Wisconsin Chief Justice Roggensack to present Law School's Hallows Lecture

February 27, 2017

MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Drake Roggensack will present "Tough Talk and the Institutional Legitimacy of Our Courts" for Marquette Law School's Hallows Lecture on Tuesday, March 7, at 4:30 p.m. in Eckstein Hall, 1215 W. Michigan St.

In her lecture, Chief Justice Roggensack will invite the legal and broader community to consider an emerging challenge to the institutional legitimacy of the judicial system. Today courts, both federal and state, are targets of "tough talk," such as public statements that certain opinions are "so false as to be comical" or reflect a court that is "corrupt, rigged, and renegade." Do such comments merely disparage the opinion in question, or does the tough talk have more-global effects? Does tough talk diminish the belief in courts as legitimate institutions? Have courts brought much of this criticism on themselves? What is our responsibility as lawyers or citizens in this context? The chief justice hopes her lecture will mark the beginning of a conversation.

Chief Justice Roggensack was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2003 and reelected in 2013. Since 2015, she has served as the court's chief justice. Her past work includes service on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and the practice of law in Madison, Wis. Chief Justice Roggensack holds a bachelor's degree from Drake University and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin.

Seating is at capacity for members of the general public; registration for a waiting list is available online.

The annual Hallows Lecture remembers E. Harold Hallows, a Milwaukee lawyer and distinguished member of the faculty of Marquette University Law School for 28 years and a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1958 until his retirement as chief justice in 1974.

Through public programming such as the Marquette Law School Poll, debates featuring candidates in significant political races, "On the Issues with Mike Gousha" conversations with newsmakers, public lectures by leading scholars and conferences on significant issues of public importance, the Law School serves as the region's leading venue for serious civil discourse about law and public policy matters.

Media interested in attending should contact Chris Jenkins in the Office of Marketing and Communication.