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Rebecca Lynn Grassl Bradley (born August 2, 1971) is an American lawyer, and justice of the
Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...
, serving since 2015. She has been a state judge in
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
since 2012. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Scott Walker in 2015, and won election to a 10-year term in 2016.


Early life and education

Rebecca Lynn Grassl was born on August 2, 1971, in
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
, Wisconsin. She attended the private, all-girls
Divine Savior Holy Angels High School Divine Savior Holy Angels High School (DSHA) is an all-girls Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee and sponsored by the Sisters of the Divine Savior. History The school was ...
. She earned a BS in business administration and business economics from
Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...
in 1993. She received her JD from the
University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...
in Madison in 1996. In 1992, while she was a student at
Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...
, she wrote several columns for the ''
Marquette Tribune ''The Marquette Tribune'' is the official student newspaper of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It has consistently won awards, including Best Non-Daily Student Newspaper by the Society of Professional Journalists The Society of P ...
'' critical of
homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
and comparing
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
to the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
and
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. In the columns, written under her
maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also u ...
, Rebecca Grassl, she wrote, "One will be better off contracting AIDS than developing cancer, because those afflicted with the
politically correct ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
disease will get all the funding," and "How sad that the lives of degenerate drug addicts and queers are valued more than the innocent lives of more prevalent ailments." She also wrote, "But the homosexuals and drug addicts who do essentially kill themselves and others through their own behavior deservedly receive none of my sympathy", as well as "
Heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" t ...
sex is very healthy in a loving relationship; homosexual sex, however, kills." In another article, Bradley compared abortion to a "time in history when Jews were treated as nonhumans and tortured and murdered" and "a time in history when blacks were treated as something less than human". She apologized in 2016 after her columns were discovered by the group
One Wisconsin Now One Wisconsin Now is a liberal issue advocacy organization based in Wisconsin that focuses on advancing "progressive leadership and values." Created in 2006, One Wisconsin Now rose to prominence in 2006 when the group unsuccessfully opposed the e ...
.


Early law career

From 1996 to 2012, Bradley worked as an attorney at several Milwaukee law firms, specializing in commercial litigation and
intellectual property law Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
, and as a software company executive. Considered a conservative, Bradley served as president of the Milwaukee
Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (abbreviated as FedSoc) is an American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Headquarter ...
chapter and participated in the
Thomas More Society The Thomas More Society is a conservative Roman Catholic public-interest law firm based in Chicago. The group has been engaged in many " culture war" issues, promoting its anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage beliefs through litigation. Th ...
and the Republican National Lawyers Association. Bradley was a contributor to the campaign of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...
. In December 2012, Walker appointed Bradley to the
Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous cou ...
Circuit Court, where she served in the children's court division. She was elected to a six-year term on the court in April 2013, receiving substantial support from the conservative
Wisconsin Club for Growth The Wisconsin Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization based in Wisconsin. It financially supported Wisconsin governor Scott Walker during the 2012 election that sought to recall him. It had $8 million in revenue in 2012. Govern ...
and defeating her future fellow Supreme Court colleague
Janet Protasiewicz Janet Claire Protasiewicz (; ; born December 3, 1962) is an American attorney and jurist from Wisconsin who has served as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court since August 2023. Protasiewicz was elected to the court in the 2023 election, ...
by a 53–47% margin.


Wisconsin Supreme Court


2015 appointment

In May 2015, Walker elevated Bradley to the
Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...
to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge
Ralph Adam Fine Ralph Adam Fine (February 14, 1941 – December 5, 2014) was an American judge, author, and television personality who served on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals from 1988-2014. A former attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Fi ...
. After the death of Justice
N. Patrick Crooks Neil Patrick Crooks (May 16, 1938September 21, 2015) was an American lawyer. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1996 until his death in 2015. He was appointed as a county judge by a Democratic governor, later professing conserva ...
in 2015, Bradley was appointed by Walker to serve as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the remainder of Crooks' term.


