Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack retired last Friday after 20 years of service, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Her retirement brings the court’s longtime conservative majority to an end.
Roggensack was the fifth-ever woman to serve on the high court and spent six years as chief justice from 2015–2021. She followed former Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson, who left the role after Wisconsin approved a constitutional amendment that would select chief justices by a majority of their peers, not by seniority.
With Roggensack’s departure and the addition of Justice Janet Protasiewicz, the court will now have a 4–3 liberal majority.
