{{Short description|American judge (born 1939)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Lynn Adelman | image = Lynn_Adelman.jpg | office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin | term_start = December 23, 1997 | term_end = | appointer = Bill Clinton | predecessor = Thomas John Curran | successor = | state_senate1 = Wisconsin | district1 = 28th | term_start1 = January 3, 1977 | term_end1 = December 23, 1997 | predecessor1 = James Devitt | successor1 = Mary Lazich | party = Democratic | birth_name = Lynn Steven Adelman | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1939|10|01}} | birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = {{marriage|Elizabeth L. "Betty" Halmbacher|1976}} | education = Princeton University (BA)<br>Columbia University (LLB) }}
'''Lynn Steven Adelman'''<ref>{{cite book|title=The Nassau Herald|year=1961|page=2|publisher=Princeton University}}</ref> (born October 1, 1939) is an American lawyer and former politician. He has served as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin since December 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wied.uscourts.gov/judges/lynn-adelman|title=Lynn Adelman | Eastern District of Wisconsin | United States District Court|website=Wied.uscourts.gov|access-date=November 24, 2019}}</ref> Prior to becoming a federal judge, he served 20 years as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing southwest Milwaukee County and neighboring municipalities from 1977 to 1997. He also ran three times for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, 1982, and 1984.
==Early life and education== Adelman was born in Milwaukee. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University in 1961 and a Bachelor of Laws from Columbia Law School in 1965.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>
== Career == Adelman was a research assistant at Columbia from 1965 to 1966. He was a trial attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Wisconsin from 1967 to 1968, and then entered private practice in Milwaukee in 1968.<ref name="fjc.gov">{{FJC Bio|nid=1390426|inline=yes}}</ref> In 1993, Adelman represented Todd Mitchell, a black man convicted of a racially motivated attack against a 14-year old white boy, in ''Wisconsin v. Mitchell'', a landmark first amendment case.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?39931-1/supreme-court-hate-crimes-case|title=Supreme Court Hate Crimes Case | C-SPAN.org|website=www.c-span.org}}</ref><ref>{{ussc|name=Wisconsin v. Mitchell|volume=508|page=476|pin=479|year=1993}}</ref>
===Political career=== thumb|right|Wisconsin's 9th congressional district 1972–1981. Adelman made his first bid for elected office in 1974, running for U.S. House of Representatives and seeking to oust ten-term Republican incumbent Glenn Robert Davis from Wisconsin's 9th congressional district. Davis, who was a close ally of then-president Richard Nixon, was politically wounded by the Watergate scandal and Nixon's other recent controversies. Adelman focused much of his campaign on issues of executive overreach and the need for Congress to re-assert its authority.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/ozaukee-county-news-graphic-adelman/172430541/ |title= Adelman speaks to county Democrats |newspaper= Ozaukee County News Graphic |date= June 20, 1973 |page= 52 |accessdate= May 15, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> Davis, however, was defeated in the Republican primary by moderate Republican Bob Kasten. The general election was one of the most hotly-contested in the state, with both campaigns breaching campaign finance limits that had existed at that time—Adelman spent about $104,000 and Kasten spent about $89,000 (adjusted for inflation, $677,000 and $579,000, respectively).<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/west-bend-news-kasten-adelman/172435274/ |title= Adelman, Kasten both boiled over |newspaper= West Bend News |first= Marc |last= Eisen |accessdate= May 15, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> Kasten defeated Adelman with 52% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/west-bend-news-kasten-adelman/172431514/ |title= Some ousters altered local politics |newspaper= West Bend News |date= March 3, 1975 |page= 25 |accessdate= May 15, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref>
In the aftermath of the election, Adelman was critical of some of Kasten's early votes in Congress and seemed intent on a rematch in 1976.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/west-bend-news-kasten-adelman/172434549/ |title= Adelman raps Kasten oil vote |newspaper= West Bend News |date= March 6, 1975 |page= 2 |accessdate= May 15, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> Rather than running again for Congress in 1976, Adelman moved south from Shorewood, Wisconsin—in northern Milwaukee County—to New Berlin, Wisconsin—in southeast Waukesha County. The move immediately sparked speculation that Adelman would instead run for Wisconsin Senate against Republican incumbent James Devitt in the 28th Senate district.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/waukesha-daily-freeman-adelman/172454042/ |title= Adelman to Face Devitt? |newspaper= Waukesha Daily Freeman |date= July 18, 1975 |page= 3 |accessdate= May 15, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> Shortly after Adelman's move, newspapers broke the story that Devitt was the subject of a John Doe investigation relating to campaign finance violations during his run for governor in 1974.