Puneet Varma (Editor)

Daniel Kelly (Wisconsin judge)

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Nominated by
  
Scott Walker

Education
  
Carroll University

Preceded by
  
David Prosser, Jr.

Alma mater
  
Carroll University (B.A.), Regent University School of Law, (J.D.)

Daniel Kelly (born 1964) is an American lawyer who has served as a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice since 2016. He was appointed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to fill the unexpired term of David Prosser, Jr.

Contents

Life and career

Kelly graduated from Carroll University and the Regent University School of Law. Kelly is a commercial litigator and founding partner of Rogahn Kelly LLC. Before starting the firm, Mr. Kelly was a shareholder at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, s.c. in Milwaukee. Kelly is a member of The Federalist Society, The Wisconsin State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, The President's Council of Carroll University. He has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and Wisconsin Supreme Court. Kelly represented state Republicans in a federal trial over a lawsuit challenging the 2010 redrawing of legislative districts. Kelly was previously vice president and general counsel for the Kern Family Foundation, a conservative organization that has donated millions to conservative groups, including $220,000 to Scott Walker's gubernatorial campaign since 2012.

Wisconsin Supreme Court

After the announcement of the nearing retirement of Justice David Prosser, Jr. in 2016, Kelly was appointed by Governor Walker to serve as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He will finish the remainder of Prosser's term.

Judicial philosophy

Kelly is a self-described judicial conservative. In 2014, Kelly wrote in "John Rawls and Christian Social Engagement: Justice as Unfairness" that slavery and affirmative action were, under the law, morally the same. Kelly wrote that both institutions "spring from the same taproot" and that "neither can exist without the foundational principle that it is acceptable to force someone into an unwanted economic relationship." Kelly also has publicly disavowed same-sex marriage, arguing that same-sex marriages "will eventually rob the institution of marriage of any discernible meaning."

Personal life

Kelly is married and has five children. Kelly and his family reside in North Prairie, Wisconsin.

References

Daniel Kelly (Wisconsin judge) Wikipedia