2016 Supreme Court election

After Crooks' death, Bradley,
JoAnne Kloppenburg JoAnne F. Kloppenburg (born September 5, 1953) is a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, serving since 2012 in the Madison-based District IV. Kloppenburg was previously an assistant attorney general in the Wisconsin Department of Justice a ...
(who narrowly lost a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2011), and
Joe Donald Martin Joseph Donald (born February 8, 1959) is an American lawyer and a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in the Milwaukee-based District I. Donald was appointed to the court in September 2019 by Governor of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Governor To ...
each announced their candidacy for the seat in the 2016 election. In the February 16 primary, Bradley edged Kloppenburg 44.7–43.2%, moving the two of them on to the general election in an even race. Bradley's
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
writings as an undergraduate, published in 1992 in
Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...
's student newspaper, stirred controversy during the race. She had written
letters to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mai ...
and a column for the ''
Marquette Tribune ''The Marquette Tribune'' is the official student newspaper of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It has consistently won awards, including Best Non-Daily Student Newspaper by the Society of Professional Journalists The Society of P ...
'', in which she stated she held no sympathy for AIDS patients because they were "degenerates" who had effectively chosen to kill themselves. She also referred to gay people as "queers". She called Americans who voted for
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
"either totally stupid or entirely evil". She blasted supporters of abortion as murderers, and compared abortion to the Holocaust and slavery. She attacked
feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
as "angry, militant, man-hating lesbians who abhor the traditional family" and defended
Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultur ...
, who had written in a 1991 column that "A girl who lets herself get dead drunk at a fraternity party is a fool. A girl who goes upstairs alone with a brother at a fraternity party is an idiot." Bradley wrote that Paglia had "legitimately suggested that women play a role in
date rape Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between ...
". Bradley apologized for her student writings in 2016, shortly after the controversy arose. Pre-election polls showed Bradley with a slight lead, but with a significant portion of the electorate still undecided. She was projected as the winner by a 53–47% margin on election night, and she quoted Winston Churchill at the end of her victory speech: "There is nothing more exhilarating than being shot at without result."


Tenure

In June 2019, Bradley wrote the majority opinion for the Wisconsin Supreme Court when conservatives on the court upheld a series of laws, passed by the Republican-led Wisconsin legislature and Republican Governor Scott Walker during a
lame-duck session A lame-duck session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a sine die adjo ...
, limiting the powers of the incoming Democratic Governor (
Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers (born November 5, 1951) is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2009 ...
) and Attorney General (
Josh Kaul Joshua Lautenschlager Kaul (born February 2, 1981) is an American lawyer, politician and member of the Democratic Party who has served as the 45th Attorney General of Wisconsin since January 2019. Early life and education Kaul is the son of Pe ...
). During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
in 2020, she dissented from a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision ordering the postponement of jury trials and the suspension of in-person court proceedings for public health reasons. In April 2020, during the pandemic, she joined the conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in striking down Governor Evers' order to postpone an April 7 Wisconsin election due to the public health risks of the coronavirus. She voted in person on April 2, although casting a ballot in person before the date of the election is considered an
absentee vote An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online vo ...
in Wisconsin. Examination of Justice Bradley's voting record demonstrates that she voted in person on Election Day in 4 of the 5 previous elections. In May 2020, she compared the stay-at-home orders to the
internment of Japanese-Americans Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
during World War II, and labeled them "tyrannic". In November 2020, while COVID-19 cases were surging in Wisconsin, she was in the Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority which prevented the City of Racine Public Health Department from ordering school closures. In the fallout of the 2020 presidential election, Bradley issued a dissenting minority opinion in the unsuccessful case brought by the
Trump campaign There have been four presidential campaigns waged by Donald Trump for President of the United States. He has additionally mused about running on several other occasions. Donald Trump presidential campaign may refer to: * Donald Trump 2000 presid ...
to overturn the
2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...
results in Wisconsin. While agreeing with at least some of the Trump campaign's allegations, none of the dissenting judges (including Bradley) would say what relief they thought should be given to Trump's campaign; instead, they merely agreed that Trump was right. Bradley's dissent called the majority's decision not to overturn the election "an indelible stain" that would cause "significant harm to the rule of law". In 2021, Bradley was the sole judge on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to rule in favor of a man who argued that his
Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...
rights allowed him to brandish firearms while intoxicated and arguing with his roommates. Bradley said that the conviction against the man "erodes a fundamental freedom". In 2021, Bradley wrote a majority decision for the Wisconsin Supreme Court declining changes in district maps that favored Republicans. In her decision, Bradley wrote that questions about the redistricting maps "must be resolved through the political process and not by the judiciary". In the 2022 decision ''Teigen v. Wisconsin Election Commission,'' which held that ballot drop boxes are illegal under Wisconsin statutes, Bradley wrote "If elections are conducted outside of the law, the people have not conferred their consent on the government. Such elections are unlawful and their results are illegitimate." ''Teigen'' was ultimately overturned by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on July 5, 2024, with Bradley authoring the
dissenting opinion A dissenting opinion (or dissent) is an opinion in a legal case in certain legal systems written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment. Dissenting opinions are no ...
.


Electoral history


Wisconsin Circuit Court (2013)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary election, February 19, 2013 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General election, April 2, 2013


Wisconsin Supreme Court (2016)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary election, February 16, 2016 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General election, April 5, 2016


References


External links


Justice Rebecca Bradley biography on Wisconsin Supreme Court

Justice Rebecca Bradley for Supreme Court
(2016 Election) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Rebecca 1971 births Living people Lawyers from Milwaukee Marquette University alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Wisconsin circuit court judges Wisconsin Republicans Politicians from Milwaukee 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges