UPDATED INFORMATION:

To satisfy a complaint by Rep. Kessler I have decided to add the following information to this article.

The Referee found that respondent (Rep. Kessler)
made a deceptive statement to a third person in regard to filing a complaint
with the Judicial Commission, but the statement was not used to defraud
another. On that basis, the Referee concluded there was no violation.

What is being decided by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin is if the Referee was correct in his ruling. The Court makes the final ruling, according to press information available.

This week the State Supreme Court will be considering case #08AP834-D - Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Frederick P. Kessler.  Because the case will be decided by the court based upon the submission of briefs without oral argument, it won’t garner much press attention until a final decision is made by the end of June.  At issue is the question of whether Rep. Kessler’s lies during his wife’s 2004 judicial campaign against Judge Charles Schudson broke the states lawyers ethics code of conduct.

An OLR Referee found that Rep. Kessler lied, in that he encouraged or suggested to a third party that she lie for the purpose of concealing that he and/or the Joan Kessler campaign was the true source of information and to conceal his role in drafting the complaint for her to file with the Judicial Commission against Judge Schudson.

Despite Rep. Kessler’s assertion that he had no duty to tell the public he had a role in the judicial complaint and his argument that his lies are covered by the First Amendment we agree with the ORL  brief, that the First Amendment does not shield anyone from false statements.

The Hagedorn campaign is certain that people are tired of the same old political tricks and are looking for answers to their problems not political games from career politicians.  No matter how the Supreme Courts rules we believe this is a warning not only to Rep. Kessler but to other career politicians who consider their time in the government as a profession and not as an opportunity to serve the community.

We look forward to discussing educational choices by parents, taxes, jobs, and bringing transparency and integrity back to the political process without the threat of last minute old school political shenanigans.