Shortly after graduation from law school, Protasiewicz joined the office of the Milwaukee County District Attorney. She remained with the office 26 years as an assistant district attorney.[2]
While working in the district attorney's office, she was a member of the employees' union. She participated in several of the protests against 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, the so-called "Budget Repair Bill," which stripped many collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin unions.[3]
In 2013, she made her first run for public office, running for a Milwaukee County circuit judge position against incumbent Rebecca Bradley. Bradley had just been appointed to the position by Republican Governor Scott Walker, but managed to prevail in the election.[4] Protasiewicz received 47% of the vote.[5]
The following year, however, another Milwaukee County judge, Charles Kahn, announced his retirement. Protasiewicz ran for the open seat and won without opposition.[6][7] She was re-elected without opposition in 2020.[8] As a circuit judge, Protasiewicz was assigned to family court, and had previously presided over felony, domestic violence, and drug court cases.[1]
In the spring of 2022, Protasiewicz announced her candidacy for Wisconsin Supreme Court in the 2023 election. Ultimately, three other candidates entered the race for the seat being vacated by the retirement of justice Patience Roggensack. Protasiewicz came in first in the February nonpartisan primary, securing a place in the April general election.[9] Her opponent in the general election was former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Daniel Kelly.[10] Although Wisconsin Supreme Court elections are nonpartisan, Kelly was endorsed by the Republican Party of Wisconsin and Protasiewicz was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.[11][12][13]
The 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election gained nationwide attention and became the most expensive judicial election in American history by a wide margin.[15] Together, the candidates spent about $42 million, of which Protasiewicz and supportive entities spent $23.3 million.[16] A significant portion of Protasiewicz's funding came via the Wisconsin Democratic Party, whose largest donations of $1 million each came from investor and philanthropist George Soros, Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker, and businesswomen/philanthropists Stacy and Lynn Schusterman.[17] Over the final stretch of the race, Protasiewicz outraised Kelly more than 5 to 1, although that gap grew closer once third-party entities were included.[18]
Protasiewicz won the April 4 general election, defeating Kelly by 11.02 percentage points, receiving 24.8% more votes. News organizations projected her victory within a few hours of polls closing.[19][20][21]
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Protasiewicz was sworn in as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court on August 1, 2023, at the Capitol Rotunda.[22] The ceremony lasted for about an hour, of which a bit over 20 minutes was devoted to a speech from Protasiewicz where she highlighted her biography and upbringing. Fellow justices Ann Walsh Bradley and Rebecca Dallet also spoke at the event.[23]
Media outlets viewed Protasiewicz's accession as an ideological shift for the court, marking the return of liberal control of the court for the first time since 2007.[24][25]
Within a month of her inauguration, Republicans in the state legislature began threatening to impeach her. This was tied to demands that she should recuse herself from cases challenging Wisconsin's gerrymanderedlegislative maps. Republicans accused her of having pre-judged the case, because of comments she made during the campaign, and complaining that she had received funding from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Those allegations were also brought to the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, a nonpartisan body which reviews complaints against Wisconsin judges. The Judicial Commission dismissed the complaints against Protasiewicz.[26][27]
Since the removal of Protasiewicz would have just enabled Democratic governor Tony Evers to appoint another Democratic-friendly justice to the court, Republicans discussed further prolonging the impeachment process to keep Protasiewicz in limbo, since a judge could not take part in any cases after being impeached but prior to their trial in the Senate. The impeachment threat gained national attention and state Democrats mobilized to defend Protasiewicz.[28] At the height of the controversy, Republican Assembly speaker Robin Vos announced that he would seek advice from a panel of former justices that would investigate whether impeachment was warranted.[29] It was later revealed that the panel consisted of former justices David Prosser Jr. and Jon P. Wilcox, and former chief justice Patience Roggensack. Prosser made his opinion public in an October 6 letter to Vos, saying, "there should be no effort to impeach Justice Protasiewicz on anything we know now. Impeachment is so serious, severe, and rare that it should not be considered unless the subject has committed a crime, or the subject has committed indisputable 'corrupt conduct' while 'in office.'"[30] Wilcox soon announced that he had a similar opinion.
In late December 2023, Vos confirmed that the Assembly was unlikely to launch an impeachment of Protasiewicz over the redistricting case.[31]
Personal life
Protasiewicz was raised by her mother and stepfather in a Catholic family.[1] She resides in the city of Franklin.[1] Her husband, attorney Gregory Sell, died of cancer in July 2024.[32]
Protasiewicz was previously married to Patrick Madden, a Wisconsin circuit judge. At the time, she was an assistant district attorney in her 30s, while he was a Wisconsin circuit judge in his 70s with three adult children. The marriage lasted just a few months and ended contentiously.[1] One of Madden's children later alleged that Protasiewicz abused him, a claim Protasiewicz strongly denied.[33]
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