Jill Karofsky

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
The Honorable
Jill J. Karofsky
Jill Karofsky.jpg
Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Assumed office
August 1, 2020
Preceded by Daniel Kelly
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Dane Circuit, Branch 12
In office
August 1, 2017 – July 31, 2020
Preceded by Clayton Kawski
Succeeded by Chris Taylor
Personal details
Born (1966-07-15) July 15, 1966 (age 58)[1]
Middleton, Wisconsin, U.S.
Spouse(s) Jason Knutson (m. 1998; divorce 2017)
Children 2
Education Duke University (BA)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (MA, JD)
Website Campaign website

Jill Judith Karofsky (born July 15, 1966) is an American attorney, judge, and justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[2] Karofsky served as a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge in Dane County from 2017 until her election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[3]

Early life and career

Jill Karofsky was born on July 15, 1966, in south-central Wisconsin to Judy Karofsky, a former Middleton, Wisconsin, city council member and the city's mayor from 1975 to 1977, and her then-husband Peter Karofsky, a pediatrician.[3] Karofsky was a state tennis champion while at Middleton High School, where she graduated in 1984. She later played Division I sports for Duke University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in 1988. Karofsky received her Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1992.[4][5] She married attorney Jason Knutson in July 1998, though they later divorced.

Karofsky entered civil service as a deputy district attorney for Dane County.[4] She has also served in the Wisconsin Department of Justice as Assistant Attorney General working as Wisconsin's Violence Against Women resource prosecutor, and later leading the Office of Crime Victim Services.[6][7]

Judicial career

In 2017, Karofsky was elected as a judge on the Dane County Circuit Court, beating municipal judge Marilyn Townsend by 15 points.[8]

Three years later, Judge Karofsky challenged incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly in Wisconsin's 2020 election.[9] Kelly had been appointed to the Supreme Court by Republican then-Governor Scott Walker in 2016 and was endorsed by President Donald Trump.[10] Judge Karofsky was endorsed by over 100 current and former Wisconsin judges, including incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet. She also received endorsements from U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, former governor Jim Doyle, and former U.S. senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl.[11] In the final days before the election, Judge Karofsky was endorsed by both the remaining 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary candidates—former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.[12][13]

The election set a spending record for any Wisconsin Supreme Court race, with the two candidates raising a collective $10 million.[14] During the campaign, Karofsky was the target of television attack ads funded by supporters of her opponent Daniel Kelly. The ads falsely claimed Karofsky, as deputy district attorney, struck a plea deal with a man charged with sexual assault of a minor resulting in no jail time.[15] Karofsky was not placed on the case as a prosecutor until a year after the deal was struck. On March 27, 2020, Karofsky's campaign announced intent to file a cease and desist order against the ads.[16][17] On April 6, 2020, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Witkowiak blocked Karofsky's injunction against the ads on the grounds of unlawful prior restraint.[18] The nonprofit fact checking site PolitiFact included the false claims against Karofsky it its yearly "Pants on Fire" review for 2020.[19]

Chief Justice Pat Roggensack and Deputy Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, members of the conservative majority at the time, issued a statement on March 11, 2020 condemning Karofsky's attacks against Daniel Kelly: "Such language risks undermining the court’s legitimacy with parties, attorneys, and the public,” the two justices said. “Judges and those seeking judicial office must be mindful and act with the decorum appropriate to the office.”[20]

Justices Rebecca Bradley and Brian Hagedorn, also in the conservative majority, issued a joint statement characterizing Karofsky's remarks as "baseless insults" and declared Karofsky as "unfit to serve as a justice".[20]

On April 13, 2020, Judge Karofsky was declared the winner of the election, taking roughly 55% of the vote.[2] She took office on August 1, 2020, and became the ninth woman in Wisconsin history to serve on the state's high court.[21][22] Karofsky's upset election has been cited by Tom Perez, the Democratic National Committee Chair, as being indicative of the results of the 2020 presidential election.[23]

In keeping with her marathon hobby, on August 1, 2020, Judge Karofsky was sworn into office following the thirty-fifth mile of an "ultramarathon," by Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet in a ceremony also attended by former governor Jim Doyle. She then ran another sixty-five miles.[24][25]

Notable donors

Karofsky's top donor to her political campaign according to Transparency USA is Democratic Party of Wisconsin - Seg Fund, with $1,357,969.23 in total donations[26].

Among the top ten donors to Democratic Party of Wisconsin - Seg Fund[27] is George Soros, a Jewish-American business magnate and investor who is primarily known as an influential activist-donor to generally left-wing causes worldwide.

