Rebecca Dallet

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Rebecca Dallet
Image of Rebecca Dallet
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Tenure

2018 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

6

Compensation

Base salary

$196,102

Elections and appointments
Last elected

April 3, 2018

Education

Bachelor's

The Ohio State University, 1991

Law

Case Western Reserve University, 1994

Contact

Rebecca Dallet is a judge of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She assumed office on August 1, 2018. Her current term ends on July 31, 2028.

Dallet ran for election for judge of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She won in the general election on April 3, 2018.

Dallet first became a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court through a nonpartisan election. She was first elected to the court in 2018 to the seat vacated by Michael Gableman.[1] To read more about judicial selection in Wisconsin, click here.

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[2] Dallet received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[3] Click here to read more about this study.

Biography

As of the 2018 election, Dallet lived in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.[4] She earned a B.A. in economics from The Ohio State University in 1991 and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1994.[1] Dallet’s career experience includes working as an assistant district attorney with the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and as an adjunct professor of law at Marquette University Law School.[1][5]

Elections

2018

See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2018

General election

General election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Rebecca Dallet defeated Michael Screnock in the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 3, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Rebecca Dallet
Rebecca Dallet (Nonpartisan)
 
55.7
 
555,848
Image of Michael Screnock
Michael Screnock (Nonpartisan)
 
44.2
 
440,808
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
829

Total votes: 997,485
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Michael Screnock and Rebecca Dallet defeated Tim Burns in the primary for Wisconsin Supreme Court on February 20, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michael Screnock
Michael Screnock (Nonpartisan)
 
46.3
 
247,582
Image of Rebecca Dallet
Rebecca Dallet (Nonpartisan)
 
35.8
 
191,268
Image of Tim Burns
Tim Burns (Nonpartisan)
 
17.9
 
95,508
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
622

Total votes: 534,980
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Campaign tactics and strategies

Campaign advertisements
Support
"We Need Better" - Dallet campaign ad, released February 28, 2018
Online presence

April 2, 2018

The following social media statistics were compiled on April 2, 2018.

Facebook Twitter
Candidate Followers Likes Comments on last 10 posts Followers Following Tweets
Independent Dallet 5,152 5,049 50 5,108 4,569 751
Independent Screnock 2,232 2,172 253 2,188 77 245

February 25, 2018

The following social media statistics were compiled on February 25, 2018.

Facebook Twitter
Candidate Followers Likes Comments on last 10 posts Followers Following Tweets
Independent Dallet 3,356 3,284 211 1,343 1,841 603
Independent Screnock 1,693 1,649 229 1,798 70 135

Campaign finance

Following is campaign finance information obtained from the Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System detailing contributions to and expenditures by the Dallet and Screnock campaigns as of March 19, 2018.

Top donors: Rebecca Dallet

The top ten contributors to Rebecca Dallet were:[43][44][45]
1. John C. Miller - $20,000
~. Mark Bakken - $20,000
3. Madison Teachers, Inc. Voters (Voice of Teachers) - $18,000
~. Wisconsin Education Association Council PAC - $18,000
5. Marianne Lubar - $10,250
6. Mark L. Thomsen - $10,000
~. Lynde B. Uihlein - $10,000
8. Bonnie Bockl Joseph - $6,440
9. Dennis Klein - $6,000
10. David Stanosz - $5,500

Top donors: Michael Screnock

The top ten contributors to Michael Screnock were:[46][47][48]
1. Republican Party of Wisconsin - $278,006.68
2. Diane Hendricks - $20,000
~. Kim Hendricks - $20,000
~. Fred M. Young - $20,000
5. Joseph Screnock III - $19,050
6. Thea Buholzer - $10,000
~. Barbara Michels - $10,000
~. Kevin Michels - $10,000
~. Patrick Michels - $10,000
~. Timothy Michels - $10,000
~. Richard Uihlein - $10,000
~. REALTORS Political Action Committee Wisconsin - $10,000


2014

See also: Wisconsin judicial elections, 2014

Dallet ran for re-election to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
General: She won without opposition in the general election on April 1, 2014.[49]

Analysis

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship and Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[50]

The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:

  • Strong Democrat
  • Mild Democrat
  • Indeterminate[51]
  • Mild Republican
  • Strong Republican

This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.

