Yesterday in La Crosse
What is an activist judge? Two justices tried to define it, 12 years ago
In 2006, Wisconsin Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and associate Justice Ann Walsh Bradley appeared at the Viterbo Fine Arts Center on “Law Day,” answering questions from local reporters. Abrahamson has been called an “activist,” and said people don’t agree on what makes a judge activist. She said it may depend on whether the person using the word liked a decision made by a particular judge. Bradley said the use of the “activist” label has become “alarming.”
Abrahamson also spoke that day at a celebration in the La Crosse County courthouse for local attorney Ernie Hanson, who was marking 65 years as a lawyer, and who had just turned 90. The Chief Justice said she felt “very young,’ having served only 50 years in the profession herself.
And a youth theatre group from Japan visited La Crosse for a week, to perform a play at La Crosse Community Theatre about the Hiroshima bombing. Several local residents also played parts in that production 12 years ago, 2006, yesterday in La Crosse.
