Wisconsin’s Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson
An icon of justice
An icon of justice
partners in law firms. They’ve organized their own law firms. They’ve gone into legal divisions of businesses and corporations. They’ve become judges.
Approximately 20-25 percent of the judges are women. So things have changed a great deal for women and doors have opened for them.”
While Abrahamson has clearly faced professional barriers during her career because she is a woman, she has a larger, more expansive understanding of why she
occupies the seat she holds today. “There were many pioneers who preceded me and whose work in opening doors for all people, men and women, without
regard to gender, race or religion,” Abrahamson emphasized. “They are the ones who set it up for me to follow. They opened up the door and I went through. All
of us open doors for the people who are going to come after us, for all of our children and all of our grandchildren.”
While Abrahamson has served 33 years on the high court with the last 12 having the added responsibility of being the chief administrator for the Wisconsin
court system, she still seems to relish the work. “Every single case is a puzzle,” Abrahamson said. “Every single one of them has to be worked hard. Every single
one of them needs to be researched. Every single one of them has to have oral argument and discussion with the lawyers and read their briefs and have
discussion with my colleagues. The docket of cases is very interesting”
Abrahamson is a nationally-renown jurist who has chaired many a national judicial body including the Conference of Chief Justices and the National Center
for State Courts. Yet, she has remained on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. “Several judgeships in the federal branch opened during my career here,” Abrahamson
said. “But I have always been a faithful servant of the people of the state of Wisconsin. And I always chose to stay in the state court system. And I am happy that I
did. I like Wisconsin. I like living in Madison. And I like being able to serve the people of this state. I’ve done it for many years.”
No matter what topic she discusses, Abrahamson always seems to take the higher road to see the bigger picture of things and how everything fits together. During
her tenure, Abrahamson has participated in many decisions that have had a broad impact on state government and the political system. Yet she chaffed to
answer a question about what her most memorable cases were.
“Every case is memorable,” Abrahamson said in a very honest way that underlined her sincerity. “It’s memorable to the people who are in it. It’s memorable
to all of the people of this state because it is precedent for every case. So if you select cases out, it distorts the picture of a justice. I have written about 450
majority opinions. And I have participated in about 3,500 written decisions. To pick five or even 20 is a distortion of the record. The cases will show that I have
studied the facts and the law and have interpreted and applied the law to the case without a personal agenda, without a personal ideology and without
influence from outside. So I am independent. I am fair. And that is what the body of my work shows.”
It is this earnestness and willingness to focus only on the present facts and importance of the case before her that probably contributes to a high regard for
the judiciary. “That’s the marvelous thing about America,” Abrahamson said in a very matter of fact manner. “The people of the country and the state have a trust
and confidence in the judiciary that the judiciary will be independent, will be non-partisan, will be fair, and will apply the law and not personal ideology. And
even if you don’t like the decisions, you will adhere to it.”
Next issue: The rule of law
Approximately 20-25 percent of the judges are women. So things have changed a great deal for women and doors have opened for them.”
While Abrahamson has clearly faced professional barriers during her career because she is a woman, she has a larger, more expansive understanding of why she
occupies the seat she holds today. “There were many pioneers who preceded me and whose work in opening doors for all people, men and women, without
regard to gender, race or religion,” Abrahamson emphasized. “They are the ones who set it up for me to follow. They opened up the door and I went through. All
of us open doors for the people who are going to come after us, for all of our children and all of our grandchildren.”
While Abrahamson has served 33 years on the high court with the last 12 having the added responsibility of being the chief administrator for the Wisconsin
court system, she still seems to relish the work. “Every single case is a puzzle,” Abrahamson said. “Every single one of them has to be worked hard. Every single
one of them needs to be researched. Every single one of them has to have oral argument and discussion with the lawyers and read their briefs and have
discussion with my colleagues. The docket of cases is very interesting”
Abrahamson is a nationally-renown jurist who has chaired many a national judicial body including the Conference of Chief Justices and the National Center
for State Courts. Yet, she has remained on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. “Several judgeships in the federal branch opened during my career here,” Abrahamson
said. “But I have always been a faithful servant of the people of the state of Wisconsin. And I always chose to stay in the state court system. And I am happy that I
did. I like Wisconsin. I like living in Madison. And I like being able to serve the people of this state. I’ve done it for many years.”
