Judicial Career

On December 19, 2020, Shirley Abrahamson died of cancer at age 87 in Berkeley, California.

During her 43 years on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Abrahamson participated in over 3,500 cases. She authored 535 majority opinions, 493 dissenting opinions, and 326 concurring opinions.

Abrahamson loved the theater. In celebration of Wisconsin’s sesquicentennial, she commissioned a play called “Rope of Sand” by Madison playwright Marc Kornblatt. It tells the story of Ableman v. Booth, Wisconsin’s famous fugitive slave case from 1854.

Abrahamson spearheaded a program called Court with Class. Students and teachers are invited to attend an oral argument at the state capitol. Afterwards, they meet with a justice to learn how the Wisconsin Supreme Court decides cases. Here, students meet with Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.

Abrahamson loved to travel and frequently spent her summer vacation teaching about judicial independence and courtroom procedure or meeting with judges and lawyers in countries such as China, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Egypt, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Russia.

In 2013 Abrahamson became the longest serving justice in the history of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She broke Justice Orsamus Cole’s record of 36 years and 7 months. When she retired in 2019 she set a new record—43 years.

During her judicial career, Abrahamson administered the oath of office to hundreds of judges and other elected officials. In this picture, she is administering the oath of office to Peg Lautenschlager, Wisconsin’s first woman attorney general.

Abrahamson was opposed in four straight elections and won each election by least 55% percent of the vote.

In 2006 Abrahamson celebrated her 50th year as a lawyer, her 30th year as a justice, and her 10th year as chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Abrahamson was known for working more hours than anyone else in the state capitol. After visiting with a school group, one student asked her: “How much sleep do you get each day?”