Rebecca
Dallet

Wisconsin

  • Partisan Confidence Score:
    Mild Democrat
  • Judicial Selection Method:
    Elected
  • Key Factors:
    • Donated over $2,000 to Democratic candidates
    • Received donations from Democratic-affiliated individuals or organizations
    • Endorsed by Democratic-affiliated individuals or organizations


Partisan Profile

Details:

Dallet donated $3,564 to Democratic candidates. She received $18,000 in campaign donations from Madison Teachers Inc., and $18,000 from the Wisconsin Education Association, both of which donate to Democratic candidates more frequently than Republican candidates. She received endorsements from Joe Biden, Eric Holder, and Cory Booker. The state of Wisconsin was a Republican trifecta when she was elected.


Noteworthy cases

Wisconsin Supreme Court finds state legislative maps in violation of the state constitution (2023)

Justice Rebecca Dallet sided with the majority opinion on this case. In a 4-3 decision on Dec. 22, 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the state’s legislative maps violated the state constitution and ordered the state to draw new maps for the 2024 elections. The justice wrote the following in their majority opinion:[52]

We hold that the contiguity requirements in Article IV, Sections 4 and 5 mean what they say: Wisconsin's state legislative districts must be composed of physically adjoining territory. The constitutional text and our precedent support this common-sense interpretation of contiguity. Because the current state legislative districts contain separate, detached territory and therefore violate the constitution's contiguity requirements, we enjoin the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the current legislative maps in future elections ... Because we enjoin the current state legislative district maps from future use, remedial maps must be drawn prior to the 2024 elections.[53][54]

The original petitioners argued that Wisconsin’s legislative districts violated multiple provisions of the state constitution, including equal protection, freedom of speech and association, separation of powers, and contiguous legislative districts. The state's legislative maps were ordered to be enacted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April 2022 after the governor vetoed them and the state legislature failed to override that veto.[52]

Articles:

Wisconsin Supreme Court affirms agency authority to regulate state water resources (2021)

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on July 8 issued decisions in two environmental cases that had pitted the state legislature against the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in a disagreement over which government entity has the authority to regulate water pollution and irrigation practices. In both cases, the court held 4-2 that the DNR is authorized to restrict permits in order to protect the state’s water resources.[55][56][57]

The pair of cases, both initiated by Clean Wisconsin Inc. and Pleasant Lake Management District, centered on Wisconsin Act 21—a 2011 law that limits state agency authority by prohibiting state agencies from taking actions not specifically authorized by the state legislature.[55]

The first case concerned an administrative law judge's (ALJ) order that the DNR limit the size of a dairy herd causing nearby groundwater contamination. The DNR under then-Governor Scott Walker (R) did not enforce the ALJ’s directive, arguing that Act 21 prohibited the agency from carrying out the order.[55][56]

A Dane County Circuit Court judge in 2016 affirmed the DNR's authority to limit the size of the dairy herd to address water pollution. The DNR appealed the decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The current DNR under Governor Tony Evers (D) changed its position and had since claimed regulatory authority in the case.[55][56]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the circuit court's decision. Writing for the majority, Justice Jill Karofsky stated, "we conclude that an agency may rely upon a grant of authority that is explicit but broad when undertaking agency action, and such an explicit but broad grant of authority complies with [Act 21]."[55][56]

In the second case, challengers sued the DNR seeking stricter enforcement of regulations regarding large-scale water withdrawals for irrigation. Challengers claimed that the agency failed to consider the cumulative negative impact on water levels in nearby lakes and streams when it issued permits for nine high-capacity wells. As in the previous case, the DNR argued that Act 21 prevented the agency from considering the cumulative impact of the new wells.[55][57]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court again affirmed the circuit court's decision in the case, holding that the DNR erroneously claimed that it lacked regulatory authority. Writing for the majority, Justice Rebecca Dallet stated, "The DNR's authority to consider the environmental effects of proposed high capacity wells, while broad, is nevertheless explicitly permitted by statute."[55][57]

Chief Justice Annette Ziegler joined Justices Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Dallet and Jill Karofsky in both majority opinions. Justice Brian Hagedorn did not participate in the case.[55][56][57]

