WHBL News interviewed candidates for the two open positions for Circuit Court Judge in Sheboygan County. Branch 2 Incumbent Judge Kent Hoffmann is retiring at the end of his term, and his successor will be either Attorney James Haasch or Municipal Court Judge Natasha Torry. Branch 5 Judge Daniel Borowski is not seeking reelection, and so his seat is contested between Attorney George Limbeck and Attorney Cassandra Van Gompel.
Today we are featuring interviews with the two candidates for Sheboygan County Circuit Court Branch 2, Natasha Torry and James Haasch. Our second interview was with James Haasch.
James Haasch: “Proven Trial Experience, Common Sense Values”
Attorney James Haasch knew late in 2022 that he would be running for Circuit Court Judge – Branch 2 in Sheboygan County and announced his candidacy for the race. But by late January all those plans were in question, as a family medical emergency arose that threatened to require so much attention that a campaign would be impossible. Fortunately, that crisis was resolved enough that Haasch resumed his campaign for Circuit Court Branch 2, facing his opponent, Municipal Court Judge Natasha Torry.
Haash, when asked about his background, cited his undergrad status from Marquette in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in German and German Literature. He graduated Cum-Laude with a 3.6 GPA and was also elected as a member of Delta-Phi-Alpha, a national honorary society. He immediately entered Marquette University Law School, graduating in 1987. While there he worked as a clerk in a Menominee Falls law firm, but knew he wanted to do trial work.
That led him to work with the Sheboygan County District Attorney’s Office, something that ensured he got his wish, with little time to prepare as he was interviewed on a Friday, and then called on Saturday with a request to report for work on Monday, upon which he was handed a file needed for his first trial as a prosecutor, just one week away.
Haasch served as an Assistant District Attorney for Sheboygan County from 1987 – 2019, and practiced municipal prosecution law as an Assistant Attorney for the City of Sheboygan from 2019 – 2022.
His background as a prosecutor doesn’t detract from the need for balance as a judge, though. He said that a prosecutor is described in case law as “a quasi-judicial official who is not merely to seek convictions, but to seek justice.” And he said he has prided himself as being very fair, and that if he couldn’t prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, then he wouldn’t take it.
Haasch said that his campaign themes derive from that experience: “Proven Trial Experience, Common Sense Values”. Of the latter, Haasch said that his experience in the D.A. and City Attorney’s Office enabled him to ‘listen to people, to separate the wheat from the chaff, and how to apply the law to situations, and how to be compassionate when compassion was necessary, but not afraid, when appropriate, to push for very long prison sentences.’
Recent high-profile Wisconsin criminal cases involving persons out on bail have raised attention to the bail system. Haasch said that the bail system is informed by three primary considerations in sentencing, those being the nature and gravity of the offenses, the character of the defendant, and the need to protect the public. On that last point, he said, it is subsumed under that need, that the effect on the victim must be considered. This is an aspect addressed by Marcy’s Law, which Haasch said he fully supports, and which should more often be taken into account. For instance, he said, “battery” in one case may not be the same “battery” given surrounding circumstances in another case, and so context is important. He said that his experience applying such considerations better prepares him for judgeship and to effectively apply the bail system.
Haasch also took opportunity to point to the effect that COVID had on the public justice system. He said that COVID “…really did a number on Court Calendars through no fault of any judges, or prosecutors, or anyone else”, and that court systems have tried their best to get back on track. But that, he says, is something that whomever is elected will have to deal with. He said that it is possible to expedite justice without compromising fairness, and that better efficiency in the system “…has to be a consideration” in how his court would be run. Defendants, he said, have constitutional rights, and now victims (due to Marcy’s Law) also have specific rights, which must be balanced in order for cases to be heard with fairness all-around. But he said that the most pressing issue facing the courts is the backlog of cases, and part of that problem will need to be solved by better staffing and support for the County’s Courts and District Attorney’s office.
When asked why he deserved the people’s vote on April 4th, Haasch said that “Experience counts for a lot in the Circuit Court, and also temperament. I think that I have the patience, the work ethic, and the background to serve this community very well in this position and, in fact, I think I have a track record of serving this community well in 35, almost 35 years of practicing law, and I would be honored if the people of Sheboygan County would see me through to Circuit Court Judgeship.”
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