Last year, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker appointed a judge named Rebecca Bradley to his state’s Supreme Court. It may or may not bother you that she wrote college newspaper columns decrying “immoral” “queers” with AIDS…. [W]e all do dumb things in college. Right? Right. Some of us drink Everclear and jump off of balconies. Others of us, like Rebecca Bradley, write multiple op-eds in the Marquette University campus newspaper calling homosexuality an “immoral” and “abnormal sexual practice” and calling AIDS patients “degenerates who basically commit suicide through their behavior.”
I suspect it’s not a stretch to say that not many of us would want to be judged on the basis of things we did 24 years ago…especially if that time coincided with being in college. “Doing stupid things” is part and parcel of the college experience. Thankfully, most of us leave the hallowed halls of East Bumfuck State University and develop into reasonably responsible and productive adults. Or something closely approximating that ideal.
I believe in the power and validity of second chances. We all grow, change, improve, and hopefully learn how to play better with others. Lord knows I’ve been the beneficiary of more than my fair share of second chances. Like anyone else, I’ve made more than a few bad choices and stupid decisions that may have, for whatever reason(s), made sense at the time. I’d hope that my present and future wouldn’t be evaluated on the basis of something that did or didn’t happen what seems a lifetime ago.
That said, is there a situation when someone occupies a position in which it’s absolutely appropriate to consider something from their distant past when evaluating their qualifications and fitness? If someone is, say, nominated to a seat on a state’s Supreme Court, should something they wrote while in college be considered and evaluated and considered to speak to their qualifications and fitness to serve today??
Bradley wrote these things in 1992. In a statement this week, she apologized and said that “those statements are not reflective of my worldview.” Next month, Wisconsin voters will decide whether to elect Bradley to a ten-year Supreme Court term. Many of us do dumb things in college. You may even have had a friend who held dumb views similar to Rebecca Bradley in college. That friend may have matured somewhat as they aged. You may even enjoy that friend’s company now. But would you want that friend on your state Supreme Court?
It’s an interesting and exceedingly challenging question. Would you want that friend on your state’s Supreme Court? Are some things so unforgivable, so far beyond the pale, that they simply can’t be glossed over and forgotten?
The younger version of Rebecca Bradley held some pretty objectionable opinions that she had no problem putting in writing, apparently never considering their impact then and into the future. Do those opinions disqualify her? No matter what we did back in the day, most of us have matured and become better people with the passage of time. Whatever our particularly stupid or ill-advised action(s)/opinion(s)/omission(s) may have been way back when…well, speaking for myself, I’d certainly hope the past would remain just that. Not everything needs to be unearthed and revisited. Not very often is the distant past relevant to the present.
In the case of Ms. Bradley, part of me understands that she very likely isn’t the same intolerant, insensitive, judgmental asshole her columns made clear she was in 1992. Can (or should) we write those off as insensitive ramblings from her dissolute youth…or do they speak to character flaws that might well influence her fitness to serve on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court today?
I don’t- and can’t- have an answer to that question. Fortunately, the voters of Wisconsin will…but, seeing as how they elected, re-elected (and gave a thumbs-down on an attempt to recall) Scott Walker as Governor, one could be forgiven for not placing much faith in the intelligence, judgment, or moral fiber of Wisconsin’s voters.
They have exactly the quality of leadership they deserve…and they probably richly deserve Rebecca Bradley.
