Court Candidate Fallone Says He Can Fix Bickering

Marquette University Law Professor Ed Fallone says the bickering among the current justices on the state Supreme Court has caused many in the public to lose faith in the court’s ability to do its job. He says he’s running for a seat on the court because he has what it takes to fix that.

Fallone has taught constitutional, corporate and immigration law at Marquette for 20 years, and has practiced corporate and securities law for 25 years. Although he’s never been a judge, he says his knowledge of the law and his commitment to being what he calls a ‘process conservative’ makes him the right person to help mend the divisions on the court: “Every justice that has served on a multi-member court has said that when a new member comes on the court, it’s a whole new court. It changes how everyone interacts with each other. I also think it is not a daunting task to simply behave in a professional manner to avoid personalizing disagreements and I also believe that I have the ability to compromise, myself, in order to reach consensus.”

Fallone writes a blog on legal issues in which he has advocated strongly for several liberal causes such as immigration reform and voting rights. He also strongly disagrees with the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding Governor Walker’s 2011 budget act that restricted bargaining rights for public employee unions. He rejects claims, however, that he would be a liberal or activist justice: “I absolutely believe that as a justice on the state Supreme Court I can focus on each individual case before me – the law and the facts of that case – and rule independent of any personal feelings or past political views.”

In his campaign, Fallone has painted incumbent Justice Patience Roggensack as primarily responsible for the current divisions on the court and himself as the cure. He has not spent any time attacking his other opponent, lemon law attorney Vince Megna.