WMC Drafted Weak Recusal Rules, But Due Process Could Require Justices Step Aside

"In 2010, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's four-justice conservative majority voted to adopt new rules stating that the fact of a campaign contribution alone would not require recusal -- but the rules were literally written by none other than WMC, as well as the Wisconsin Realtors Association, which gave over $1 million to Wisconsin Club for Growth in its 2010-2011 fiscal year.

In other words, WMC wrote the rules requiring that the justices WMC has elected not recuse in a case involving WMC's election activities.

The fact that WMC wrote the recusal rules "increase[s] the likelihood that a reasonable person would reasonably doubt the impartiality of several of the justices in considering charges against their supporters," Menendez says."

"Yet, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's WMC-drafted rules may not be the final word on the matter. The level of spending by the groups in this case -- and their direct stake in the outcome -- could demand recusal under the U.S. Constitution, following the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Caperton v. Massey."

- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/10/12617/justices-walker-criminal-probe-face-conflict-interest#sthash.588hHuVR.dpuf