Wisconsin Supreme Court Decisions 2020
Date: December 30, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000283
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of a local zoning court of appeals approving homeowners' variance request, holding that, pursuant to Wis. Stat. 62.23(7)(e)10., certiorari review of the board's decision is…
Date: December 23, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000237-D
Date: December 23, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP000090-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's judgment and order denying Defendant's postconviction motion to withdraw his guilty plea, holding that counsel was not…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP002104
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's denial of Defendant's Wis. Stat. Chapter 980 petition for discharge from his commitment as a sexually violent person, holding…
Date: December 14, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP000557-OA
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Governor Evers' Emergency Order #12 did not render all Wisconsin electors "indefinitely confined," thereby obviating the requirement of a valid photo identification to obtain an absentee…
Date: December 14, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP002038
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump's effort to invalidate more than 220,000 votes from Dane and Milwaukee Counties in the 2020 presidential election, holding that the challenge to indefinitely confined voter ballots…
Date: December 9, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP001170-D
Date: November 24, 2020
Docket Number: 2016AP001259-D
Date: November 19, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000731-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's judgment and order denying Defendant's postconviction motion to withdraw his Alford plea, holding that Defendant did not meet…
Date: November 10, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002530-D
Date: October 30, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP000236-D
Date: October 28, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP001837-D
Date: October 20, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP001418-D
Date: October 6, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP000152-D
Date: October 6, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP001634-CQ
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals by holding that Wis. Stat. 803.09(2m) grants the Wisconsin Legislature the authority to represent the State's interest in the…
Date: September 30, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP000762-D
Date: September 29, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP001696-D
Date: September 29, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP000724-D
Date: September 14, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP001488-OA
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioners' petition for leave to commence an original action and motion for temporary injunctive relief in this election matter, holding that it was too late to grant Petitioners any form of…
Date: September 9, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP001154-D
Date: September 1, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP000600-D
Date: July 22, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP000565-D
Date: July 10, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP001376-OA
Justia Opinion Summary: In this original action requesting a declaration that the governor exceeded his constitutional authority in partially vetoing appropriation bills the Supreme Court declared that the vetoes to the school bus modernization…
Date: July 10, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP002054-OA
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed this original action challenging whether two partial vetoes in the 2017-19 biennial budget exceeded the governor's constitutional authority, holding that this action was barred by the…
Date: July 9, 2020
Docket Numbers: 2017AP000634, 2016AP002082
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case requiring the Supreme Court to determine the scope of the authority of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to recoup payments made to Medicaid service providers the Supreme Court held that DHS…
Date: July 9, 2020
Docket Numbers: 2019AP000622, 2019AP000614-LV
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising from the enactment of 2017 Wis. Act 369 and 2017 Wis. Act 370 the Supreme Court held that Plaintiffs did not meet their high burden to demonstrate that the challenged provisions were unconstitutional…
Date: July 7, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000875-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming in part the order of the circuit court that Appellant pay restitution to the victims of his crime, holding that a…
Date: July 3, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP000774-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction for possession with intent to deliver cocaine, holding that the Wisconsin Constitution permits law enforcement to ask…
Date: July 3, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000319-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, holding that the circuit court did not err in its evidentiary rulings. On…
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002525
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the implementation and enforcement of the Town of Delafield's seasonal weight limitations on certain Town roads as authorized by the Town's ordinance did not conflict with and therefore was…
Date: June 25, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP001774-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's denial of Defendant's suppression motion, holding that the deputies in this case were not acting as bona fide community…
Date: June 18, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000623
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant, Plaintiff's former criminal defense attorney, on Plaintiff's legal…
Date: June 16, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002132
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's denial of Father's motion for reconsideration of the circuit court's ruling in favor of Mother in a custody dispute, holding…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000947
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court denying Quick Charge Kiosk, LLC's action seeking a declaration that its kiosks, which enabled customers to pay for an opportunity to win money through a video…
Date: June 11, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP000567-W
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals denying Appellant's petition for habeas corpus after Appellant previously sought Wis. Stat. 974.06 postconviction relief without success, holding that the…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP001209-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the circuit court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained from a warrantless search of Defendant's vehicle…
