N. Patrick Crooks

Neil Patrick Crooks (May 16, 1938 – September 21, 2015) was an American lawyer. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1996 until his death in 2015. He was appointed as a county judge by a Democratic governor, later professing conservatism as a Supreme Court candidate in 1995 and 1996. In his later years, Crooks gained notice as a perceived judicial moderate and swing vote on a court otherwise divided into two ideological blocs.

The Honorable N. Patrick Crooks
Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
In office August 1, 1996 – September 21, 2015
Preceded by	Roland B. Day
Succeeded by	Rebecca Bradley
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Brown Circuit, Branch 6
In office August 1, 1978 – July 31, 1996
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	John D. McKay
Personal details
Born	Neil Patrick Crooks (1938-05-16)May 16, 1938 Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	September 21, 2015(2015-09-21) (aged 77) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Kristin
Children	Michael Molly Kevin Kathleen Peggy Eileen
Alma mater	St. Norbert College (B.A.) University of Notre Dame (J.D.)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1963–1966
Unit	Judge Advocate General's Corps

Early life and career

Crooks was a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and graduated from the city's Premontre High School in 1956. He received a B.A. degree from St. Norbert College in 1960 and a J.D. degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1963.[1]

From 1963-66, Crooks served as an officer in the United States Army, assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the Pentagon. After his discharge from the Army, Crooks worked for eleven years as a private practice attorney in Green Bay and as an instructor of business law at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.[1]

In 1977, Crooks was appointed to the Brown County Court by Governor Martin J. Schreiber, a liberal Democrat.[2] Crooks was designated a circuit court judge in 1978, when Wisconsin's county and circuit courts were merged.[3]

Although appointed by Schreiber, Crooks ran for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1995 as a conservative; his campaign was directed by Scott Jensen, a prominent Republican legislator later convicted of criminal ethics violations.[4] He was defeated in the general election by Marathon County circuit judge Ann Walsh Bradley but elected to the court in 1996, defeating appellate judge Ralph Adam Fine of Milwaukee after a contentious campaign.[5]

Supreme Court service

In 1999, Crooks became enmeshed in a factional dispute on the court, aligning with justices Donald Steinmetz, William Bablitch, and Jon Wilcox against Bradley, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, and Justice David T. Prosser, Jr. The dispute arose from numerous controversies and the unsuccessful attempt of Green Bay lawyer Sharren Rose to unseat Abrahamson; Crooks had supported Rose.[6] By 2005, the court's justices had aligned into different blocs, now defined more closely by ideology. His participation in decisions lifting a medical malpractice damages cap and permitting a lawsuit against lead paint manufacturers disassociated him from the court's conservative bloc.[7]

Since 2005, Crooks acted at times as a swing vote on the court, sometimes associated ideologically with Abrahamson and Bradley. Some commentators identify him as a judicial liberal,[8] while others classify him as a "centrist" who retains strong conservative leanings.[9]

Crooks generally joined the conservative majority's opinions, especially in criminal matters,[10] but joined the liberal minority's dissents on certain constitutional issues and matters of court administration.[11][12]

In April 2015, Crooks broke from both Abrahamson and the conservative majority in a dispute over the election of Patience Drake Roggensack as the court's chief justice. Earlier in 2015, voters had approved a referendum permitting the court's justices to elect their chief justice; throughout Wisconsin's history, the most senior justice had occupied the court's highest office. Crooks condemned Abrahamson's attempts to retain her position, which included a federal lawsuit, but did not support Roggensack's election; instead, he indicated that he would consider seeking the chief justiceship and running for reelection in 2016, an event theretofore considered unlikely.[11]

In the wake of this dispute, and with Crooks's intentions uncertain, state judges Joe Donald, JoAnne Kloppenburg, and Rebecca Bradley filed to run for Crooks's seat in 2016.[13]

Death

On Thursday, September 16, 2015, Crooks announced that he would not seek reelection.[14] Crooks was absent from oral arguments the next day. He came to the court on Monday, September 21, 2015, for a hearing, but excused himself before the hearing was over. He was later found dead in his chambers at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. He was 77.[15]

Professional memberships and awards

While serving in 1994 as a Brown County circuit judge, Crooks was recognized as Trial Judge of the Year by the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Crooks was a law school evaluator for the American Bar Association and also a member of the Wisconsin Law Foundation Board. He was a director of the Notre Dame Law Association and a member of the James E. Doyle Chapter of the American Inns of Court.[1]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Circuit Court (1985, 1991)