No matter what topic she discusses, Abrahamson always seems to take the higher road to see the bigger picture of things and how everything fits together. During
her tenure, Abrahamson has participated in many decisions that have had a broad impact on state government and the political system. Yet she chaffed to
answer a question about what her most memorable cases were.
“Every case is memorable,” Abrahamson said in a very honest way that underlined her sincerity. “It’s memorable to the people who are in it. It’s memorable
to all of the people of this state because it is precedent for every case. So if you select cases out, it distorts the picture of a justice. I have written about 450
majority opinions. And I have participated in about 3,500 written decisions. To pick five or even 20 is a distortion of the record. The cases will show that I have
studied the facts and the law and have interpreted and applied the law to the case without a personal agenda, without a personal ideology and without
influence from outside. So I am independent. I am fair. And that is what the body of my work shows.”
It is this earnestness and willingness to focus only on the present facts and importance of the case before her that probably contributes to a high regard for
the judiciary. “That’s the marvelous thing about America,” Abrahamson said in a very matter of fact manner. “The people of the country and the state have a trust
and confidence in the judiciary that the judiciary will be independent, will be non-partisan, will be fair, and will apply the law and not personal ideology. And
even if you don’t like the decisions, you will adhere to it.”
Next issue: The rule of law
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
When she was growing up in New York City, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson learned the meaning of hard
work. “My parents owned a small grocery store and worked from 5-6 a.m. until 11 p.m.,” said Abrahamson as we sat in
her comfortable State Capitol office lined with law books. “They said ‘The harder you work, the luckier you get.’”
Abrahamson came up during the time when women had a small presence on the bench and in the legal profession.
She graduated from the University of Indiana Law School in 1956 and if she had listened to the advice of others,
she wouldn’t be where she is today. “When I finished law school, the dean called me in and said he thought I would
have a terrible time getting a job in the state of Indiana even though I had graduated pretty high in my class,”
Abrahamson recalled. “He thought maybe the only job that would be offered would be as a law librarian at a law
firm. It’s a good job if that is what you want and if you are trained for it. Of course, it’s not what I wanted and I wasn’t
trained for it. Things changed.”
I had always envisioned Abrahamson as standing six feet tall, probably because of her stature in Wisconsin and
national jurisprudence. After all, she was the first woman appointed and elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court
and has served as chief justice since 1996, the only woman to have held the position. So it somewhat surprised me
that I looked down instead of up when Abrahamson first greeted me.
While four women currently occupy seats on Wisconsin’s highest court, overall, their numbers within the judicial
system do not reflect their proportion in the general population. “In the last 50 years, women have moved from four
percent of the bar up to 20-30 percent of the lawyers in Wisconsin,” Abrahamson said. “Women have become
Part 1 of 2
When she was growing up in New York City, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson learned the meaning of hard
work. “My parents owned a small grocery store and worked from 5-6 a.m. until 11 p.m.,” said Abrahamson as we sat in
her comfortable State Capitol office lined with law books. “They said ‘The harder you work, the luckier you get.’”
Abrahamson came up during the time when women had a small presence on the bench and in the legal profession.
She graduated from the University of Indiana Law School in 1956 and if she had listened to the advice of others,
she wouldn’t be where she is today. “When I finished law school, the dean called me in and said he thought I would
have a terrible time getting a job in the state of Indiana even though I had graduated pretty high in my class,”
Abrahamson recalled. “He thought maybe the only job that would be offered would be as a law librarian at a law
firm. It’s a good job if that is what you want and if you are trained for it. Of course, it’s not what I wanted and I wasn’t
trained for it. Things changed.”
I had always envisioned Abrahamson as standing six feet tall, probably because of her stature in Wisconsin and
national jurisprudence. After all, she was the first woman appointed and elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court
and has served as chief justice since 1996, the only woman to have held the position. So it somewhat surprised me
that I looked down instead of up when Abrahamson first greeted me.
While four women currently occupy seats on Wisconsin’s highest court, overall, their numbers within the judicial
system do not reflect their proportion in the general population. “In the last 50 years, women have moved from four
percent of the bar up to 20-30 percent of the lawyers in Wisconsin,” Abrahamson said. “Women have become
Shirley Abrahamson has been the chief
justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
since 1996.
justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
since 1996.