Wisconsin

Wisconsin judicial commission dismisses complaints filed by former state courts director

Published

2 years ago

January 11, 2024

Wisconsin judicial commission dismisses complaints filed by former state courts director

The Wisconsin Judicial Commission this week dismissed complaints filed by the former state courts director after he was fired by four liberal justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, documents released to The Associated Press on Thursday show.

Three of the four targeted justices fired back Thursday, accusing the former court director who filed the complaints of breaking the law by making them public. By law, complaints before the commission must remain confidential unless the target of the investigation makes it public.

Randy Koschnick filed the complaints against each of the justices who fired him in August. He also filed a complaint against the person who replaced him, former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Audrey Skwierawski. Koschnick talked about the complaints publicly at the time.

FORMER WISCONSIN COURT DIRECTOR FILES COMPLAINTS OVER REPLACEMENT AFTER CHANGE IN SUPREME COURT CONTROL

The commission should have admonished Koschnick or taken other disciplinary action against him, liberal justices Rebecca Dallet, Jill Karofsky and Janet Protasiewicz wrote in a letter they provided to the AP.

The Wisconsin State Capitol building stands as Wisconsin electors gather to cast their votes for the U.S. presidential election in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 14, 2020. Documents released show that the Wisconsin Judicial Commission this week dismissed complaints filed by Wisconsin’s former state courts director after he was fired by four liberal justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. (REUTERS/Daniel Acker)

Koschnick said Thursday that he thinks he had a First Amendment right to talk about his complaint. He said he had a “civil and moral obligation” to file the complaint.

“There is no basis for discipline,” Koschnick told the AP. “I did nothing wrong.”

Koschnick alleged in his complaint that Skwierawski cannot legally take office until July 2025 because the state constitution prohibits judges from holding nonjudicial offices until their terms end.

But the commission’s executive director, Jeremiah Van Hecke, said in a letter to each of the four justices that the commission determined there was no misconduct in hiring Skwierawski. In a letter to Skwierawski’s attorney, Van Hecke said the commission was dismissing the complaint, as she resigned her position as judge on Dec. 31 and is no longer subject to the commission’s jurisdiction.

Skwierawski’s attorney, Matthew O’Neill, said in a Thursday letter back to the judicial commission that Skwierawski was waiving confidentiality of the complaint to clear her name.

“She is gratified and vindicated by the Commission’s confirmation that her decision to serve the people of Wisconsin as interim Director of State Courts was legally, constitutionally and ethically sound,” O’Neill wrote.

Skwierawski declined to comment.

The justices, in their letter to the commission, accused Koschnick of engaging in a publicity stunt by making his complaints public. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who was the subject of a complaint that was dismissed, did not join her three colleagues in the letter back.

“Judge Koschnick’s antics were nothing more than a partisan attempt to undermine the court’s authority to hire his successor,” Justices Dallet, Protasiewicz and Karofsky wrote.

By not taking action against Koschnick, the commission “will allow itself to continue to be an arrow in the quiver of partisan activists, reducing the public’s confidence in the judiciary.,” the three justices wrote.

WISCONSIN’S LIBERAL SUPREME COURT IN CROSSHAIRS AS GOP LAWMAKERS GRILL JUDICIAL ETHICS COMMISSIONERS

The director of state courts is Wisconsin’s top nonjudicial court official and advises the Supreme Court on improving court processes while also overseeing court budgets and operations.

Koschnick, a former judge, was appointed to the role in 2017 by a conservative majority of the court.

The justices voted in December to make Skwierawski, who was initially named as the interim court director, the permanent director.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court flipped to liberal control in August after Protasiewicz’s victory in the April election.

The new liberal majority immediately set to work making sweeping changes, including voting to vastly reduce the powers of the conservative chief justice and last month tossing Republican-drawn legislative maps.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin loses starting offensive lineman to the transfer portal

Published

2 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin loses starting offensive lineman to the transfer portal

In a bit of a surprise, Wisconsin Badgers starting center Jake Renfro is using a medical hardship year and entering the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility.

Renfro, a sixth-year senior in 2024, battled numerous injuries this season, limiting him to only four games after having season-ending surgery. He was a full-time starter for Wisconsin in 2024 after missing the entire 2023 season except for the team’s bowl game due to injury.

Prior to his time at Wisconsin, Renfro had played for head coach Luke Fickell at Cincinnati for three seasons. He played in seven games as a freshman in 2020, making six starts at center. He then was the full-time starter as a sophomore in 2021, earning All-AAC honors before missing the entire 2022 season due to injury.

Now, he’s set to come back to college football for a seventh year, rather than turn pro, and will look to do so at another school.

“I want to thank Coach Fickell, the entire coaching and training staff, my teammates, and the University of Wisconsin for everything over the past three seasons,” Renfro wrote. “I am grateful for the support, development, friendships, and memories I have made during my time in Madison. After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to enter the transfer portal and use a medical hardship year to continue my college football journey. I will always appreciate my time as a Badger.”

Renfro was one of the biggest supporters of Fickell publicly, being a vocal leader on the team as the starting center.

With his departure, Wisconsin could need a new starting left tackle, left guard, and center next season, depending on whether Joe Brunner heads to the NFL or returns for another season.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s match vs Stanford puts Alicia Andrew across net from sister

Published

14 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin’s match vs Stanford puts Alicia Andrew across net from sister

Sisters Alicia and Lizzy Andrew will face each other in the NCAA volleyball tournament regional semifinals.
Alicia is a redshirt senior middle blocker for Wisconsin, while Lizzy is a sophomore middle blocker for Stanford.
Alicia and Lizzy Andrew have similarities on and off the court as they each contribute to college volleyball powerhouses.