Justices Rebecca Bradley and Patience Roggensack dissented, arguing in part: “Elevating its environmental policy preferences over the legislature's prerogative to reclaim its constitutional authority, the majority distorts the plain language of [Act 21] to achieve its own ends."[55][56][57]

State supreme court judicial selection in Wisconsin

See also: Judicial selection in Wisconsin

The seven justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court are elected in statewide nonpartisan elections. Judges serve ten-year terms, and to remain on the court, they must run for re-election after their term expires. Only one seat may be elected in any year, and more than two candidates for each seat must file to have a primary.[58][59]

Qualifications

To serve on the supreme court, a judge must be:

  • licensed to practice law in Wisconsin for a minimum of five years immediately prior to election or appointment[60]

Chief justice

The chief justice of the court is selected by peer vote for a term of two years.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

In the event of a vacancy on the court, the governor has the power and duty to appoint an individual to the vacancy. The governor screens judicial applicants using an advisory council on judicial selection. The council recommends three to five candidates to the governor, although the governor is not bound by their recommendations. The appointed justice must then stand for election in the first subsequent year in which no other justice's term expires.[59][58][61]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

See also

Wisconsin Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Court of Appeals
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Elections: 202520242023202220212020201920182017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Wisconsin
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wisconsin Court System, "Justices," accessed February 1, 2019
  2. We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
  3. The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
  4. Milwaukee Magazine, "Is This A Trend? Suburban Women Rule Wisconsin Supreme Court Races," January 16, 2018
  5. LinkedIn, "Rebecca Frank Dallet," accessed July 23, 2021
  6. Urban Milwaukee, "Senator Cory Booker Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 19, 2018
  7. Urban Milwaukee, "Congressman Mark Pocan Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 14, 2018
  8. The Wheeler Report, "Congresswoman Gwen Moore Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," February 28, 2018
  9. Dallet for Justice, "Senator Tammy Baldwin Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," February 26, 2018
  10. Journal Sentinel, "Joe Biden backs Dallet as Supreme Court candidates bicker over role of special interests," March 28, 2018
  11. Urban Milwaukee, "Former Governor Jim Doyle Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 12, 2018
  12. Urban Milwaukee, "Former Senator Herb Kohl Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 7, 2018
  13. Urban Milwaukee, "Justice Shirley Abrahamson Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 4, 2018
  14. WisPolitics, "Dallet Campaign: Justice Ann Walsh Bradley endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 2, 2018
  15. Associated Press, "Losing candidate Burns endorses Dallet for Supreme Court," February 22, 2018
  16. Facebook, "Russ Feingold," February 21, 2018
  17. Urban Milwaukee, "Wisconsin Judges Back Rebecca Dallet for Supreme Court Bid," February 8, 2018
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 Urban Milwaukee, "Dallet for Justice Earns New Endorsements from Across Wisconsin," February 1, 2018
  19. Urban Milwaukee, "Leah Vukmir endorses Michael Screnock for State Supreme Court," January 19, 2018
  20. The Wheeler Report, "Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler announces support for Judge Rebecca Dallet," December 13, 2017
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 Journal Sentinel, "Michael Screnock gets endorsements from conservatives in Wisconsin Supreme Court bid," September 28, 2017
  22. Urban Milwaukee, "Rebecca Dallet earns support from 89 judges in Wisconsin Supreme Court bid," August 5, 2017
  23. 23.00 23.01 23.02 23.03 23.04 23.05 23.06 23.07 23.08 23.09 23.10 23.11 23.12 23.13 23.14 23.15 23.16 23.17 23.18 23.19 23.20 23.21 23.22 23.23 23.24 23.25 23.26 23.27 23.28 23.29 23.30 23.31 23.32 23.33 23.34 23.35 23.36 23.37 23.38 23.39 23.40 23.41 23.42 23.43 Dallet for Justice, "Endorsements," accessed January 28, 2018
  24. WisPolitics, "Dallet campaign: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 5, 2018
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Urban Milwaukee, "Judge Rebecca Dallet clear choice of Milwaukee County leaders," October 17, 2017
