N. Patrick Crooks
N. Patrick Crooks was a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Crooks was elected to the Supreme Court in 1996 and re-elected in 2006; his term was set to expire on July 31, 2016, but he passed away on September 21, 2015, in the courthouse.[1][2]
In September 2015, Crooks announced he would not seek re-election to the state's highest court.[3]
Education
Crooks received his undergraduate degree from St. Norbert College and his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 1963.[4]
Career
- 1996-2015: Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
- 1977-1996: Judge, Brown County Court
- 1966-1977: Attorney in private practice
- 1964-1966: U.S. Army's Office of the Judge Advocate General
- 1963-1964: Attorney in private practice
While in private practice, he taught business law at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.[1]
Awards and associations
- 1994: Trial Judge of the Year, Wisconsin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates
- Member, American Bar Association
- Law school evaluator, Legal Education and Admissions Section, American Bar Association
- Member, Media-Law Relations Committee, State Bar of Wisconsin
- Director, Notre Dame Law Association
- Member, James E. Doyle Chapter, American Inns of Court
- Past member, Wisconsin Judicial Council[1]
Elections
2006
Crooks was re-elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2006, receiving 99.4 percent of the vote while running unopposed.[5]
1996
Crooks was first elected to the Supreme Court in 1996.[1]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Crooks received a campaign finance score of 0.59, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.42 that justices received in Wisconsin.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[6]
Noteworthy cases
John Doe investigations
Two John Doe investigations, beginning in 2010 and ending in 2015, were launched by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm (D) into the activities of staff and associates of Gov. Scott Walker (R).[7] The Wisconsin Supreme Court officially put an end to the investigations in a 4-2 ruling on July 16, 2015, noting that "a state law outlawing such coordination was 'unconstitutionally overbroad and vague under the First Amendment'" and that "the special prosecutor's legal theory is unsupported in either reason or law."[8][9] Shirley Abrahamson and Crooks wrote separate dissenting opinions in the case. Crooks' opinion concluded:
| “ |
By erroneously concluding that campaign committees do not have a duty under Wisconsin's campaign-finance law, Wis. Stat. ch. 11 (2011-12),[238] to report receipt of in-kind contributions in the form of coordinated spending on issue advocacy,[239] the majority rejects the special prosecutor's primary argument regarding criminal activity. Although the special prosecutor advances a secondary argument of criminal activity concerning coordinated express advocacy, the majority inexplicably ignores that argument. These mistakes lead the majority to terminate a valid John Doe[240] investigation in an unprecedented fashion. [10] |
” |
| —N. Patrick Crooks, [9] | ||
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Crooks was married, and had six children. Five of his children practice law.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Justice N. Patrick Crooks. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Wisconsin Court System, "Justice N. Patrick Crooks"
- Project Vote Smart, "Justice N. Patrick Crooks (WI)"
- The Newspaper, "Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds GPS Spying With Warrant," July 21, 2010
- Journal Sentinel, "Justice Crooks to stay on Gableman ethics case," March 29, 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wisconsin Court System, "Justice N. Patrick Crooks," accessed August 22, 2014
- ↑ Bruce Vielmetti, Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, "Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks dies," September 21, 2015
- ↑ Madison.com, "Supreme Court Justice Patrick Crooks retiring, taking swing vote with him," September 16, 2015
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Justice N. Patrick Crooks (WI)"
- ↑ University of Minnesota, "The Incumbency Advantage in Wisconsin Supreme Court Elections," April 11, 2011
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Milwaukee Division, "Eric O’Keefe, and Wisconsin Club for Growth, Inc.," accessed February 23, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin State Journal, "Supreme Court ends John Doe probe that threatened Scott Walker's presidential bid," July 16, 2015
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Supreme Court of Wisconsin, "PETITION FOR SUPERVISORY WRIT BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT, APPEAL AND BYPASS TO THE SUPREME COURT FROM CIRCUIT COURT ORDER," July 16, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
Federal courts:
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Wisconsin, Western District of Wisconsin • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Wisconsin, Western District of Wisconsin
State courts:
Wisconsin Supreme Court • Wisconsin Court of Appeals • Wisconsin Circuit Courts • Wisconsin Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Wisconsin • Wisconsin judicial elections • Judicial selection in Wisconsin
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Current judges | Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Bradley, Rebecca Dallet, Brian Hagedorn, Jill Karofsky, Janet Claire Protasiewicz, Annette Ziegler | ||
| Former judges | Shirley Abrahamson, Bruce F. Beilfuss, Louis Butler, John B. Cassoday, Orsamus Cole, N. Patrick Crooks, Charles H. Crownhart, George R. Currie, Luther S. Dixon, Edward T. Fairchild, Oscar M. Fritz, Michael Gableman, E. Harold Hallows, Daniel Kelly, William P. Lyon, John E. Martin, Harlow S. Orton, David T. Prosser, Patience Drake Roggensack, Marvin B. Rosenberry, Edward G. Ryan, Aad J. Vinje, Edward V. Whiton, Horace W. Wilkie, John B. Winslow | ||
