ICYMI: Justice Bradley Has Taken $52k In Judicial Junkets To Resorts In Hawaii, Alaska And Florida
MADISON, Wis. — Today, a new report revealed that Justice Rebecca Bradley took over $50k from conservative groups to vacation across the country. Justice Bradley, has traveled to places such as Hawaii and Alaska on the dime of right-wing groups and legal centers.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bice: Justice Bradley has taken $52K in judicial junkets to resorts in Hawaii, Alaska and Florida
By: Daniel Bice | 8/18/25
Key points below:
- If state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley decides not to run for reelection next year — right now it sounds like it’s still undecided — here’s one thing she’s likely to miss: All the free judicial junkets she’s taken over the past decade.
- Since being appointed to the court by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, Bradley has reported that several conservative groups or legal centers have picked up nearly $52,000 in lodging, meals, airfare and other expenses so she could attend 20 out-of-state conferences and seminars since 2015.
- No other sitting justice reported receiving even a third of Bradley’s travel expenses covered by outside groups.
- In 2023 alone, Bradley’s excursions took her to conferences at The Royal Hawaiian resort in Honolulu, the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, and the Henderson Beach Resort in Destin, Florida. A Virginia-based legal center footed the $12,000 cost for Bradley to attend those three events.
- Bradley, an outspoken conservative, has also had her expenses covered to go to seminars in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Park City, Utah; and Laguna Beach, California, records show.Who knew a seat on the Supreme Court included all-expenses-paid travel as a perk?
- Bradley hasn’t said if she will run again
- Bradley is up for a new 10-year term on the court next year. She has not yet announced whether she will run again.
- Earlier this year, Bradley told WisPolitics.com that she planned to run again to “ensure that there is a voice for the constitution and for the rule of law to preserve that in the state of Wisconsin.” But she raised no money in the first half of the year…
- Liberal candidates have won four of the last five Supreme Court elections, each by double digits, and now control of [the] seven-member court. Even if Bradley were to win re-election, liberals would still be in the majority.
- On her annual financial disclosure forms, Bradley has reported that outside groups have covered conference and event expenses totaling $51,827 in her decade on the high court, giving her an average of nearly $5,200 in free travel annually. She has also received one $1,500 honorarium to speak at a seminar, according to her statements.
- Next highest on the judicial junket list is conservative Brian Hagedorn, who has accepted $14,133 in conference and event expenses since he joined the court in 2018. That works out to an average of $2,019 a year.
- At the other end of the list is liberal Justice Jill Karofsky, who has reported no event expenses picked up by outside groups since she was elected to the Supreme Court in 2020.
- Many of the seminars were held at posh resorts
- Bradley’s team emphasized several points about the conferences and events that she has attended at others’ expense.
- First, she has been a speaker at some of these seminars.
- For instance, in 2023, she was paid $1,500 to give a talk at a meeting of the American Juris Link, and the group covered $650 of her expenses to attend. The group, also known as the Litigators for Liberty Network, is a conservative legal center created in 2019.
- She was also an unpaid speaker at a 2023 conference sponsored by the Federalist Society, the nation’s most influential conservative legal organization. She reported that the group covered $4,989 in expenses for her to attend.
- Many of the conferences she attended were located at posh resorts.
- On Jan. 21-27, 2023, Bradley went to the “Inaugural Justices Scalia & Ginsburg Colloquium for State Supreme Court Justices” at The Royal Hawaiian, a Honolulu beachfront resort built in 1927 that features “the most coveted spot on Waikiki Beach.” The event was put together by the George Mason Law and Economics Center
- Later in 2023, Bradley attended two more conferences sponsored by the George Mason Law and Economics Center, one at the Henderson Beach Resort on Florida’s Emerald Coast on March 3-10, 2023 and the other at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, on June 11-17, 2023.
- In all, the George Mason Law and Economics Center picked up $12,099 in expenses for Bradley to make it to the three conferences in 2023.
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