MADISON — It did not take long for Alicia Andrew to text her younger sister after watching the NCAA volleyball selection show with her Wisconsin teammates in a lounge area in the south end zone of Camp Randall Stadium.

“I was like, ‘Girl!’” Andrew said. “She’s like, ‘I know! I’ll see you in Texas! And I was like, ‘I’m so excited!’”

Andrew will not see her younger sister in the Gregory Gym stands like any other family members, but rather on the court as an opposing player in the Badgers’ NCAA tournament regional semifinal match against Stanford.

Alicia Andrew is a 6-foot-3 redshirt senior middle blocker for Wisconsin. Lizzy Andrew is a 6-foot-5 sophomore middle blocker for Stanford. The sisters will play against each other for the first time with a spot in the NCAA regional finals on the line.

“Certainly when you’re having two high-level Division I starters on teams that are top five, top 10 in the country playing the same position, that’s pretty unique,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “They’re both talented and competitive. But I also know that the players aren’t going to make it about themselves or the person that’s on the other side of the net. They’re parts of teams that are trying to move on and move forward and play great volley.”

Alicia has naturally fielded questions about the sibling rivalry, but she is “not reading too much into rivalry stuff and just playing this sport.”

“It’s another game,” she said after a recent UW practice. “Yes, it’s her across the net. But it’s a business. We both want to move on to the next round.”

Both players have played key parts in their respective teams’ path to this stage.

Alicia, after transferring from Baylor, is the only UW player to appear in all 98 sets this season and one of five to appear in all 30 matches. She is second on the team with 111 blocks, barely trailing fellow middle blocker Carter Booth’s 119.

“Really wants to be good for the people around her,” Sheffield said of Alicia. “Wants to do her job. Takes pride in her job. There’s a maturity, but yet there’s a playfulness that is a really good balance for her. Love coaching her. She’s wired the right way. She really is.”

Lizzy, meanwhile, ranks seventh in the country with a .441 hitting percentage in 2025 after earning a spot on the all-ACC freshman team in 2024. She also has experience playing with the U.S. U21 national team.

“I’m so proud of how hard she worked and her journey to Stanford,” Alicia said. “She puts in so much work, and she just loves the sport of volleyball. And I have loved watching her grow. It’s been fun to see her get better and better every year. And this past season, she’s been playing lights out.”

That pride has turned Alicia into a frequent viewer of ACC volleyball, of course whenever it has not conflicted with the Badgers’ own matches.

“We try to watch as many of each other’s games as we can, and I always just love watching her play,” she said. “I’m so proud of her. She’s just worked her tail off at Stanford, so to see her excel has been so fun.”

The Andrew sisters — Alicia, Lizzy and Natalie, who is on the rowing team at the U.S. Naval Academy — competed together in high school. (They also have a younger brother, William.) Competing against each other is a new concept for them, though.

“We’re not huge trash talkers, neither one of us,” Alicia said. “So I think that she’s going to play her game. I’m going to play my game. We’re going to have our heads down. There might be some looking across and smiling because we make the exact same expressions and quirky faces and reactions.”

The sisters don’t look the same – Lizzy has blonde hair and Alicia has brown hair. But Alicia quickly sees the resemblance with those on-court mannerisms.

“If there’s a silly play or if there is like a really unexpected dump or something, she’ll turn around and make the exact same face that I will,” Alicia said. “And it’s funny watching her on TV because I’m like, ‘Wow, that looks scary familiar.’”

They have some similarities off the court, too.

“We’re just goobers,” Alicia said. “We just like to have a good time together. Obviously she’s my little sister, but we have always been a close family — like all the siblings — so I feel like we’ve done all the things together growing up in all the sports.”

The Andrew parents are perhaps the biggest winners of the NCAA tournament bracket.

“My parents were super excited,” Alicia said. “They don’t have to split the travel plan, so they can save some frequent flyer miles there and both be in Texas. … They’re always trying to coordinate all the schedules.”

The Andrew family made T-shirts for the unique sisterly matchup. (Alicia thinks she is getting one considering they asked her and Lizzy for their shirt sizes in the family group chat.) The shirts are black, too, so there is no favoritism between Wisconsin and Stanford’s variations of cardinal red.

“They have a Stanford ‘S’ and a tree on it and then a Wisconsin ‘W’ and a little Badger on it, too,” Andrew said. “They’re really excited about these shirts. They’re being non-biased; they’re repping both daughters.”

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Wisconsin

8-year-old dies in hospital after icy Wisconsin crash

Published

1 day ago

December 10, 2025

Press Room

8-year-old dies in hospital after icy Wisconsin crash

RICHMOND TOWNSHIP, Wis. (FOX 9) – A crash in western Wisconsin killed an 8-year-old boy and seriously injured a 27-year-old Wednesday morning.

Fatal crash in Richmond Township, Wisconsin

What we know:

According to St. Croix County, just before 10 a.m., deputies responded to a crash on the 1500 block of County Road A.

Authorities say that a 27-year-old woman was driving a van southbound, and lost control on an icy curve and collided with another vehicle.

The woman suffered serious injuries from the crash and was taken to the hospital to be treated, law enforcement said. The boy was critically injured, and was also taken to the hospital, where he later died.

Both were wearing seat belts during the crash.

The driver of the other vehicle was treated for minor injuries at the scene and was released.

This is the 10th traffic fatality in St. Croix County.

What we don’t know:

The current condition of the woman is unknown.

The Source: A press release from St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office.

Road incidentsWisconsin

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