MY WORK AS A JUDGE

My career has been devoted to equal justice, improving our courts, and working as part of the criminal justice system to protect children and families, and strengthen communities. Every day in the courtroom, the values I was raised with – hard work, fairness, respect for others – guide me.

I grew up in Southeastern Wisconsin. My parents were both lifelong public servants. My dad, who served in the United States Navy in the early 1960s, worked as a school psychologist for the State of Wisconsin working with a variety of vulnerable populations including individuals with developmental disabilities and those with persistent mental illness. My mom worked first as a CNA and then after returning to school with four children at home, as a nurse at Southern Wisconsin Center in Union Grove.

I attended public schools. After college, I worked at a residential school for children with Autism. Then, I became a Mental Health Outreach Worker providing case management for individuals experiencing persistent mental illness.

I loved that work. I left it to pursue a lifelong dream to complete what I knew would be my greatest public service challenge, the Peace Corps. I spent two years in rural Senegal teaching health education, living in a mud structure with no running water and no electricity. I learned to speak Pulaar, the local language, and taught about nutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria, maternal/child health, and first aid. 

The village members very much wanted to bring running water to the village. As we advocated for those needs, it became clear that this was not a health problem, but rather a legal problem. This experience during the Peace Corps led me to decide that the law was one of the best ways to make the world a better place. I decided to go to law school.

By the light of a flashlight, I studied for the Law School Admission Test in my mud home and was elated when I  learned that I had been accepted to the University of Wisconsin Law School.

During law school, I participated in a number of activities and also found time to volunteer with children at local social service agencies, including the YWCA and the Canopy Center. I worked with incarcerated individuals and victims of crime at the Remington Center Restorative Justice/Family Law Clinic. In my final year, I worked as a prosecutorial intern at the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office where I tried my first jury trial. I was honored to work as a judicial intern for the late Justice David Prosser at the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

After law school, I joined a law firm in Monroe, Kittelsen, Barry, Wellington, and Thompson (now the Kittelsen law firm) in general practice. In August 2011, I became an Assistant State Public Defender, representing clients, who would otherwise not have been able to afford a lawyer. I was in the courtroom everyday, handling thousands of cases including misdemeanors, felonies, juvenile delinquencies, contempt cases, child welfare cases, mental health commitments, protective placements and termination of parental rights cases. As a public defender, I learned to balance a high volume caseload with a wide variety of case types in multiple counties.

I left the Public Defenders Office after a decade of service to join Russell Law Offices as a Senior Associate and then Partner, representing clients in criminal and civil cases in courthouses in Green, Lafayette, Rock, Iowa, and Grant counties.

When Judge Thomas Vale announced his retirement from the Circuit Court, I was appointed by the Governor to the Green County Circuit Court, Branch 2. It is an honor to serve all the people of Green County as a judge. I am running for election to continue that service.

My husband, Ruedi Bucher, and I live in Monroe with our two boys, Quinn and Xavier. Ruedi is a cheesemaker from the Lucerne region of Switzerland. We enjoy the Swiss traditions that are alive and well in Green County and travel to Switzerland often to see Ruedi’s parents. We also frequently entertain visitors from Switzerland who are always impressed by the many Swiss traditions such as the Volksfest, Harvest Fest, the New Glarus Männerchor, the Monroe Swiss Singers, and of course, the alphorns.