Wisconsin Supreme Court removes former Justice Prosser's name from state law library (2024)

Former conservative state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser’s name will soon be removed from the Wisconsin State Law Library after the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s four liberal justices announced Wednesday the library will now honor Lavinia Goodell, the state’s first woman lawyer.

Liberal Justices Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Dallet, Jill Karofsky and Janet Protasiewicz said in a statement the library, located on the second floor of Madison’s Risser Justice Center, will be named after Goodell, who was admitted by the Rock County Circuit Court to practice law in Wisconsin in 1874.

“When people enter this important space, they need to know they are somewhere named after a leader who inspired others to do good and do what is right,” Protasiewicz said in a statement.

Conservative justices, who held a majority on the court for more than a decade before Protasiewicz joined the court last August, criticized the decision to remove Prosser’s name from the library, with Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley calling it “another petty and vindictive maneuver” by the court’s new liberal majority.

Created in 1836, the library has had several homes until 2022, when it was located in the Risser Justice Center, at 120 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The library was called the Wisconsin State Law Library until 2016, when the state Supreme Court changed the name to the David T. Prosser, Jr. State Law Library.

“I certainly did not ask to have this library named after me,” Prosser, 81, told the Wisconsin State Journal on Wednesday. “Obviously, I was very thrilled when they did it.”

Prosser, who retired in July 2016 after 18 years on the state Supreme Court, said he was told of the renaming on Wednesday and had no objection to the court honoring Goodell’s legacy.

“I have spent a lot of time in the law library over the years, even after I retired, and it’s a terrific library,” Prosser said. “Now it’s going to be a lot easier to forget who I am.”

Conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn said the decision to change the library’s name, which he described as “quite unusual,” passed on a 4-3 vote.

“I think it’s a pretty unfortunate way to treat a former justice of the court,” he said.

Protasiewicz, Karofsky and Dallet declined to comment on the decision to change the library’s name.

Goodell moved to Janesville when she was 32. In 1874, she was admitted to the Rock County bar, but continued to face obstruction in her profession.

In 1875, while Goodell was seeking to appeal a case to the state Supreme Court, former Chief Justice Edward Ryan authored a unanimous decision denying her the right to represent her client in front of the court.

Ultimately, Goodell drafted legislation to guarantee women the ability to practice law in Wisconsin. The measure was signed by Gov. Harrison Ludington in 1877, and two years later, Goodell became the first woman to brief a case before the state Supreme Court.

“Naming the State Law Library in Lavinia Goodell’s honor is an opportunity to recognize her legacy and inspire the next generation of women in Wisconsin,” liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley said in a statement.

“As Wisconsin’s first female lawyer, Lavinia Goodell was a trailblazer,” the conservative Bradley said in a post on social media. “The court could have honored her achievements in a multitude of ways but instead the majority — again without the input or consent of their colleagues — chose to insult Justice Prosser.”

Prosser graduated from the UW-Madison law school in 1968. He worked as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and as a lecturer at the Indiana University-Indianapolis law school during the late 1960s and early ‘70s.

Before joining the state Supreme Court, Prosser served 18 years in the state Assembly as a Republican.

“No justice has been more dedicated to the research that happens in the law library than Justice Prosser,” then-Chief Justice Patience Roggensack said in October 2016.

While on the state’s highest court, Prosser clashed at times with liberal justices Shirley Abrahamson and Bradley, with the latter accusing him in 2011 of putting his hands on her neck during one particularly heated argument. Prosser later said he inadvertently touched Bradley’s neck in self-defense, but said he didn’t squeeze. Bradley ultimately confirmed Prosser didn’t choke her and no charges were filed.