Freyberg:

Come April 7th, you’ll see a constitutional amendment to vote for or against. Both houses of the legislature approved the amendment that, if passed by voters, would have State Supreme Court Justices elect their chief justice rather than the position accruing by seniority. Democrats call it a political power play. Republicans say it would bring democracy to the selection of chief. We checked in with the two candidates running for the high court. First, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.

Ann Walsh Bradley:

I think the constitution is more important than that. It can’t be the source of some kind of political football. For those of us who have been around for awhile, and we understand the pendulum swings, both sides of the aisle should be concerned about the institutional issues that this raises, because if you’re going to change the constitution because you don’t like a person at one time, 10 years from now the constitution ultimately could be changed again because they don’t like another person, and that’s not what constitutional amendments are for.

Freyberg:

Bradley is running for her third term on the court. Rock County Circuit Court Judge James Daley is challenging her. He made this statement concerning passage of the amendment, “I want to be among the first justices to vote for the court’s chief. Democracy should be welcome on the court. The current model denies the State Supreme Court the ability to democratically select the individual who would best administer the court.”