Gov. Walker appoints his lawyer’s brother to a judgeship

On Friday Gov. Scott Walker appointed former Outagamie County District Attorney Vince Biskupic to a seat on the Outagamie County Circuit Court. For those of you playing at home, Vince Biskupic just happens to be the brother of Steve Biskupic, the former U.S. Attorney who coincidentally has been working as Gov. Scott Walker’s attorney for the better part of two years.

And before anyone defends Walker’s choice, let’s take a look at Vince Biskupic’s record during his time as Outagamie County District Attorney, thanks to TruthInJustice.

During his eight years as Outagamie County’s top prosecutor, Biskupic raised at least $37,000 from individuals in uncharged deals, the newspaper found.

• Poor people and their attorneys weren’t informed that such deals existed. Included in the group paying money in exchange for avoiding charges were two dentists, two corporate executives, a contractor and a student at an expensive private college.
• By making payments ranging from $500 to $8,000, and sometimes agreeing to other terms such as counseling or cooperating with investigators, the people signing Biskupic’s deals avoided charges including criminal damage to property, drug dealing, making obscene telephone calls, criminal perjury, forgery and patronizing prostitutes.
• Two people contend they were innocent and felt pressured to sign the agreements to protect their reputations. One said he was “shaken down” by Biskupic.
• Spot checks with prosecutors in a third of Wisconsin’s 72 counties indicate that more than half use uncharged agreements. Of the 16 prosecutors who reported using such deals, some said they collected no money; others said they collected roughly $50 to $200, not the thousands of dollars that Biskupic exacted from some individuals. The prosecutors said such agreements represented a tiny part – probably less than 1 percent – of the cases they handle and the offenses included domestic violence, theft and disorderly conduct.

Given Vince Biskupic’s rather interesting prosecutorial philosophy, Gov. Scott Walker’s appointment of Biskupic to sit on the bench in Outagamie County certainly seems curious, to put it mildly.

H/T to The Political Environment.