MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - The state Judicial Commission was asked Tuesday to investigate Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, for reportedly getting free legal services from a law firm whose cases he has ruled on.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed a formal request for a probe, after the law firm of Michael Best and Friedrich told the justices last week about its arrangement with Gableman.
If the Judicial Commission finds wrongdoing, it would ask the Supreme Court to consider punishing its fellow justice.
The firm's Eric McLeod and Indiana lawyer James Bopp represented Gableman in an ethics complaint dealing with a TV ad during Gableman's 2008 Supreme Court election campaign.
The justices split 3-3 on the question of whether the ad violated the state's judicial code of ethics.
A representative of Michael Best told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Gableman would have paid legal fees to the firm, had the State Claims Board agreed to have the state reimburse him -- but it didn't.
Now, Gableman faces allegations that he broke the judicial code by taking something of value -- namely thousands of dollars in legal services -- from a firm that appears before the Supreme Court.
Democracy Campaign director Mike McCabe says he's also considering a complaint against Gableman with the Government Accountability Board. It has a separate policy against public officials taking anything of value in the course of their jobs.