Date: June 3, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002364-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of conviction entered against Defendant, holding that the court of appeals erred in reversing the…
Date: May 21, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000458
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the circuit court directing a verdict in favor of Defendant, an insurance agent, on Plaintiff's claim that Defendant was negligent…
Date: May 19, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP001165
Justia Opinion Summary: In this personal injury action, the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff need not prove the exact moment the unsafe condition commenced so long as the evidence is sufficient to prove it existed long enough to give the…
Date: May 13, 2020
Docket Number: 2020AP000765-OA
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Andrea Palm's order confining all people to their homes, forbidding travel, and closing businesses in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus (Emergency Order 28) was unenforceable because the…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP001616
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the circuit court dismissing Plaintiffs' medical malpractice action, holding that the circuit court did not err in instructing the…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000145-FT
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's order extending Petitioner's involuntary commitment, holding that the evidence introduced at the recommitment hearing was…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Numbers: 2017AP002441-CR, 2017AP002440-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals reversing an order of the circuit court that granted sentence credit to Defendant, holding that the court of appeals correctly…
Date: April 14, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000712-FT
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals applying a constructive trust to proceeds Lynnea Landsee-Pulkkila collected from a life insurance policy maintained by her late husband, James Pulkkila,…
Date: April 10, 2020
Docket Number: 2016AP001982
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Wis. Stat. 51.61(1)(g), which permits the involuntary medication of an incompetent but non-dangerous inmate, is facially unconstitutional for any inmate who is involuntarily committed based on…
Date: March 19, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP001681
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the circuit court concluding that Employees' time spent "donning and doffing" personal protective equipment was compensable, holding that the…
Date: March 5, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002510
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the circuit court concluding that Fryed Audio, LLC was entitled to recreational immunity from Plaintiff's tort action, holding…
Date: March 4, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP001977-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals rejecting Defendant's assertion that his second criminal prosecution violated the constitutional proscription of double jeopardy, holding that the State's…
Date: February 27, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002352
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving the Town of Perry's alleged failure to construct a proper road as promised when exercising its power of eminent domain the Supreme Court held that Wis. Stat. 82.50(1) does not impose obligations on…
Date: February 25, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000053-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: In this criminal case, the Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals, holding that venue in Fond du Lac County was proper but that two of the charges on which the jury…
Date: February 20, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002435-D
Date: February 20, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP001176-D
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000075-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming a $4,800 fine imposed by the circuit court upon sentencing Defendant for third-offense OWI, holding that the court of appeals erred in…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP002162
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court concluding that an annexation of 247 acres of land to the City of Sheboygan satisfied the statutory contingency requirement, the rule of reason, and the…
Date: February 13, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002265-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court modified the decision of the court of appeals affirming Appellant's judgment of conviction and the denial of her motion for postconviction relief and affirmed as modified, holding that Appellant…
Date: February 13, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP000116
Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance coverage duty-to-defend dispute the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's judgment denying the motion for attorney fees filed by the Germantown School…
Date: February 11, 2020
Docket Number: 2018AP001129
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the circuit court vacating Defendant's 2005 conviction by the Mid-Moraine Municipal Court of operating while intoxicated (OWI) in violation of a City of Cedarburg ordinance,…
Date: February 7, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP001775-D
Date: February 4, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP001962
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving a stolen 1938 Talbot Lago automobile the Supreme Court held that a true owner can maintain a replevin action for wrongful detention against a subsequent purchaser of converted property and that a…
Date: February 4, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002217
Justia Opinion Summary: In this review of the court of appeals' decision affirming the circuit court's orders for involuntary commitment and involuntary medication and treatment of D.K. the Supreme Court held that there was clear and convincing…
Date: January 30, 2020
Docket Number: 2019AP000199-J
Justia Opinion Summary: In this judicial disciplinary proceeding, the Supreme Court adopted a Judicial Conduct Panel's findings of fact, agreed that those facts demonstrated that Honorable Kenneth W. Gorski, a part-time commissioner for the…
Date: January 28, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP000666-D
Date: January 15, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP000822
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's grant of summary judgment to Veritas Steel, LLC on Lunda Construction Company's successor liability claim, holding that…
Date: January 9, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002292-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's order denying Defendant's postconviction motion for resentencing, holding that Defendant did not forfeit his ability to…
Date: January 9, 2020
Docket Number: 2017AP002361
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's dismissal of Chris Hinrichs and Autovation Limited's (collectively, Hinrichs) common law misrepresentation claims against the…
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