(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
In front of a small, intimate group of friends, colleagues, and family members, Judge Frank Gagliardi was sworn in to his new role as Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge for Branch 3. Administering the oath of office Tuesday just after 4:00 p.m., was Kenosha Circuit Court Judge Bastianelli (Retired). Bastianelli, Gagliardi said, was one of his mentors as an attorney.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Gagliardi, 44, of Twin Lakes, was appointed by Governor Tony Evers to succeed America’s Judge, Bruce E. Schroeder. Jeopardy, Gagliardi said, will still be available to his courtroom. He had the game prominently displayed on the bench Tuesday. “I am going to honor Judge Schroeder – we’re going to keep a tradition with our Jeopardy cards, which I think is important to Branch 3,” said Galiardi of the popular game.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Gagliardi took to the podium to address his family and friends immediately after being sworn in:
“This is a special moment, I want to say it’s a special moment for me, which it is, but I want to respect the office that I’m sitting in. A few years ago, and this is important for me to say, because a few years ago, this position, I applied for this position, and I thought that this was a position about me and I couldn’t be farther [off base.] This position is about an office. Judge Bruce Schroeder [is] a wonderful man. I’m taking Branch 3. I’m never going to live up to Judge Schroeder’s standards because they broke the mold with Judge Schroeder. The only thing I’m going to do here, which is an honorable thing, is work as hard as I can and do the best I can to uphold the law and serve the community….I promise you one thing – I will do my best to be fair to listen to the people who come before me to treat them with respect to be part of a solution…I’m really looking forward to working with my other judges…Richard Ginkowski, who has really helped us out here, [he’s a] has been a solid person, along with my father [Paul Gagliardi.] I want to give [them] a special thank you. I would not be here without my father and without Richard and that it’s not just me it’s my family… I’m Frankie Gagliardi, your Branch 3 Judge.”
Gagliardi faces Commissioners Heather Iverson and William Michal in the Spring, 2024 election.
(Photos can be used by Judge’s family and friends for any purpose and without photo credit)
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
49 Responses
Anyone who praises Ginkowski is a HUGE no for me. Evers appointee, aligns with scum, vote Iverson or Michel instead!
Arm in arm with Ginkowski, one of Kenosha’s leading enablers of corruption, bodes ill for Kenosha. Birds of a feather, flock together.
When a Walworth county police officer solicited sexual favors from young men he stopped Ginkowski prosecuted him and Judge Schroeder sent him to prison. Contrast that with the story reported yesterday. Does anyone go after corruption anymore?
At least our man Mathewson is reporting it. He is keeping an eye on it. We The People should learn to vote better, and all this decadence will be over.
Yeah. “Vote harder daddy”. Pretty sure 2020 showed everyone that elections are fake n gay….
Ginkowski
The contempt for anything righteous is easily seen in the snarl and smirk in this guys face !!
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Well you can here !!
Ginkowski is a wanna be circuit court judge who knew he could never make it so he became the judge for Pleasant Prairie. He wastes tax dollars and time with his monologues. He absolutely needs to be drained along with the Steinbrink’s.
He’s been asked to go for circuit judge and declined. At 70 years old, no way.
Steinbrink has an Iverson sign in his yard. That’s all i need to know.
Hah! Right?
That’s usually a no for me too ( in a pinch, I used to drive by Steinbrink’s to see who he has in his yard just so I know who NOT to vote for lol), but at the same time, I’ve learned over the years that we need to do our own research and not just go by the signs in the yards.
The big guy has r the wannabe big guy who’s going to jail?
Thanks for that very important tip. Won’t be voting for her
Frank’s a good man and will be an excellent judge.
Yes, I know Frank. he’s a cool guy
Congratulations in order Judge Gagliardi. He has the skills for the job. Integrity, Honesty, a straight shooter.
He’s a liar
Please explain…
His family are huge donors to Democrats and he’s an appointee by Evers. Not a good look for him. He doesn’t speak about anything of substance that would give us an idea of how he would be as a judge.
Iverson holds conservative values. I’d like to hear more about her.
I have family members (in-laws) with the same surname who are big Dem enthusiasts. Don’t assume that blood ties equal political agreement.
Agreed but he does not do or say anything that tells voters he has conservative values. If your dad and your brother are big Dem donors and you want conservative support, you’d have a little more to prove…haven’t seen any conservative value messaging.
According to his website he is a believer in family values and public safety
Family values? Really? Do you claim that conservatives believe and act in a manner consistent with family values? Yea, right!
Those are pretty safe talking points.
Doesn’t tell us anything about him. Is he going to say I hated my mother and will let every criminal go free?
Iversson…conservative? Politically? No. Just thinks there are different rules for her than the rest of us. One face for public and one face for private. Careful with that one…
Again…..someone who isn’t qualified basically gets appointed because it’s the lesser of two evils. I see that happens a lot here…
Judge Schroeder was a Tony Earl appointee.
Ginkowski has been a self-important, condescending jerk since he was an ADA in the 1990s. Anyone who thinks otherwise is suspect for me.
You speak the truth.
With no facts to back it up?
I am not sure who I will be voting for as judge. I can tell you that I preferred other potential candidates who decided not to run. That being said, I interviewed Frank Gagliardi when I was looking to hire a family law attorney. He talked to me for quite a while and gladly offered his opinions on a lot of matters. He even boldly stated he would probably be a judge in a couple of years. After he found out who my ex was, he decided he couldn’t represent me because he was on a youth sports team with my ex. I found this very odd, since he did not communicate with my ex for 20+ years. How can he be an objective judge, when he can’t represent someone who has an ex who played youth sports with him? He told me something to the effect of, “Once a teammate, always a teammate.”
