Joan F. Kessler

Joan F. Kessler (born 1944) is an American jurist and a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, serving since 2004. Kessler previously served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1978 to 1981.

A native of Louisiana, Kessler graduated from the University of Kansas in 1966 and from Marquette University Law School in 1968. She worked as a law clerk for United States District Judge John W. Reynolds, Jr. in Milwaukee from 1968-69 before entering private practice. Kessler was a supporter of Jimmy Carter's candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976; in 1978, Carter appointed her as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

As United States Attorney, Kessler received praise for her performance in court and her open-door policy toward criminal defense attorneys, but clashed with Milwaukee City Attorney James Brennan over her investigation into the Milwaukee Police Department's hiring and promotion practices. She resigned in March 1981, following Carter's 1980 defeat to Ronald Reagan, and entered private practice with the Milwaukee firm Foley and Lardner. Kessler specialized as a divorce attorney at Foley and Lardner and was eventually selected as a partner in the firm.

In 2004, Kessler challenged incumbent Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Charles B. Schudson for his seat on the court's Milwaukee-based District I. The campaign was hotly contested; Kessler's campaign alleged that Schudson had committed several violations of judicial ethics, charges he vehemently denied; Schudson later levied ethics allegations against Kessler. Kessler unseated Schudson in the April general election, but was not cleared of ethical wrongdoing until 2010.

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