A Supreme Court justice faced sexual harassment charges, 27 years ago

The Brett Kavanaugh controversy of 2018 has been compared to the charges made against Clarence Thomas, when he was being considered for the Supreme Court in the fall of 1991. There was much live TV coverage of the testimony by both Thomas and his accuser, Anita Hill, who said Thomas had made offensive sexual statements to her when they worked together in two federal agencies. Thomas received 52 Senate votes to win the Supreme Court seat that he still holds. Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa all had split Senate delegations in 1991…with each state’s Republican voting for Thomas, and each Democrat opposing him. Iowa’s yes vote came from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.

The U.S. Secretary of Labor visited La Crosse the week of the Thomas confirmation vote. Lynn Martin was a Thomas backer, saying memories and perceptions of the past can change. Republican Martin had served in Congress for 10 years. She represented the northwest corner of Illinois along the Wisconsin border.

And the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce was among the backers of a bill to promote riverboat gambling in Wisconsin. The state tourism department said La Crosse could gain $20 million a year in revenue spent by visitors to a riverboat casino. Unlike Iowa and Illinois, Wisconsin never has gotten floating casinos, but the idea was floated in 1991…27 years ago, yesterday in La Crosse.