The Prospect of Open Deliberations on the Wisconsin Supreme Court

Abstract:     
In the wake of recent episodes of dysfunction on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson proposed a number of reforms for her colleagues’ consideration. The most notable among these was a call for the court to open its deliberations to the public. Although this proposal was rejected by the other justices, it raised interesting questions about why judicial deliberations in American appellate courts are uniformly closed affairs, and what the effects of open deliberations might be. This short piece offers a few preliminary thoughts.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 3

Keywords: Wisconsin Supreme Court, judicial reform, judiciary, Abrahamson, deliberation

Accepted Paper Series