Wisconsin Supreme Court Decisions 2021

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's order that allowed the City of Waukesha to seek certiorari review of a tax assessment determination of the City of Waukesha…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court remedied a malapportionment in existing maps reflecting the legislative districts across the state, while ensuring the maps satisfy all other constitutional and statutory requirements, but held that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's dismissal of Plaintiff's claim against Defendant for unlawfully overcharging her for copies of her medical records, in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the circuit court extending Defendant's involuntary commitment, holding that the circuit court incorrectly determined that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming in part and reversing in part the order of the circuit court denying Appellant's motion for sentence credit against his 1992 and 1999 sentences…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court concluded that the Honorable Scott C. Woldt, a judge for the Winnebago County circuit court, willfully violated several rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which constituted judicial misconduct under…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court deciding that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had the explicit authority to impose and animal unit maximum condition and an off-site…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning eight applications to operate high capacity groundwater wells the Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court with a modification that the circuit court remand all eight well…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit regarding whether a private school was entitled to receive public funding to transport children to its…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for first-degree intentional homicide, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his claims that the trial court erred in denying two pre-trial evidentiary…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the order of the circuit court concluding that it had the authority to order Paul Schwab to comply with a marital settlement agreement entered…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the circuit court dismissing, for failure to state a claim, Plaintiff's complaint alleging malicious prosecution, holding that a withdrawal of a prior proceeding may satisfy the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals determining that Wisconsin's incapacitated driver provision contained within the implied consent statute, Wis. Stat. 343.305, was unconstitutional, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court imposing a child pornography surcharge for fourteen images of child pornography and the order denying plea withdrawal, holding that there was no…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the circuit court granting Defendant's motion to suppress certain statements that he made during a post-polygraph interview,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction of first-degree reckless homicide and ordering a new trial, holding that the circuit court erred in failing to instruct the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's order expunging three of Defendant's convictions, holding that the circuit court erred in expunging Defendant's convictions…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of ten counts of possession of child pornography, holding that Defendant could not be held to a stipulation he entered in circuit court…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the circuit court that reversed the Department of Administration's approval of a cooperative plan (Plan) between the Village of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the portions of the emergency order issued by Janel Heinrich, in her capacity as a local health officer of Public Health of Madison and Dane County, restricting or prohibiting in-person…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals agreeing with the circuit court that the amended version of Wis. Stat. 48.415(2)(a)3 applied during Mother's termination of parental rights (TPR)…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this inverse condemnation complaint brought by a property owner, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's grant of a motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by…

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 Kemper Independence Insurance Company denying coverage to Appellant for the loss of her…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's determination that Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways (collectively, Southwest) does not qualify for the "hub facility"…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the circuit court denying Defendant's motion to suppress certain firearm evidence on the grounds that the police officer lacked…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's judgment of conviction of Defendant for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia and remanded with instructions to grant Defendant's motion to suppress, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the determination of the City of Milwaukee Board of Review that Petitioner's property was properly assessed at a value of $31,800, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the circuit court ruling that the exclusive-remedy provision of the Wisconsin Worker's Compensation Act, Wis. Stat. 102.03(2), did…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court denying summary judgment to Jacob Tetting and his insurer, concluding that Tetting, who was an occupant of a bar when he injured another person, was not an…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals holding that a diminution in property value that results from changing the grade of a highway abutting the property does not qualify as "damages to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the ruling of the circuit court concluding that Defendant's request for a judicial substitution under Wis. Stat. 801.58(1) was untimely filed,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's judgment convicting Defendant of operating or going armed with a firearm while intoxicated, holding that Defendant's argument…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing in part the circuit court's determination that the price for certain property was $16.6 million and granting County Visions Cooperative fifteen…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the circuit court denying The Mix Up's motion for temporary injunctive relief challenging Emergency Order 3 issued by the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's writ of mandamus and contempt orders in this case, holding that Wis. Stat. 6.50(3) does not place a positive and plain duty on…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the circuit court requiring Polk Properties, LLC and its sole member (collectively, Polk) to pay forfeitures for zoning violations,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the circuit court reversing the decision of the circuit court granting summary judgment in favor of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) and dismissing Plaintiff's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the multiple states of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic proclaimed in certain executive orders exceeded the powers of Governor Tony Evers and were therefore unlawful. After…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the law on testimonial hearsay has not changed in the last fourteen years to such a degree that, at Defendant's new trial, the circuit court was no longer bound by the Supreme Court's decision…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's grant of summary judgment to the Department of Revenue and determining that Applegate-Bader Farm, LLC did not raise a claim…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the court of appeals denying the State's petition for leave to file an interlocutory appeal of an order of the circuit court granting Defendant's discovery request, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case disputing the ownership of a pair of red bib overalls with a handkerchief hanging out the back pocket and the ownership of the names "Bibs Resort" and "Bibs" the Supreme Court reversed the summary judgment…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's judgment of conviction and order denying Defendant's postconviction motion, holding that Defendant's counsel never conceded…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's judgment of conviction for eighth offense operating while intoxicated (OWI), holding that it was more likely than not that Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's order extending K.E.K.'s involuntary commitment pursuant to Wis. Stat. 51.20(13)(g)3., holding that Wis. Stat. 51.20(1)(am), the statute upon which Waupaca County relied on…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's order for judgment in favor of Mohns, Inc. and the award of compensatory damages for breach of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court remanded this case to the circuit court with directions to deny Defendant's motion to dismiss, holding that Defendant was not in custody for purposes of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), when he…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's order upholding the Town of Newbold's denial of Petitioner's attempt to subdivide his property, holding that the Town…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the denial of Defendant's motion for postconviction relief on the basis that the video-recorded forensic interviews of Defendant's victims were…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's judgment of conviction and the trial court's denial of Defendant's motion for postconviction relief, holding that the…