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Recusal is important

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in the sense that

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it is part of

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this big picture notion

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that people are entitled

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to unbiased adjudicators.

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Rob Yablon is a professor

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at the UW Law School.

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Most judicial recusal

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come from a judge

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who's already

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weighed in on a case

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or who has a financial

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or personal relationship

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with one of the parties.

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But that doesn't include

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campaign contributions

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or statements

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from the campaign trail.

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The expectation is that

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under the current rules

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that judges and justices

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won't step aside because of

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their discussions of issues

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or values

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on the campaign trail

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or because of money

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they've received.

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Under the

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Wisconsin Supreme Court's

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own guidelines

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each justice decides

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for themselves

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if they should recuse.

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We asked the candidates

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in this Supreme Court election

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about their recusal standards.

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I follow the rules

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set by the U.S. Supreme Court

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as well as by the

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state of Wisconsin.

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I've had to look at

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different circumstances

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and decide when

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and how to recuse.

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I always look at

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not only is it objectively

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but subjectively biased

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so if there is

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an appearance of impropriety

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then I will

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take a step back.

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I'm instructed by my

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ethical obligations

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to look at each case

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on a case-by-case basis

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and make sure

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that I can be fair

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and impartial.

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That's what I do

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every day.

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My strong sense is that

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the volume of recusal requests

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that we've seen

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over the past year or two

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are more than

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we've ever seen before

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in Wisconsin

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and the nature

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of those requests

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really tends to be

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quite political.