Judging Judges

Judge Judges by their Actions

“Faith” does not excuse Illegality

Judge Brian Hagedorn and many of his supporters have bought into the false narrative that his critics are just attacking his faith and not accepting of his claimed ability to put his religious beliefs aside when deciding cases that come before him. He chooses to advance this false narrative rather than address directly the propriety of his actions over the years

When I pointed out that he had spent his adult life criticizing and demeaning homosexuals and those with gender dysphoria, this was not an attack on his Christian beliefs. They were direct attacks upon his actions that show he actively discriminates against protected classes of human beings in violation of the law. Same-sex marriage is now the law of the land because the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the U.S. Constitution to protect those marriages the same as those between members of opposite gender or sexual orientation. Hagedorn’s paid speeches to a hate group that actively promotes forced sterilization and other illegal acts against homosexual and transgendered people show that he does not support the rule of law, much less the constitutional guarantees we all enjoy.

While ours is a nation built upon Judeo-Christian values, it is not a “Christian” nation. Our governing constitutions prohibit state sanctioned religions or required religious doctrines. There are no religious tests for those holding public office. One does not have to be a Christian to get elected. You can be, but it is not a requirement for holding office. Our founders believed that America is a place where all religious faiths are welcomed and honored. All religions are equal in the eyes of the law. Our founders also established that while we are individually free to worship or not as we see fit, we may not and our governing bodies certainly may not impose specific religious beliefs or doctrines on others. We do not allow one set of religious beliefs to the exclusion of all or even some of the others. 

Christian evangelicals, like Judge Hagedorn, are free to believe what they want about their religious teachings. They are not free to impose those beliefs upon those who have different beliefs. By actively engaging in discriminatory practices in the “faith based” school he founded and still helps run, he violates those rules that prohibit such discrimination and demonstrates that he puts his “faith” above the rule of law that establishes we are all equal. This is intolerable behavior for anyone and beyond the pale for public officials in any office.

I do not know for sure if Judge Hagedorn can or will put aside his religious beliefs when cases involving same sex marriages or state obligations to treat gender dysphoria will come before our Supreme Court. Given his track record of discriminatory activities, I am not willing to give him a ten-year term in office to find out. Let him decide cases presenting these issues while sitting on the Court of Appeals and build a track record of fair and neutral sexual orientation and gender dysphoria decisions. If he can do that, then maybe he will have demonstrated the qualities needed to be a Justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

We cannot afford to go backward in our equality for all jurisprudence.

Waring Fincke is a retired attorney who serves as a guardian for the elderly and disabled with a Sheboygan County non-profit agency.