January 26, 2023 at 12:39 p.m.
Oneida County judge attends women's rights rally in Minocqua
Oneida County judge attends women's rights rally in Minocqua
By Trevor Greene-
The event, organized by the group Northwoods Progressives, coincided with the National Women's March held in Madison.
This year's slogan was dubbed "Bigger Than Roe."
Tara Woolpy, organizer of the event and member of Northwoods Progressives, said the group will usually organize similar events to ones held on a national level at the same time.
Though the slogan for this year's women's march referred to last year's Supreme Court decision that overturned the January, 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion in the United States, Woolpy said the march Sunday was generally just to support women in today's society.
One person who attended the march was Oneida County circuit judge Mary Roth Burns, appointed by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers in August, 2022, when judge Patrick O'Melia retired.
Her appointment made her the first female judge in the history of Oneida County.
Now that O'Melia's term is about to end, Burns faces two other candidates, Oneida County corporation counsel Michael Fugle and district attorney Michael Schiek, who are seeking the position.
"I'm the new judge in Oneida County," she told the other marchers. "I was appointed after Judge O'Melia retired, which I was kind of sad about because I thought he did a decent job, that's for sure, but I saw this as an opportunity ... and so I applied and Governor Evers appointed me. It's such an honor. And you know what? I like my job and I want to keep it."
Burns has been an attorney for 15 years and said she's lived in Rhinelander for 32 years. All of her children graduated from Rhinelander High School, she added.
"I love the community and I love Oneida County," she said. "And I'm working hard to be a fair, tough, good listening judge and I do my best. I have an ethical duty to promote the public's trust in the judicial system."
The general election is in April, but the primary election - which will narrow the judicial race to two - is Feb. 21.
Amid chants of "This is what democracy looks like" and "Women united will never be defeated," Burns told The Lakeland Times it's very important that judicial races don't become politicized.
The Republican Party of Oneida County, on its Facebook page, has deemed both Fugle and Schiek "very qualified Conservative candidates running in the non-partisan Spring Primary."
Burns, the post states, is a liberal appointed by Evers.
"I have plenty of Republican friends who are voting for me because they know I've been in the community for 32 years, they know I'm fair, they know what I stand for, that my kids went to Rhinelander schools," Burns said." I care about the community, I care about fairness. I'm a tough judge ... I'm a really good listener and it's really not a partisan thing to be a judge. Judges don't change the law, judges follow the law. And I do follow the law."
Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].
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