State Supreme Court Justice Abrahamson AWOL From Monday Cases

It was an extremely rare absence Monday when Wisconsin’s longest serving Supreme Court justice missed case arguments and a private meeting of the court. Chief Justice Pat Roggensack said from the bench that Shirley Abrahamson would not hear three cases Monday — and neither she nor court officials gave a reason. The 83-year-old Abrahamson did not withdraw from the three cases. She’s been on the state’s highest court since 1976 and was the chief justice for 19 years before Roggensack replaced her in 2015 after voters changed the state Constitution so the chief justice would be elected by her colleagues instead of being the one with the highest seniority. Abrahamson is one of just two liberals on a court with five conservatives.