Walker Appoints Ally |to Wis. Supreme Court

(CN) - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday appointed conservative attorney Dan Kelly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday, choosing a lawyer who has helped defend some of the governor's most controversial proposals.

Kelly will replace retiring Justice David Prosser, a member of the seven-justice court's five-person conservative majority.

His appointment won't change the court's ideological tilt. He'll almost certainly be seen as succeeding Prosser as the fifth member of the majority.

Kelly, who holds a bachelor's degree in political science and Spanish from Carrol College and a law degree from the Regent University School of Law in Virginia, currently owns the Rogahn Kelly LLC law firm and sits on the litigation advisory board for the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

The conservative group has fought against lawsuits challenging Walker's signature law stripping public workers of nearly all their union rights and sided with Walker in a lawsuit to end a secret John Doe investigation into his 2012 recall campaign and conservative groups that support him.

The probe ended after the state Supreme Court ruled nothing illegal occurred.

Kelly also successfully defended Wisconsin Republicans' 2011 legislative redistricting plan in a federal lawsuit alleging the new maps denied voters their rights.

He was Prosser's co-counsel during the justice's election recount in 2011 and advised Justice Rebecca Bradley, another Walker appointee to the high court, during her 2016 election campaign.

Kelly's appointment marks Walker's second selection to the state Supreme Court. His previous appointee, Rebecca Bradley, won a full 10-year term on the court in April.

Kelly will face election for a full 10-year term in 2020. Appointees must stand for election as soon as possible but under state law only one incumbent justice can run for re-election each year.

Justice Annette Ziegler is up in 2017, Michael Gableman in 2018 and Abrahamson in 2019.

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