Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990 TAG: 9003300197
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MADISON, WIS. LENGTH: Medium
Being deaf hasn't hindered his performance in court, nor has it dimmed his aspirations. In Tuesday's non-partisan election, Brown will challenge Justice Donald Steinmetz for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The candidate's deafness hasn't been an issue in an unusually hotly contested campaign that includes sparring over abortion, court workloads and campaign funding.
In Wisconsin, the seven Supreme Court justices are chosen in statewide elections for 10-year terms. Incumbents seldom are challenged.
Brown, a district judge since 1978, lost his hearing to a brain tumor in 1983.
While he relies on the video monitor during campaign debates and court sessions, he also reads lips and can now detect sounds with a device implanted in December in his inner ear.
"My brain is still trying to figure out certain sounds," he said.
Steinmetz, 65, was elected to the bench in Milwaukee in 1966 and joined the high court in 1980.
Brown has accused Steinmetz of backing out of a televised debate because he didn't want to discuss abortion, the environment, and the Supreme Court workload.
Steinmetz said the judicial code of ethics prevents him from stating his personal position on issues, but he's been endorsed by the political action committee of Wisconsin Right to Life.
Brown has said he personally favors abortion rights, and he's been endorsed by the abortion-rights group Voters for Choice in Wisconsin. But he, too, cautioned that "legally, I have no position. I'm bound by the law of the state of Wisconsin and the Constitution."
Brown has rankled Steinmetz as well as Chief Justice Nathan S. Heffernan with a campaign claim that Supreme Court productivity has declined and justices spend too much time bickering.
Steinmetz disputes the claim and alleges that Brown's candidacy is "bankrolled" by special-interest groups, particularly unions and trial lawyers.
Brown denies he is tied to special interests and has called on Steinmetz to cancel a television commercial that quotes reports saying Brown was offered $250,000 by lawyers to challenge Steinmetz.
by CNB