Scott Walker appoints Act 10 defender Michael Screnock as Sauk County Circuit Court judge Read more

[a kennedy]

Gov. Scott Walker announced Friday morning that he has named Michael Screnock to serve as the next Sauk County Circuit Judge.

Six people applied to replace retiring Judge Patrick Taggart. In February, Walker's Judicial Selection Advisory Committee reduced the field to Screnock, former Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett and Baraboo City Attorney Mark Reitz, who later withdrew his application.

Screnock is a native of Sauk County who has worked for the cities of Reedsburg, Washburn and Ashland in various roles. In 2007, he joined the law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich.

During his time there, Screnock was part of a “select group” of attorneys that assisted the Wisconsin Department of Justice in defending the state's anti-collective bargaining bill from legal challenges.

In a judicial application obtained by the Baraboo News Republic through an open records request, Screnock wrote that he was “heavily involved in developing legal strategy, researching related legal principles, and drafting briefs” in the defense of the law. Ultimately, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and an appeals court upheld the law.

Screnock received his juris doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters of Business Administration from Eastern College in Pennsylvania. Screnock lives with his family in Marshall, but plans to move back to Sauk County.



Read more: http://www.wiscnews.com/tncms/asset/editorial/b03c0723-41db-5437-ab0a-4cd561fdd0e5/#ixzz3X0KNBOby

[midnight]

1. Interesting. That was one of the firms that did the secret gag order to silence those partaking in

the redistricting Wisconsin's voting districts.


"Dems object to outside counsel used
On January 4, 2011, an Assembly committee approved contracts for the Madison-based Troupis Law Office and Milwaukee-based Michael Best and Frederich to consult the Legislature on legal advice related to redistricting. The move came after the law firm of O'Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing was fired by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The O'Neil firm was put in place when Democrats had control of both houses of the Legislature during the 2009-2010 session. The Michael Best firm employed Reince Priebus, who was, at the time, a 2011 candidate for Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The Troupis Law Office was run by James Troupis, a frequent contributor to GOP candidates.[2] Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller and Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca accused Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald and Senate President Scott Fitzgerald of engaging in political payback by hiring outside counsel[2]."

http://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_in_Wisconsin