Anti-Bradley protest scheduled tonight at Marquette debate

Protesters plan to stage an anti-Bradley demonstration tonight outside Marquette Law School, 1215 W. Michigan St., where Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg will debate interim Justice Rebecca Bradley.

Saul Newton, whose affiliated with the issue advocacy group We Are Wisconsin, said Bradley’s hateful anti-gay writings and close ties to corporate PACs and the Republican Party make her unsuitable to serve on the state’s highest court. His group is calling on Bradley, who was appointed last fall by Scott Walker to serve as an interim justice following the death of Justice Patrick Crooks, to resign her position and drop out of the race.

“There is no room for hate on our courts,” Newton said. “She has a decades-long record of not showing the kind of judgment we expect out of the state’s highest court.”

Newton said his group, which brings together progressive constituencies at the local level to mutually empower each other, seldom becomes involved in specific races. But after following Bradley’s campaign “very closely,” he said, the group concluded “she can’t be trusted to hold everyone equally under the eyes of the law.”

We Are Wisconsin held its first demonstration against Bradley last night outside Madison’s Monona Terrace, where a Republican fundraiser was being held for Bradley. Only a small handful of people turned out for the protest, which wasn’t announced until yesterday afternoon, Newton said.

He expects a larger presence at tonight’s debate, which begins at 7 p.m.

The group plans to hold a third demonstration on Friday, March 18, at a debate hosted by Wisconsin Public Television.

“Our message is definitely getting out there that Bradley can’t be trusted,” Newton said. “We’re hearing a lot from local leaders and advocates.”