Waukesha Times

Just days after announcing her run for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow made a point of being on hand for the Waukesha Christmas Parade that largely put her on the map.

"What a phenomenal Christmas Parade in my hometown of Waukesha,” Dorow tweeted Dec. 6. “I attended with my husband Brian and my daughter Kiki and some of our friends."

After rising to prominence largely based on her handling of the case against Waukesha Christmas Parade 2021 attacker Darrell Brooks, Dorow is seeking to replace retiring Justice Pat Roggensack, telling WISN News, "We must replace Justice Roggensack with a judicial conservative who will fairly and faithfully apply the law as written to the facts of the cases that go for the court."

While insisting that her candidacy has little to do with seeking to capitalize on the exposure she got from the Waukesha Parade attack trial, Dorow nonetheless has come under heavy criticism, with fellow conservative Supreme Court candidate Dan Kelly telling Channel 3000, “I’m struggling to think of any other reason that she would believe she would be a qualified candidate for the Supreme Court.”

Ultimately, Dorow sentenced Brooks to life in prison for driving an SUV through Waukesha's Christmas parade last year, earning her lasting praise from some because of her handling of the case. Still, Kelly argues that she lacks a “track record of a scholastic and serious approach to the law."

Similar complaints have also emerged from the other side, with state Democratic Party executive director Devin Remiker telling Kenosha News he feels Dorow is trying to "capitalize on a tragedy. We hope that throughout the campaign, she refrains from commenting any further about the Brooks trial, so she does not put the outcome in jeopardy."

Throughout her career, controversy has often followed Dorow, with a recent The Sconi report highlighting how she once secured a plea deal for a man who molested two children in his family for more than ten years. She later pointed to the deal as "a fabulous offer" because it kept the man out of prison and free of felony convictions. More recently, she stayed the prison sentence of a life coach who had asked one of his clients to undress and touch herself in front of him.

Back in 2019, Wisconsin Circuit Court documents show Dorow also moved to stay the prison sentence of Lee Holtgrieve, opting instead for probation. The 49-year-old Holtgrieve faced 15 years in prison on charges of publicly committing an indecent act of sexual gratification and intentionally causing a child between the ages of 13 and 18 to see sexually explicit actions for the purpose of sexually gratifying the perpetrator, after repeatedly masturbating in front of teenage Culver's employees in the parking lot.

According to WISN News, Holtgrieve admitted to police that he did masturbate in his car, "but thought the workers at Culver's were all over the age of 16."

The state's Supreme Court primary will be held on Feb. 21, with the general election taking place roughly six weeks later on April 4. In addition to Kelly, PBS Wisconsin reports circuit court judges Everett Mitchell of Dane County and Janet Protasiewicz of Milwaukee County are also vying for the open seat.