Wisconsin Circuit Court, Brown Circuit, Branch 6 Election, 1985[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
General Election, April 2, 1985
	Independent	N. Patrick Crooks (incumbent)	15,815	100.0%
Total votes			'15,815'	'100.0%'

Wisconsin Circuit Court, Brown Circuit, Branch 6 Election, 1991[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
General Election, April 2, 1991
	Independent	N. Patrick Crooks (incumbent)	33,413	100.0%
Total votes			'33,413'	'100.0%'

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1995, 1996, 2006)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 1995[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
Primary Election, February 21, 1995
	Independent	Ann Walsh Bradley	131,889	38.85%
	Independent	N. Patrick Crooks	88,913	26.19%
	Independent	Ted E. Wedemeyer, Jr.	64,668	19.05%
	Independent	Patience D. Roggensack	41,303	12.16%
	Independent	William A. Pangman	12,753	3.76%
Total votes			'339,526'	'100.0%'
General Election, April 4, 1995
	Independent	Ann Walsh Bradley	514,588	54.82%
	Independent	N. Patrick Crooks	424,110	45.18%
Total votes			'938,698'	'100.0%'

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 1996[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
General Election, February 6, 1996
	Independent	N. Patrick Crooks	84,223	27.03%
	Independent	Ralph Adam Fine	50,801	16.31%
	Independent	Ted E. Wedemeyer, Jr.	44,988	14.44%
	Independent	Lawrence J. Bugge	44,020	14.13%
	Independent	Harold Vernon Froehlich	34,632	11.12%
	Independent	Stanley A. Miller	28,047	9.00%
	Independent	Charles B. Schudson	24,853	7.98%
Total votes			'311,564'	'100.0%'
General Election, March 19, 1996
	Independent	N. Patrick Crooks	520,594	59.07%	+13.89%
	Independent	Ralph Adam Fine	360,686	40.93%
Total votes			'881,280'	'100.0%'	-6.12%

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 2006[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
General Election, April 4, 2006
	Independent	N. Patrick Crooks	499,636	99.39%
		Scattering	3,052	0.61%
Total votes			'502,688'	'100.0%'	-9.06%

References

1. "Supreme Court: Former justices". Wisconsin Court System. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
2. Jones, Richard (April 5, 1995). "Bradley grabs early lead in judicial race". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
3. "Brief Biographies 2015 Wisconsin Officers". Wisconsin Briefs. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. 15 (1): 2. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
4. Jones, Richard (February 22, 1995). "Bradley, Crooks cast in ideological battle for state Supreme Court post". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
5. Jones, Richard (March 9, 1996). "Fine attacks Crooks as politicians' candidate". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
6. "Judges solicit professional aid". Reading Eagle. April 16, 1999. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
7. Christofferson, Bill. "Enough crooks on the bench?". The Xoff Files. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
8. Price, Jenny. "State Supreme Court comes down to numbers". Madison Magazine. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
9. Murphy, Bruce (September 6, 2011). "Justice Crooks is not a liberal". Milwaukee Magazine. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
10. Ziemer, David (August 9, 2010). "Ziegler in majority most often". Wisconsin Law Journal. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
11. Marley, Patrick (April 16, 2015). "Justice Crooks rips Abrahamson for digging in heels on job". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
12. Murphy, Bruce (March 21, 2013). "The powerful Pat Roggensack". The Isthumus. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
13. "UPDATE: Kloppenburg, Donald plan runs for Supreme Court". NBC 15. June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
14. Justice N. Patrick Crooks makes it official: He's retiring, jsonline.com; accessed February 25, 2017.
15. Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks dies, jsonline.com; accessed February 25, 2017.
16. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1985). "Elections in Wisconsin". The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 881. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
17. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1991). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1991-1992 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 876. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
18. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (1995). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1995-1996 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 893. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
19. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (1997). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1997-1998 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 869–870. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
20. "Elections". State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. 2007. p. 890. Retrieved January 5, 2020.

Legal offices
Preceded by New circuit	Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Brown Circuit, Branch 6 1978 – 1996	Succeeded by John D. McKay
Preceded by Roland B. Day	Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court 1996 – 2015	Succeeded by Rebecca Bradley