Preceded by Jon P. Wilcox Name Annette Ziegler | Role Attorney | |
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Born March 6, 1964 (age 60)
Grand Rapids, Michigan ( 1964-03-06 ) Alma mater Hope College (B.A.), Marquette University Law School, (J.D.) Education Hope College, Marquette University Law School, Marquette University | ||
Attorneys: Supreme Court Justice Victim Of 'Gotcha' Politics
Annette Ziegler (born March 6, 1964) is an American attorney and judge. She is currently a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
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Ziegler received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Psychology from Hope College, and a law degree from Marquette University Law School. While in law school she was a staff editor of the Marquette Law Review, as well as a recipient of the Dean's Award.
She was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin in 1989. Before serving in the judiciary, Ziegler worked as a federal prosecutor, an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. She was also a pro bono Special Assistant District Attorney in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. In private practice, she was a civil private practice attorney for several years at the law firm of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman & DeJong, SC.
In 1997, Ziegler was appointed by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson to the Washington County Circuit Court. She won a full term to that seat by election in 1998 and was re-elected in 2004. She then chose to run for election to the Supreme Court seat being vacated by retiring Justice Jon P. Wilcox.
Following her election, the Wisconsin Supreme Court reprimanded Justice Ziegler for presiding over cases where she had an apparent conflict of interest because her husband sat on the board of directors of one of the interested parties.
Justice Ziegler voted not to require a judge to recuse himself or herself solely because the judge's campaign committee received previous lawful political contributions from one or more involved parties.
Wisconsin Supreme Court election
Ziegler and fellow candidate Linda Clifford won the two berths in the primary voting in February. The campaign was a contentious one; Clifford contended Ziegler ruled in cases where she was unable to be objective. Ziegler contended Clifford had never been a judge and would be ill-prepared to do so; she also raised concerns about two of Clifford's campaign workers misrepresenting themselves to law enforcement officials. On April 3, 2007, Ziegler defeated Clifford in the election, 58% to Clifford's 42%.