David Prosser, Jr.

David Prosser, Jr.
Prosser in March 2011
Associate Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
In office September 10, 1998 – July 31, 2016
Appointed by	Tommy Thompson
Preceded by	Janine Geske
Succeeded by	Daniel Kelly
Commissioner Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission
In office 1996–1998
Appointed by	Tommy Thompson
Preceded by	Joe Mettner
Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Walter Kunicki
Succeeded by	Ben Brancel
Wisconsin State Assembly Minority Leader
In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1995
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly Districts 57, 79 and 42
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Tobias A. Roth
Succeeded by	Steve Wieckert
Constituency	Appleton area
Personal details
Born	(1942-12-24) December 24, 1942 (age 74) Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Single
Alma mater	DePauw University, (B.A.) (1965) University of Wisconsin Law School, (J.D.) (1968)
Profession	Legislator, Supreme court justice

David T. Prosser Jr. (born December 24, 1942) is an American jurist and Wisconsin politician who served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1998 to 2016. A former Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, Prosser was appointed to the court by Governor Tommy Thompson in 1998, and was elected to his first 10-year term without opposition in 2001. He ran for reelection in April 2011 against little-known Wisconsin assistant attorney general, Joanne Kloppenburg. The race received national attention and was viewed as a referendum on efforts by Republican Governor Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature to curb the union rights of public workers in Wisconsin. The April 5, 2011 election was too close to call until two days later when the Waukesha County Clerk announced she had erroneously omitted more than 14,000 votes from her earlier tally. The additional votes gave Prosser a lead of over 7,000 which was sustained by a later recount.

Prosser received media attention in 2010 following verbal altercations with the chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and also in June 2011 when allegations were made of a physical altercation between Prosser and a fellow associate justice that occurred in connection with the union-curbing bill. A special prosecutor investigated but declined to press criminal charges. An ethics action against Prosser was recommended by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, however, after three other justices recused themselves from the matter, no further action was taken.

Following his graduation from University of Wisconsin Law School, Prosser worked in Washington as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and as an aide to U. S. Representative Harold Vernon Froehlich. Returning to Wisconsin, he began a private practice, worked as a district attorney for two years, then served 18 years as a Republican party legislator in the Wisconsin State Assembly. He was the state house minority leader for six of those years and assembly speaker for two years. After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. House in 1996, Prosser was appointed by Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson to a vacant seat on the state tax appeals board, then in 1998 to a vacant seat on Wisconsin Supreme Court.