JoAnne Kloppenburg’s husband, Jack, a UW-Madison professor, has publicly opposed Gov. Walker’s attempts to restrict collective bargaining for public workers and donated money during the past years to two of the formerly AWOL Democratic state senators – including Sen. Mark Miller, the Minority Leader who gave the opposition speech to Gov. Walker’s budget address.
According to Wispolitics.com, Kloppenburg said during a debate with incumbent David Prosser this week that “she also wouldn’t need to recuse herself from any cases on the collective bargaining bill because she has remained independent during the protests in Madison.”
But her husband hasn’t remained neutral.
Along with other professors from UW, Jack Kloppenburg signed an open letter this February that said in part, “We are concerned, therefore, about the governor’s proposal to deprive public employees of the right to bargain collectively in Wisconsin.” The letter ran in a campus newspaper and was disseminated as a press release by a group called Defend Wisconsin (its website contains the subhead “against Scott Walker’s attacks”). The press release bears the headline, “260 UW Madison Faculty Support Collective Bargaining Rights For all Workers.”
This revelation, on top of the news of Kloppenburg’s acceptance of a donation from the husband of Judge Maryann Sumi, raises serious questions about whether Kloppenburg, if she were to win a seat on the Supreme Court, would have to recuse herself from all matters relating to Scott Walker’s budget.
“One of the great myths of the campaign has been our opponents self-described, and blindly accepted, independence,” said Brian Nemoir, campaign manager for Justice Prosser. “Piece-by-piece we learn the truth, whether it be past political acts, personal statements made during the campaign or the activities of family members. Our opponent can no longer bask in the light of independence.”
The letter Kloppenburg’s husband signed was deemed an “open letter” to Gov. Walker, state legislators, and Wisconsin citizens. The letter was also reprinted in the Badger Herald student newspaper on Feb. 21 and expresses concern about Walker’s bid to restrict collective bargaining for public workers.
The letteris a treatise of sorts about the merits of collective bargaining, saying, “Collective bargaining has been critical to providing decent standards of living to millions of Americans, playing a central role in the creation of this nation’s large middle class. Unions have also been crucial vehicles for democracy, giving workers a voice in their places of employment and in society as a whole. Curtailing workers’ ability to form unions and to bargain collectively can only diminish the economic and political benefits that the practice has brought to our state.” The letter discusses how restrictions on collective bargaining would supposedly harm the UW System, where Jack Kloppenburg is employed. It states, in part: “As UW faculty, we are particularly concerned about the impact that this proposal would have on staff and graduate assistants, upon whom we rely for crucial support as we conduct our research and teach our courses…. We urge you not to allow this crisis to undermine our state’s strong traditions of democracy and human rights.”
According to campaign finance records, Jack Kloppenburg, a UW-Madison professor, has donated twice (for a total of $350) to Democratic Sen. Mark Miller and twice (for a total of $200) to Democratic Sen. Fred Risser.
Both Miller and Risser fled the state to Illinois. Miller is the state Senate minority leader. As such, he took a lead in the AWOL 14’s public battles against Walker. Walker accused Miller of misleading the public. “The problem is Sen. Miller,” Walker explained to the media on why negotiations with the Democrats broke down. See here.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign shows that Jack Kloppenburg made his donations to Miller in 2007 and 2004 and to Risser in 1999 and 1995. (On the federal level, he has given $2,250 to Russ Feingold over the years). For her part, in addition to numerous Democratic statewide politicians, JoAnne Kloppenburg has given money to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee – ($100 in 2006).
On Jack Kloppenburg’s faculty website it says that he teaches Introduction to Environmental Studies: The Social Perspective and Food, Culture, and Society. His publications include articles titled “No Hunting,” and “Seed Wars.” (JoAnne Kloppenburg’s campaign has also been funded by officials from numerous environmental advocacy groups in Wisconsin; as a state DOJ attorney, she has largely focused on assisting the DNR in enforcing such actions as restricting the length of homeowner’s piers.)
Kloppenburg’s supporters have politicized the race for state Supreme Court, attempting to link incumbent David Prosser to Gov. Walker and attempts to repeal his agenda. Kloppenburg herself has implied to the media that Walker was overreaching:
“The events of the last few weeks have put into sharp relief how important the Supreme Court is as a check on overreach in the other branches of government,” Kloppenburg is quoted as telling the Capital Times editorial board.
Kloppenburg’s campaign strategist Melissa Mulliken made similar comments, saying, according to the Capital Times, “There’s a great sense that we need to return Wisconsin to some level of sanity.”
According to records, Jack Kloppenburg has also given money to Green Party candidate Ben Manski ($300 on Aug. 9, 2010). Manski has posted a message to supporters trashing Walker and advocating revolution.
He wrote, “Closer to home, it seems like Wisconsin’s new governor is doing everything in his power to help us make the case for democratic revolution. If you’re a Wisconsinite, you know what I mean. But for those reading in other parts of the world, you should know that for this week, at least, and likely for the coming months, Wisconsin is at the center of the struggle over austerity in the United States.”
Manski also noted, “In Wisconsin’s first ever publicly financed Supreme Court election, I am voting for JOANNE KLOPPENBURG.I’ve known Kloppenburg long enough to know that she is committed to seeing our courts protect the interests of the powerless, not just the powerful, and to expanding democracy in American life. For full disclosure, Jack Kloppenburg, her husband, was my undergraduate adviser, and is a wonderful advocate for environmental and food sovereignty.” (See here.)
Jack Kloppenburg’s resume is here.
Student ratings at the Rate My Professor site online describe Jack Kloppenburg as unabashedly liberal and biased in class. Comments on the site included:
“Conceited liberal. Cares about no one but himself. Wants to teach but only teaches his opinion. Most biased and unhelpful professor I have ever dealt with.”
“Professor Kloppenburg is a madman, and he takes pride in that fact. He presents introductory environmental issues with a clear bias, which he claims is so that we “stay awake” in his class.”
“Talks the talk, but absolutely does not walk the walk. If you take any of his classes, I hope you are comfortable with someone like this telling you how to live your life.”
“Jack is very opinionated and shares his opinion with everybody. Eventually you really get tired of him and just want to get out of there.”
“His teaching methods are awesome. All he wants is for you to really think about environmental issues. Two papers, no exams.”
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