Ann Walsh Bradley

American judge (born 1950)

For the wife of a US Senator from Utah, see Anne Bradley .

Ann Walsh Bradley (née Ann Ellen Walsh; born July 5, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist. She served as the 28th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for two months in 2025, and was the fifth longest-serving justice in the history of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, serving 30 years. She was first elected in 1995 and was re-elected in and . Before joining the Wisconsin Supreme Court, she served ten years as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Marathon County, Wisconsin .

Early life and career

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Ann Walsh Bradley was born Ann Ellen Walsh in Richland Center, Wisconsin , in 1950. She graduated from Richland Center High School and went on to Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri . She worked three jobs to pay for college, and earned her bachelor's degree in 1972.

While in school, she worked for the Democratic Party presidential primary campaign of New York mayor John Lindsay . She later said that this was her last involvement in partisan politics.

After graduating, she worked as a high school teacher at Aquinas High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin , before entering the University of Wisconsin Law School , where she earned her J.D. in 1976.

She moved to Wausau, Wisconsin , after completing her legal education and worked for three years as an attorney for Wausau Insurance Companies. In 1979, she went into private practice and associated with the law firm Bradley, Hoover, Grady, & Molinaro. She was appointed to the state Public Defender Board in 1983

In February 1985, Governor Tony Earl appointed her to a vacant Wisconsin circuit court judgeship in Marathon County . A year later, she won a full six-year term as judge, and was re-elected in 1992, without facing an opponent in either election.

Wisconsin Supreme Court

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In April 1994, Chief Justice Nathan Heffernan announced he would not stand for re-election in 1995 , and would therefore retire from the court later that year when his term expired. This created the first open seat election for Wisconsin Supreme Court since 1983. Bradley announced her candidacy the next day. She had twice previously solicited appointment to the court, in 1992 and 1993, when two previous justices had resigned in the middle of their terms. Ultimately, three other notable Wisconsin lawyers and judges entered the 1995 race: Brown County circuit judge N. Patrick Crooks , Court of Appeals judge Ted E. Wedemeyer Jr. , and Madison attorney Patience D. Roggensack . Bradley attempted to maintain political independence in the race, and criticized Crooks for emphasizing his endorsements from Republican governor Tommy Thompson's political organization. Bradley touted her own bipartisan endorsements, from Democratic former governor Tony Earl and Republican Sue Ann Thompson—the wife of Governor Tommy Thompson—who served as a co-chair of the Bradley campaign.

In the top-two nonpartisan primary, Bradley topped the field of five, receiving 38% of the vote. Crooks came in second with 26% and moved on to face Bradley in the April general election. Bradley continued to emphasize her independence from politics in the general election campaign, though by then she had also picked up the endorsement of prominent liberal judges in the state and the Wisconsin Education Association Council teachers' union group. Bradley received 54% of the general election vote; she was sworn in at the Wisconsin State Capitol on August 16, 1995.

She won re-election without opposition in 2005 .

2011 conflict with Justice Prosser

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On June 13, 2011, Bradley had a confrontation with Justice David Prosser Jr. that allegedly became violent. Prosser, Bradley, and all other justices besides Patrick Crooks were in Bradley's office discussing the next day decision that would overturn Judge Sumi's ruling on the collective bargaining law. There are different accounts as to what occurred. According to Bradley, the discussion became heated after Bradley asked Prosser to leave her office and said she was bothered by his disparaging comments towards Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson . She alleged he then put his hands around her throat in what was described as a choke hold . Prosser said that these reports would be proven to be false.

Bradley stated that Prosser had choked her: "The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold." Prosser denied he choked Bradley, saying "Once there's a proper review of the matter and the facts surrounding it are made clear, the anonymous claims made to the media will be proven false." Neither Prosser nor Bradley faced criminal charges from the incident. The state Judicial Commission told its special prosecutor not to pursue new avenues to forward its ethics case against Prosser.

Later years and retirement

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Scott Walker's administration was also dogged through its first term with a John Doe investigation into his campaign fundraising. Bradley chose to recuse herself from Supreme Court cases dealing with the Walker in

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