  26. Wisconsin Ag Connection, "Farm Bureau PAC is Backing Screnock for Supreme Court," March 30, 2018
  27. NARAL Pro-Choice America, "NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 29, 2018
  28. Giffords, "Giffords endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court against gun lobby backed candidate," March 29, 2018
  29. WisPolitics, "Wisconsin Restaurant Association: Endorses Screnock for state Supreme Court," March 23, 2018
  30. Wisconsin Family Action PAC, "WFA PAC Endorses Michael Screnock for WI Supreme Court Justice," March 22, 2018
  31. Urban Milwaukee, "Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin Endorses Judge Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice," March 16, 2018
  32. Urban Milwaukee, "Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin Endorse Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 16, 2018
  33. WisPolitics, "Dairy Business Association: Endorses Michael Screnock for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 15, 2018
  34. Urban Milwaukee, "Wisconsin Working Families Party Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court," March 14, 2018
  35. WisPolitics, "Screnock campaign: Endorsed by Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police," March 13, 2018
  36. 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 36.5 36.6 36.7 36.8 36.9 The Wheeler Report, "Working Wisconsinites Endorse Dallet for Justice," March 9, 2018
  37. Wisconsin Gazette, "Wisconsin AFL-CIO endorses Rebecca Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court justice," March 1, 2018
  38. Pro-Life Wisconsin, "Pro-Life Wisconsin PAC Endorses Judge Michael Screnock for Wisconsin Supreme Court," February 15, 2018
  39. NRA-ILA, "NRA Endorses Screnock for State Supreme Court," February 13, 2018
  40. Shepherd Express, "Shepherd Express Proudly Endorses both Tim Burns and Rebecca Dallet," February 13, 2018
  41. Wisconsin Right to Life PAC, "Wisconsin Right to Life PAC Endorses Judge Michael Screnock," February 1, 2018
  42. The Wheeler Report, "Screnock Campaign: Endorsed by Wisconsin REALTORS Association," January 26, 2018
  43. Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System, "Campaign Finance Report - January Continuing 2018, Dallet for Justice," January 11, 2018
  44. Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System, "Campaign Finance Report - Spring Pre-Primary 2018, Dallet for Justice," February 9, 2018
  45. Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System, "Campaign Finance Report - Spring Pre-Election 2018, Dallet for Justice," March 26, 2018
  46. Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System, "Campaign Finance Report - January Continuing 2018, Michael Screnock for Justice," January 12, 2018
  47. Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System, "Campaign Finance Report - Spring Pre-Primary 2018, Michael Screnock for Justice," February 12, 2018
  48. Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System, "Campaign Finance Report - Spring Pre-Election 2018, Michael Screnock for Justice," March 26, 2018
  49. Wisconsin Blue Book 2015-2016, "Judges of Circuit Court," accessed July 23, 2021 (page 572)
  50. The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
  51. An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
  52. 52.0 52.1 Democracy Docket, "Wisconsin Legislative Redistricting Challenge (Clarke)," accessed January 2, 2024
  53. Supreme Court of Wisconsin, "Case No. 2023AP1399-OA," accessed January 2, 2024
  54. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  55. 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4 55.5 55.6 55.7 55.8 Wisconsin Public Radio, "Wisconsin Supreme Court Affirms DNR Authority To Restrict, Deny Farm Permits To Protect Water," July 8, 2021
  56. 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4 56.5 Wisconsin Supreme Court, "Clean Wisconsin, Inc., Lynda Cochart, Amy Cochart, Roger DeJardin, Sandra Winnemueller and Chad Cochart v. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources," July 8, 2021
  57. 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 57.4 Wisconsin Supreme Court, "Clean Wisconsin, Inc. and Pleasant Lake Management District v. Wisconsin Departement of Natural Resources," July 8, 2021
  58. 58.0 58.1 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 12, 2021
  59. 59.0 59.1 Wisconsin State Legislature, "Wisconsin Constitution," accessed September 19, 2014 (Article VII, Section 4: pg.10) Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "section4" defined multiple times with different content
  60. Wisconsin State Legislature, "Wisconsin Constitution," accessed September 19, 2014 (Article VII, Section 24: pg.11)
  61. Wisconsin State Legislature, "8.50 - Special elections," accessed April 19, 2023