In reading that, it leads me to believe that he was completely transparent with you and 100 percent ethical. I suspect that had he taken you on as a client and you weren’t satisfied with the result, you’d claim he took your ex’s side because they had once been teammates.
Youth sports? Really? If he can’t separate himself from knowing some random kid from youth sports, how can he really be an objective judge? From the comment, it seems he was not friends with the person from his past. Is it his plan to recuse himself from everyone he knew in his life?
He was being ethical and highlighting a previous relationship that may be misrepresented as making him behave in a way that is unfair to his client. Think about it for a sec. Even if he didn’t act in any way other than to have his client’s best interests in mind, one comment about knowing the ex taints any actions he does and makes it look like he has an angle, esp if the client doesn’t agree with him.
He was being ethical and highlighting a previous relationship that may be misrepresented as making him behave in a way that is unfair to his client. Think about it for a sec. Even if he didn’t act in any way other than to have his client’s best interests in mind, one comment about knowing the ex taints any actions he does and makes it look like he has an angle, esp if the client doesn’t agree with him.
I read this comment as Frank had no relationship with the ex. The spouse never even knew he existed. They were not friends. That is why Frank was interviewed. I think it is good information to see how hard it is for him to be impartial for just a random kid in his deep, deep past. That is a basic requirement for being a judge. Also, lawyers immediately check for conflicts…not sure why that did not occur.
So would it have been unethical for him not to withdrawal?
Another wanna be member of the deep state. His soul is bought and paid for.
It is absolutely terrible that so many people in Kenosha seem to get off on bashing each other like it is some type of competitive sport. When you travel the country and you meet people who are from Kenosha they are the nicest people on the planet. maybe that’s because they got away. It’s hard for good people to do good work in this community with a bunch of follow mouth idiots can keep bashing the people who try to be productive. Maybe they need to get off their hind end and accomplish something in life instead of bad mouthing the people who do. We can’t expect good young people to stay in this community if we continue to have idiots behave like this.
You’re a loser!
Is it possible to actually have a rational discussion here? Wisconsin has an odd law that instead of the person appointed to fill a judicial vacancy serving out the balance of the term they have to stand for election at the next election. Because of the timing of Judge Schroeder’s retirement there’s really no time for Judge Gagliardi to prove himself — something that in all fairness he and anyone else appointed to fill a vacancy should have the chance to do. And it’s not fair to us, the voters, to not have enough of a window of time to assess a judge’s performance. It’s not a good situation but we’re stuck with it.
I will vote for Judge Gagliardi this time. One of the reasons is that he should have a chance to prove himself worthy — or not. Had the governor appointed someone totally unsuitable I might say otherwise but that’s not the case here. In order to get the governor’s appointment the applicant must agree to a background investigation, be interviewed and screened by a panel of lawyers and then be interviewed by the governor personally. The vetting process is more than a perfunctory interview. Applicants, in addition to submitting to a background check, must answer law-related questions and submit samples of their legal writing. And while politics may play some role in selection it isn’t always as significant as some people make it out to be. The governor, regardless of his or her own politics, wants to make sure that the appointee is qualified and that there’s nothing in the background check that would embarrass the governor.
For this vacancy there were two applicants who agreed to participate in the appointment process. Judge Gagliardi cleared the vetting process and was appointed. The other applicant, who was not appointed, is a candidate in the February primary. He, of course, has every right to seek election, as does the third candidate who did not submit to the appointment process and undergo the screening that is required of applicants for a governor’s appointment.
This process of selecting judges isn’t always the best. As judicial elections, which are supposed to be nonpartisan, become more politicized ironically the process for a governor’s appointment in which the applicants must be vetted by a panel of experienced lawyers could turn out to be less political. Wisconsin does not have merit selection of judges, something which would make more sense than the way things are done now (voters in merit selection states do get their say in periodic retention elections). For lawyers and courthouse staff the current system puts them into a terrible position, sort of like asking which one of your children do you love the most. In this case, they likely know all three candidates and also likely many will feel caught in the middle. Maybe your friend isn’t the best choice. When you need surgery you want the best qualified surgeon and not necessarily the homecoming queen or king. Our judicial elections in Wisconsin have become far too political and have strayed away from assessing a candidate’s actual qualifications. Also, political parties and special interest groups have confused people and frustrated the constitution. There are three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. Judges don’t make or enforce laws yet these groups try to influence us to vote for the judge that they think will be on their “side.” That’s like Jerry Jones not only owning the Cowboys but also the referees who call the game. And this process is also sad because it often takes good people, good friends, and pits them against each other. Survivor may be fun to watch on TV but sucks in real life.
Admittedly I believe the governor made a good choice. Others may disagree. But I also think that the choice he made should have a fair shot to prove himself on the bench.
WEDNESDAY 😂😂😂😂
The pencil neck, worthless, liberal, ball-less panty waste Evers has his appointment.
What has the spineless pencil neck cuckold Evers done for Wisconsin ?
The answer………in my opinion……..absolutely nothing.
He told president Trump fight covid not people…….F UCK YOU EVERS.
This far left element of the hippocrat party must be defeated at all costs and ground into dust in my opinion.
They have fu cked up our great nation so badly it may take one generation to get it back
Pray for America……we need it.
Gov. Evers just appointed State Sen. Lena Taylor as a circuit court judge in Milwaukee.
Now THAT was a POLITICAL appointment.
She is qualified.
CRYSTAL (might be on meth) Miller supports Iverson. That’s says everything. Either Iverson is a white apologist quasi-LIB (like Methy Miller who can’t win a race or a haircut appointment) or is utterly incompetent.
Knowing how the Courthouse runs- methinks it might be both.
Why meth? give the people the details they need