WLJ David Ziemer News

Lets Be Honest

Mon, 19 May 2008 09:14:05 CDT

During her address to the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association last month, Judge Diane S. Sykes related the following anecdote from the Constitutional Convention on the issue of how to choose judges:

Inside the Jury Room

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:50:48 CDT

As a writer for a legal journal, I’d love to write an inside scoop of what goes on in a jury room. But, alas, every time I’ve been called for jury duty, I managed to get myself removed by one attorney or another with his peremptory strikes.

An easier solution

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:18:47 CDT

After the 2000 election, in which Bush won the Electoral College, but Gore won more popular votes, some persons dissatisfied with the results called for an end to the electoral college. This week, State Bar President Thomas Basting was displeased with the results of the Bar’s election for President-Elect. Predictably, he proposed a PLAN to change how we elect our bar leaders.

Student Speech

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:41:30 CDT

Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit may or may not write the most well-reasoned opinion in any given case, but it is a pretty sure bet that, among competing opinions, his will be the most eloquent.

Election will show Wisconsin lawyers support voluntary bar

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:55:49 CDT

The ballots for state bar elections have now arrived. Approximately two-thirds of the state’s attorneys will throw them away, if previous elections provide an accurate forecast of the future. Of those who do vote, a little more than half will vote for one of the bar’s two candidates, and a little less than half will vote for Douglas Kammer, who is running on a one-issue platform: the end of the mandatory bar.

Power Trip

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:16:32 CDT

Yet another group of officious intermeddlers has decided that it has the responsibility to decide what information Wisconsin’s citizens may be permitted to hear during elections.

Ruling for defense or prosecution doesnt matter ? application of law is key

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:15:35 CDT

Every case heard by any justice or judge is to be decided on its own facts. There is nothing inherently wrong with a justice ruling in favor of criminal defendants 100 percent of the time; there is nothing inherently wrong with a justice ruling in favor of criminal defendants 0 percent of the time.

Membership in political parties is no big deal

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:05:10 CDT

Should judges and judicial candidates be allowed to be members of political parties?

Federal corporate law would be folly

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:53:13 CDT

Apparently, there are some misguided folks out there who would like to enact a federal corporate law that would displace the various state laws.

Amendment limits ability to get federal judges as speakers

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:05:27 CST

One of Wisconsin’s U.S. senators, Russell Feingold, is engaged in a mission that borders on demagoguery.

Planned Parenthood release misleads about Wisconsin law

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:35:59 CST

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin is currently distributing a misleading press release concerning the Wisconsin Statutes.

State Jury Instructions Should Be Free

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:17:12 CST

It seems to me that standard jury instructions should be free of charge, available on the internet, and neither private parties nor non-profit groups should be able to copyright them and charge for them.

Eliminating judicial elections is not the answer

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:23:48 CST

An opinion piece by the Wisconsin State Journal’s editorial board, which ran Jan. 12, proposes getting rid of judicial elections, in favor of selection by a “non-partisan committee” that would forward several names to the governor based on “merit.”

Isnt it ironic?

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:37:57 CST

The State Bar has launched what it claims is a “bi-partisan” Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee.

I stand with the private bar

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 07:32:26 CST

I share the motivations behind AB576, which would make more persons eligible for representation by the State Public Defender.

Is state funding for indigents in civil cases constitutional?

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:12:52 CST

The recently enacted state budget includes $1 million for the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation Inc. (WisTAF), which will make grants to programs that provide civil legal services to indigent persons.

Bar should not limit ability to seek presidency

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:14:14 CST

The State Bar of Wisconsin currently rotates its president-elect among three areas: Milwaukee; Madison; and out-state. Each year, it selects two candidates from one of the three regions, and the membership votes.

David Ziemer Bio

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:38:46 CDT

David Ziemer is news editor of the Wisconsin Law Journal. After practicing law in Milwaukee for nine years, he joined the Law Journal staff full-time in 2000.