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-capital-times-devitt/172473637/ |title= John Doe Investigation of Devitt Gifts Sought |newspaper= The Capital Times |date= March 25, 1976 |page= 1 |accessdate= May 15, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> Adelman officially announced his candidacy in June 1976.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-waukesha-county-freeman-adelman/172473133/ |title= It's Official: Adelman to Challenge Devitt |newspaper= Waukesha Freeman |date= June 8, 1976 |page= 3 |accessdate= May 15, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> Devitt was indicted a month later.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-waukesha-county-freeman-devitt-charg/172473714/ |title= Devitt is Indicted on 2 Charges |newspaper= Waukesha Freeman |date= July 23, 1976 |page= 1 |accessdate= May 15, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> Despite the indictment, Devitt won renomination against two Republican challengers. Adelman won the general election in a landslide, receiving nearly two thirds of the vote.<ref name="1977elex"/>
thumb|right|Wisconsin's 4th congressional district 1982–1991. While serving his second term in the state Senate, Adelman made two more runs for U.S. House of Representatives—the 1980s redistricting had shifted Adelman from the 9th congressional district to the 4th district. In the first election under those new maps, Adelman launched a primary challenge against 17-term incumbent congressman Clement Zablocki. Zablocki had not had a competitive primary or general election since winning the office in 1948.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/wisconsin-state-journal-adelman-zablocki/172474875/ |title= Adelman v. Zablocki |newspaper= Wisconsin State Journal |date= May 26, 1982 |page= 6 |accessdate= May 16, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> In the campaign, Adelman sought to tie Zablocki to the economic policies of the Reagan administration in the midst of the early 1980s recession. Zablocki was sometimes seen as too conservative for his safely Democratic district, but he fended off the criticisms and distanced himself from Reagan, winning the primary with 60% of the vote.<ref name="1983elex"/><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-waukesha-county-freeman-adelman-zabl/172475586/ |title= Candidates spar on economy |newspaper= Waukesha Freeman |date= July 9, 1982 |first= Steven |last= Walters |page= 1 |accessdate= May 16, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref>
Zablocki died just a year later and Adelman made another run in the special election to succeed him in the spring of 1984. He lost the primary to state senator Jerry Kleczka—another popular Polish Catholic from Milwaukee's south side.<ref name="bb1985"/>
Adelman went on to win re-election four more times in the 28th Senate district. Through much of his tenure in the Senate, he served on the committee overseeing the judiciary, and was chairman in the years when Democrats held the majority.<ref name="wihist">{{cite web|url= https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS4713 |title= Adelman, Lynn S. 1939 |website= Wisconsin Historical Society |date= 4 April 2016 |accessdate= May 16, 2025 }}</ref>
=== Federal judicial service === [[File:Doors Open Milwaukee 2023 37 (Federal Building--courtroom of Hon. Lynn Adelman).jpg|thumb|Courtroom of Hon. Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee's Federal Building]] In 1997, Adelman chose to apply for appointment as U.S. district judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin to fill the vacancy created when district judge Thomas John Curran took senior status at the beginning of that year. He was one of nineteen applicants, which included nine other state judges, two U.S. magistrate judges, and prominent state attorneys, including Maxine Aldridge White, Joan F. Kessler, and the then-chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Mark Sostarich.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/wisconsin-state-journal-adelman-judge/172476060/ |title= 19 apply for federal judgeship |newspaper= Wisconsin State Journal |date= January 19, 1997 |page= 24 |accessdate= May 16, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref> Adelman's application rose above the others as state Republicans embraced his candidacy and Republican then-governor Tommy Thompson wrote a glowing recommendation, describing Adelman as "thoughtful, fair, and open-minded." Newspapers at the time speculated that Republican praise for Adelman was at least partly motivated by their desire to flip his seat in a special election and thereby regain the majority in the state Senate.<ref name="dugan"/>
Adelman was nominated to the seat by President Clinton on September 8, 1997. He received a hearing by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on October 29, 1997. He was confirmed by the full United States Senate by voice vote on November 13, 1997,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.congress.gov/nomination/105th-congress/609 |title= PN609 - Nomination of Lynn S. Adelman for The Judiciary, 105th Congress (1997–1998) |website= Congress.gov |year= 1997 |accessdate= May 16, 2025 }}</ref> and received his commission on December 23, 1997.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>
===Notable cases===
====''Frank, et al vs Walker''====
