The Wisconsin state Assembly passed the Impartial Justice Bill by a 51-42 vote yesterday after it was approved by the state Senate in a 19-13 vote.

Supporters have hailed the campaign reform bill, Assembly Bill 65 and Senate Bill 40, as landmark legislation.

“The Impartial Justice bill passed today by the Assembly and Senate easily qualifies as the most significant campaign reform in Wisconsin in more than 30 years,” said Mike McCabe, director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. “Not since 1977 has a reform approaching this magnitude been achieved in this state.”

“This is a big victory for citizens who fear that money is tipping the scales of justice,” said Bert Brandenburg, executive director of the nonpartisan judicial watchdog group. “The legislature has made Wisconsin a national leader in keeping our courts fair and impartial. We look forward to Governor Jim Doyle honoring his commitment to sign this landmark reform legislation.”

According to a statement released by the WDC, recent state Supreme Court elections have become little more than auctions, and legislators who voted for the Impartial Justice bill support the belief in a clean justice system.

“Judges aren’t supposed to belong to anyone,” the statement said. “They are to be accountable only to the law and the Constitution.”

Wisconsin now follows North Caroline and New Mexico by publicly financing state appellate elections, which is due to special-interest groups spending enormous amounts of money on state Supreme Court elections.

Ranked 13th in the nation, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates raised over $5 million from 2000-08. However, candidates raised $3.9 million in 2007-08.

However, both Common Cause in Wisconsin and the WDC agree that while the passage of the Impartial Justice bill is a huge step forward in cleaning up Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, it is not enough. Next regulations must be created for phony issue ads that air during campaigns.

“The donors to these phony issue ads must be disclosed and the money used to pay for them must come from a regulated source,” said Jay Heck, executive director of CCW. “Only then will elections for Wisconsin’s highest court return to some

level of sanity and civility.”

The legislation will now move on to Gov. Jim Doyle, who has said he will sign the bill into law.

Read the full CCW statement on yesterday’s vote here.

Read the full JAS statement here.

The State Bar of Wisconsin also released a statement praising yesterday’s vote.

To learn more on the Impartial Justice bill, read these previous MDN posts.