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Jill Karofsky: “We are responsible for running an entire branch of…”

Featuring: Jill Karofsky, Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court

Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky

Published March 5, 2026 | Video Starts at 14:12

I think what a lot of people don't realize about the Wisconsin Supreme Court is something I mentioned a little while ago. We are responsible for running an entire branch of government. So there are municipal court judges in this state and circuit court judges in this state, court of appeals judges in this state and seven justices. (14:12–14:18)

CLAIM

Asserts that the Wisconsin Supreme Court oversees an entire branch of government.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Jill Karofsky

“I would have 1700 pending cases at any one time.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 10:01-10:06
“In Milwaukee, they usually have 182 voting sites. On April 7th of 2020, they had five.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 12:30-12:39
“In 2015 when Governor Walker signed into law a bill that said that in Wisconsin, you can have unlimited contributions to the political…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 18:24-18:36
“Right now we have four officers in the state who are dedicated to provide security for the entire Wisconsin judiciary.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 20:40-20:48
“Right now, at the state of Wisconsin on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, we have the highest percentage of female justices of any state supreme…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 33:07-33:19
“My mom was mayor of Middleton. She was one of the first female mayors in the state of Wisconsin.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 01:28-01:34
“I was the last person admitted to my law school class in 1989.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 03:34-03:40
“I was a prosecutor in the Dane County DA's office. I really specialized in cases where women and children were crime victims.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 04:38-04:46
“I was the head of the domestic violence unit at one time in the office.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 05:01-05:05
“At one time in the office, I had more child abuse and child sexual assault cases than anyone in the office.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 05:03-05:10
“I went to a place called the National Conference of Bar Examiners.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 05:44-05:49
“In 2010, there was a posting at the Wisconsin Department of Justice. There was a brand new position funded with VAWA dollars, Violence…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 07:18-07:29
“The position was a Violence Against Women resource prosecutor.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 07:28-07:34
“The idea was you would put an experienced prosecutor in Madison, and that prosecutor would help prosecutors throughout the entire state…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 07:33-07:48
“J.B. van Hollen was the attorney general.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 07:56-08:00
“He promoted me to be the head of the Office of Crime Victim Services.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 08:25-08:29
“The Office of Crime Victim Services is one of the five offices in the Department of Justice.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 08:28-08:36
“In 2017, I ran for a circuit court judge in Dane County.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 09:10-09:15
“I won in April of 2017.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 09:45-09:48
“In Dane county, you're either in a criminal rotation, the civil rotation, or the juvenile rotation. I was in the criminal rotation.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 09:54-10:01
“In the spring of 2019, I decided to run for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 11:41-11:47
“My election was the 2020 Covid election. It was on April 7th of 2020.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 12:12-12:19
“The Wisconsin Supreme Court, the day before, had the opportunity to move the election, to do what the governor had asked and move the…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 12:56-13:06
“I was elected Chief Justice. My. I began on July 1st of 2025.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 13:41-13:48
“In 2015, there was a constitutional amendment that was passed that said the members of the Supreme Court get to choose their Chief Justice.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 13:54-14:03
“We oversee the Board of Bar Examiners.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 14:44-14:48
“We oversee the Office of Lawyer Regulation, which regulates lawyers.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 14:47-14:52
“If a judge gets in trouble, we get the complaint from the judicial Commission.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 14:51-14:57
“We are in charge of the state law libraries.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 15:02-15:05
“The Citizens United decision gave corporations, gave outside groups undue influence in our elections.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 18:12-18:22
“Political violence in the United States is going the wrong direction. It is on the rise.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 19:22-19:31
“It is completely unacceptable for the President of the United States to be publicly attacking judges and justices for doing their jobs.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 21:08-21:22
“Political violence is on the rise.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 22:28-22:30
“We are more polarized than we have been certainly in my lifetime.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 22:30-22:36
“The judiciary is the bulwark protecting our democracy in this country.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 23:28-23:34
“If you look at the numbers in the last two years in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, we are far more likely to end up in a decision that is 7-0…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 25:00-25:14
“In Wisconsin, each individual judge or justice gets to decide whether or not they have a conflict or they appear to have a conflict.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 27:08-27:17
“In 2010, the Wisconsin Supreme Court was presented with a rule...that a judge or justice shall not be required to recuse solely because of…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 28:10-28:42
“In 2017, a group of retired judges came before the Supreme Court...the court did not even allow that proposal to have a hearing.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 28:45-29:13
“We are going to have a rule hearing, but by the end of the term, by the spring.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 29:27-29:32
“We do have a shortage of qualified interpreters.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 30:35-30:38
“The Director of State Courts, Judge Audrey Skorowski has put together a group...to figure out how we can tackle this problem [of interpreter…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 30:45-30:54
“We really need more attorneys in the rural areas of our state.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 31:21-31:26
“One of the things that was on the list of ideas would make it easier to transfer bar exam scores from out of state to Wisconsin.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 32:10-32:17
“We became a state in 1848. Our constitution was ratified in 1848.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 35:58-36:03
“We do not have a new constitution in this state.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 36:02-36:05
“We have had many, many amendments, but we still rely on many of the foundations from territorial Wisconsin.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 36:04-36:13
“Judges and justices in Wisconsin will be elected by the people.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 37:10-37:16
“We have a really, really sophisticated electorate in Wisconsin.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 38:32-38:37
“The Supreme Court has taken the court to a community.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 39:28-39:34
“Last fall, we took the court to the community of Richland Center, and we held two oral arguments there.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 39:34-39:41
“Mine was the COVID election.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 44:00-44:02
“Only two times in my lifetime had an incumbent justice been defeated.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 44:26-44:31
“The Wisconsin electorate is sophisticated and they ask tough questions.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 48:21-48:26
“What a judge and justice cannot do is say, if you ask me a question about issue X, I can't tell you how I will rule on that case, should…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 48:27-48:44
“I have made sure that on the Supreme Court, there is an entity called Wisconsin Eye that has been up at the state capitol providing live…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 50:42-50:52
“We hired an outside organization to come in and make sure that our oral arguments and our hearings continue to be live streamed and continue…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 51:00-51:11
“There are judges and justices in this state and in this country who have had to access a level of courage that judges and justices in this…”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 52:42-52:54
“There's nothing more important to our democracy than having free and fair elections.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 54:40-54:45
“Our petitions for review, the requests that we get, have been down the past couple of years.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 56:15-56:21
“We've tried as a court this term to give the litigants two to three minutes on the front end to lay out what you're gonna say.”
Get To Know: Chief Justice Jill Karofsky | Uploaded March 5, 2026 | 58:03-58:10