The Wisconsin Voter ID law was a law passed by then Wisconsin governor Scott Walker in 2011.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Lynn_Adelman|title=Lynn Adelman|website=Ballotpedia|access-date=November 24, 2019}}</ref> This law made voters of Wisconsin show a state-issued photo ID at the polls before they could vote.<ref name=":0"/> The reasoning behind this law was that Scott Walker wanted to stop the voter fraud that was allegedly happening within the state of Wisconsin.<ref name=":0"/> Adelman ruled, on April 29, 2014, that this law violated the fourteenth amendment and thus the law was unconstitutional.<ref name=":0"/> Adelman made this ruling because in the trial he saw no evidence of voter fraud and concluded that the law was unfair to minority voters because "Blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to lack an ID".<ref name=":0"/>
Adelman was overturned on appeal with the Appeals Court offering a particularly stunning rebuke: <blockquote>“the district judge found as a fact that the majority of the Supreme Court was wrong about benefits such as better record keeping and promoting public confidence. Maybe that testimony will eventually persuade the Justices themselves, but in our hierarchical judicial system a district court cannot declare a statute unconstitutional just because he thinks (with or without the support of a political scientist) that the dissent was right and the majority wrong.” [Frank v. Walker, 768 F.3d 744, 750 (7th Cir. 2014)] The Panel continued: “The district judge heard from one political scientist, whose view may or may not be representative of the profession's. After a majority of the Supreme Court has concluded that photo ID requirements promote confidence, a single district judge cannot say as a “fact” that they do not, even if 20 political scientists disagree with the Supreme Court.” [ Frank v. Walker, 768 F.3d 744, 750 (7th Cir. 2014)]<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Frank v. Walker |vol=768 |reporter=F.3d |opinion=744 |pinpoint=750 |court=7th Cir. |date=2014 |url=https://casetext.com/case/frank-v-walker-27/case-details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018085516/https://casetext.com/case/frank-v-walker-27/case-details |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 18, 2021 }}</ref></blockquote>
====''Johnny Kimble vs Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development, et al.''====
In this case Johnny Kimble sued former Equal Rights Division Secretary Sheehan Donoghue for not giving him a pay raise based on his race and gender.<ref name=":0"/> The Equal Rights Division job is to investigate discrimination claims and to judge whether the claim of discrimination is true.<ref name=":0"/> Johnny Kimble is an ex employee of the Equal Rights Division and ran the office in Milwaukee.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=http://archive.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/87074052.html|title=State equal-rights officials suffered discrimination, court rules|author=Vielmetti, Bruce|date=March 8, 2010|work=Journal Sentinel|access-date=November 24, 2019}}</ref> Sheehan Donoghue was appointed to this position in 1991 by then governor of Wisconsin Tommy Thompson.<ref name=":0"/> Adelman's ruling on this case was that Johnny Kimble was denied pay raises because of his race and that the Department of Workforce Development was to pay Johnny Kimble what he lost.<ref name=":0"/> This ruling was made on February 25, 2010.<ref name=":0"/> Adelman said that Sheehan Donoghue made statements that contradicted to what she said and what other witnesses said, she also got defensive and evasive during the questioning, and the evidence on the case did not support her claims.<ref name=":2"/> The evidence they found was when the Milwaukee office did well she credited the office, not Johnny, but when the Madison office did well she credited the section chief, who was white.<ref name=":1"/> Also, whenever Johnny said they need technical support she ignored him, but when it was a white employee, she promised help.<ref name=":1"/>
====''St. Augustine School v. Evers''====
In June 2017, Adelman found that Tony Evers, then Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin, did not violate the Constitution's Free Exercise Clause nor its Establishment Clause when he denied bussing to an independent Catholic school because there was a nearby archdiocesan school.<ref>{{Bluebook journal|last=|first=|title=Recent Case: Seventh Circuit Holds Denial of Busing to Catholic School Under Wisconsin Statute Does Not Violate Free Exercise or Establishment Clauses|volume=132|journal=Harv. L. Rev.|page=2344|url=http://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2344-2351_Online.pdf|year=2019}}</ref> In his opinion, Adelman referenced Wikipedia articles on Traditionalist Catholic and Montessori education.<ref>{{cite court|litigants=St. Augustine School v. Evers|vol=276|reporter=F. Supp. 3d|opinion=890|court=E.D. Wis.|year=2017|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14895342753351508405}}</ref> His judgment was affirmed by a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in October 2018.<ref>{{cite court|litigants=St. Augustine School v. Evers|vol=906 |reporter=F.3d|opinion=591|court=7th Cir.|year=2018|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8116620098576159983}}</ref>
====''United States vs. Sujata Sachdeva''====