Karofsky's ties to Soros were criticized by her opponent and incumbent Daniel Kelly on The Dan O'Donnell show:

"This is about the integrity of the Supreme Court. This is about whether we're going to have a rule-of-law justice on the Court for the next ten years. This is about whether there's going to be a liar, a slanderer, and someone who's just received $1.3 million from the Democrats--$500 thousand from George Soros--to pursue her progressive politics on the Court, which is what she's promised to do." —Daniel Kelly[28]

2020 Presidential election cases

Karofsky claimed the lawsuit brought by Jim Troupis, President Donald Trump's top campaign lawyer in Wisconsin, due to challenging the results in two urban counties, "smacks of racism":

"You have targeted the vote of almost a quarter of a million people, a quarter of a million people—not statewide in Wisconsin—but a quarter of a million people who live only in Dane County and Milwaukee County, two of our 72 counties. Two counties that are targeted because of their diverse populations, because they are urban, I presume because they vote Democrat. This lawsuit, Mr. Troupis, smacks of racism." —Jill Karofsky, December 12, 2020[29][30][31]

Furthermore, Karofsky likened the Trump administration to an oligarchy, alleging President Trump's supporters see him as a "king":

“What you want is you want us to overturn this election so that your king can stay in power. And that is so un-American. And for you to say that anyone in Wisconsin engaged in fraud, for you to perpetuate that fallacy on the people of Wisconsin and the people of the United States in America, in what has been called the most significant election in our lifetime, is nothing short of shameful.” —Jill Karofsky, December 12, 2020[32]

Trump's lawyer Jim Troupis responded by appealing to enforcing the rule of law:

"I believe that this country was founded on the principle of the rule of law. When we forget the rule of law, when we forget to enforce mandatory statutes as are involved here, we have lost our country." —Jim Troupis, December 12, 2020[32]

According to Wisconsin Public Radio[32], the lawsuit sought to overturn four groups of absentee votes:

Those include roughly 170,000 ballots for people who voted in person before Election Day. The Trump campaign argues they didn’t use the same application as other absentee voters who cast ballots by mail.

The Trump campaign challenged another 28,000 ballots from voters who said they were “indefinitely confined,” which lets them submit an absentee ballot application without providing a copy of a photo ID.

Trump also wants to strike about 5,500 ballots where clerks completed a witness’ address, which is allowed under Wisconsin Election Commission guidance.

In addition, Trump would reject about 17,000 ballots collected at “Democracy in the Park” events sponsored by the city of Madison earlier this year. Republicans raised concerns about those events before they were held but never challenged them in court.


Karofsky voted with the majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to dismiss several of Donald Trump's appeals as he sought to challenge the results of the 2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin. As a result, she and Judge Rebecca Dallet, who also voted with the majority, were attacked in print and on social media with antisemitic and misogynistic comments and threats.[33] The attacks prompted the chief justice, Patience D. Roggensack, to issue a statement condemning the threats.[34]

Personal life

A single mother of two children (a son and a daughter), Karofsky lives in Middleton, Wisconsin.[35] She is a marathon runner and Ironman triathlete.[36]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Circuit Court (2017)

Wisconsin Circuit Court, Dane Circuit, Branch 12 Election, 2017[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, April 4, 2017
Nonpartisan Jill J. Karofsky 50,585 57.54%
Nonpartisan Marilyn Townsend 37,110 42.21%
Various Write in candidates 218 0.25%
Plurality 13,475 15.33%
Total votes 87,913 100.0%

Wisconsin Supreme Court (2020)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 2020[38][39]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election, February 18, 2020
Nonpartisan Daniel Kelly (incumbent) 352,876 50.04%
Nonpartisan Jill J. Karofsky 261,783 37.13%
Nonpartisan Ed Fallone 89,184 12.65%
Various Write in candidates 1,295 0.18%
Total votes 705,138 100.0%
General Election, April 7, 2020
Nonpartisan Jill J. Karofsky 855,573 55.21%
Nonpartisan Daniel Kelly (incumbent) 693,134 44.73%
Various Write in candidates 990 0.06%
Plurality 162,439 10.48%
Total votes 1,549,697 100.0%

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named donor3
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Cite error: <ref> tag with name "donors3" defined in <references> is not used in prior text.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by
Clayton Kawski
 Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Dane Circuit, Branch 12
August 1, 2017 – July 31, 2020		 Succeeded by
Chris Taylor
Preceded by Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
August 1, 2020 – present		 Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Jill_Karofsky&oldid=726182032"