, as the Aetna court recognized, only in the most extreme cases does the Due Process Clause require disqualification for general allegations of bias. Aetna, 475 U.S. at 821. I concur, that judged by this standard, there is no due process violation in this case.
I am authorized to state that Justice JANINE P. GESKE joins this opinion.