January 30, 2020
[Madison, WI] – Today, at a forum hosted by the Milwaukee Bar Association, Justice Daniel Kelly stood up for the institution of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the people of Wisconsin by taking Judge Jill Karofsky to task for her slanderous lies about the Court.
Throughout her campaign, Jill Karofsky has fabricated one lie after another in an attempt to slander Justice Daniel Kelly and our state’s highest court. Her habit of throwing out desperate allegations devoid of fact or reasoning continued during today’s forum when Karofsky refused to apologize for disgraceful comments. Justice Kelly appropriately denounced Karofsky’s accusations as a tool to service her political ambitions, stating, “If you didn’t have slander, you wouldn’t have a campaign.”
Karofsky’s cavalier attitude towards the truth should deeply concern voters, and calls into question her character and judicial temperament.
Read the full write-up here, or find excerpts below.
Dan Kelly, Jill Karofsky erupt in feud during Supreme Court Forum
Wisconsin State Journal
Riley Vetterkind
January 30, 2020
Supreme Court candidate Jill Karofsky’s accusations of corruption toward Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly came to a head during a Thursday forum, resulting in the two candidates breaking out into a feud.
Advancing a line she’s used throughout her campaign, Karofsky, a liberal-backed Dane County Circuit Court judge, again tore into Kelly, who is supported by conservatives, for repeatedly siding with the conservative groups that support him.
“Every single time that Justice Kelly has the opportunity to rule in favor of the right-wing special interests, of the Republicans, he does it every single time,” Karofsky said. “And that is why people think that there is corruption on our Supreme Court.”
Kelly, as well as Karofsky and Marquette Law School professor Ed Fallone, both backed by liberals, are set to compete in a Feb. 18 primary that will determine which two candidates advance to the April general election. The winning candidate is elected to a 10-year term on the court.
The accusations Karofsky repeatedly leveled against Kelly, which he categorically denied, drew a heated reply from Kelly, who defended his legal decisions as based in logic and not influenced by his political views. He dismissed Karofsky’s accusations as slander against him and his Supreme Court colleagues and as a tool to service her political ambitions.
“You owe me an apology for this disgusting slander,” Kelly said. “If you didn’t have slander, you wouldn’t have a campaign.”
Kelly continued, arguing Karofsky’s criticism of his actions on the court equated to slander against himself, the institution and other Supreme Court justices who have ruled similarly to him, such as Chief Justice Patience Roggensack. Karofsky, however, did not name any specific judges beyond Kelly.
“(Roggensack) did not ask to be slandered by some careless trial judge who can’t even be bothered to keep her insults focused on the target,” Kelly said.
Karofsky didn’t offer any apologies.
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Read the full write-up here.
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