Supreme Court justice claimed ‘queers with AIDS deserve no sympathy’
A state Supreme Court has apologised – after it emerged she wrote extremely homophobic columns as a student.
Rebecca Bradley was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, by the state’s Republican governor Scott Walker.
However, it emerged this week that during the 1990s, Bradley penned a number of shocking homophobic comments in student newspaper the Marquette Tribune.
The liberal-leaning group One Wisconsin Now released the old columns, in which Bradley mulls: “Perhaps AIDS Awareness should seek to educate us with their misdirected compassion for the degenerates who basically commit suicide through their behavior.”
She adds of AIDS: “The homosexuals and drug addicts who do essentially kill themselves and others through their own behavior deservedly receive none of my sympathy.”
Of gay sex, she says: “Heterosexual sex is very healthy in a loving martial relationship. Homosexual sex, however, kills.
She continued: “How sad that the lives of degenerate drug addicts and queers are valued more than the innocent victims of more prevalent ailments.”
Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now said: “Rebecca Bradley has revealed such a depth of hatred and contempt for people that she cannot be trusted to uphold the most basic tenet of our judicial system, that all are equal before the law.
“She denies people their dignity because they are different than her and condemns people that hold political beliefs other than hers.”
Ms Bradley has since attempted to apologise for the comments, which were made more than 20 years ago, branding their release a “blatant mudslinging campaign”.
She said: “Recently an article I wrote while a college student at Marquette 24 years ago has surfaced on left leaning blogs and now the mainstream press.
“I was writing as a very young student, upset about the outcome of that presidential election and I am frankly embarrassed at the content and tone of what I wrote those many years ago.
“To those offended by comments I made as a young college student, I apologize, and assure you that those comments are not reflective of my worldview.
“These comments have nothing to do with who I am as a person or a jurist, and they have nothing to do with the issues facing the voters of this state. ”
She added: “This is a blatant mudslinging campaign to distract the people from the issues at hand. This election is about diametrically opposed judicial philosophies.
“I have run a positive campaign focused on the rule of law and strict adherence to the U.S. and Wisconsin Constitutions.
“I am proud of the twenty plus years of experience I bring to this race, including my time as a Judge on the Milwaukee children’s court, the appellate court, and Supreme Court.
“I will work for the people of this state to ensure that justice is served and upheld on the state’s highest court.”
Governor Walker has insisted the comments are “irrelevant” because Bradley no longer holds those views.