In this trial, Koss Corporation's Chief Financial Advisor Sujata Sachdeva was charged with embezzling $34 million from the company.<ref name=":0"/> The other person involved in the embezzlement was Julie Mulvaney who was a senior accountant at Koss Corporation.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2010/lr21640.htm|title=Sujata Sachdeva and Julie Mulvaney|website=www.sec.gov|access-date=November 24, 2019}}</ref> The Koss Corporation is a manufacturer of headphones.<ref name=":0"/> Sachdeva used almost all of the $34 million she embezzled, from the Koss Corporation, to go on a wild shopping spree.<ref name=":0"/> The shopping spree consisted of shopping at designer, jewelry, department stores, and other high-end retailers.<ref name=":2"/> Sachdeva, along with Mulvaney, tried to cover up the embezzlement by creating false accounting records. Mulvaney created falsified journal records to cover Sachdeva's spending spree.<ref name=":2"/> Sachdeva's attorney's argued that Sachdeva was mentally ill with alcoholism, diagnosed bipolar disorder, and a shopping addiction, when she went on the shopping spree.<ref name=":0"/> The sentence the federal prosecutor wanted was 15–20 years in prison, and the lawyers for Sachdeva wanted the sentenced reduce to 6–7 years in prison, because of her mental condition.<ref name=":0"/> Adelman sentenced Sachdeva to 11 years in federal prison on November 17, 2010.<ref name=":0"/> Adelman gave some leniency to Sachdeva because of her cooperation with the FBI.<ref name=":0"/>
====''United States vs. William White''====
William White, a Neo-Nazi who ran the Virginia-based American Nationalist Socialist Workers Party,<ref name=":0" /> posted the address, name, and telephone numbers of a juror in Chicago who convicted a white supremacist to his website.<ref name=":1" /> The prosecutors claimed that White did this in hopes that the juror would be harmed for the conviction of the white supremacist.<ref name=":0"/> Adelman at first dismissed the indictment of White, because he did not threaten or actually caused harm to the man and he obtained the information legally, and that what White did was covered over the First Amendment.<ref name=":0"/> This judgement by Adelman was overturned and White went on to trial and was convicted by a jury in Chicago.<ref name=":0"/> After this sentencing Adelman reversed it for the same reasons he dismissed the case in the first place. Then on February 20, 2013, Adelman did sentence White to three and half years in prison for soliciting violence to a juror.<ref name=":0"/> When this sentencing happened, White was already in jail for other threats and intimidation practices.<ref name=":0"/>
====''United States vs. Hannah Dugan''==== In April 2025, federal agents arrested Wisconsin circuit court judge Hannah Dugan and charged her with obstructing a federal proceeding and concealing a person from arrest. The situation arose from the case of Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant who was appearing in Dugan's courtroom as a defendant. After being informed that federal agents were waiting outside the main courtroom entrance to detain Flores-Ruiz for deportation, Dugan allowed him to leave out of an alternate door. Dugan was indicted on May 13, and the case was randomly assigned to Adelman.<ref name="dugan">{{cite news|url= https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2025/05/13/judge-lynn-adelman-to-hear-the-federal-case-against-hannah-dugan/83537010007/ |title= What to know about Lynn Adelman, the federal judge who will hear the Hannah Dugan case |first= Cary |last= Spivak |date= May 13, 2025 |newspaper= Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |accessdate= May 15, 2025 }}</ref> The case received a rush of national attention as Democrats and legal experts denounced the arrest as an assault on the independence of the judiciary and an attempt by the Donald Trump administration to intimidate political opponents.
Dugan's attorneys moved to dismiss the case on the basis of judicial immunity, official acts, and the Tenth Amendment. They wrote "The government's prosecution of Judge Dugan is virtually unprecedented and entirely unconstitutional".<ref name="NYTDismiss">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Mitch |title=Wisconsin Judge Accused of Obstructing Immigration Agents Seeks Dismissal of Case |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/us/judge-hannah-dugan-ice-wisconsin.html |access-date=14 May 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=14 May 2025}}</ref> On August 26, 2025 Adelman ruled against Dugan, stating "There is no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered 'part of a judge's job'" and that Dugan "went well beyond her judicial role."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Chris |date=2025-08-26 |title='She had no authority': Judge must face the music for allegedly obstructing Trump ICE agents |url=https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/she-had-no-authority-judge-must-face-the-music-for-allegedly-obstructing-trump-ice-agents-as-there-is-no-basis-for-granting-immunity-ruling-says/ |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=Law & Crime |language=en}}</ref> After Dugan was convicted by the jury, Adelman denied her motions for acquittal and/or a new trial. <ref>https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wied.111897/gov.uscourts.wied.111897.117.0.pdf</ref>
====Federal lawsuits against Joseph Mensah==== Adelman has presided over three separate civil trial lawsuits against former Milwaukee Police Department officer Joseph Mensah involving three people who Mensah shot to death, including ''Estate Of Antonio Gonzalez v. Joseph Anthony Mensah et al.'', ''Estate of Jay Anderson Jr., et al v. Joseph Anthony Mensah et al.'', and ''Estate of Alvin Cole et al. v. Joseph Anthony Mensah et al.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wied.uscourts.gov/sites/wied/files/documents/opinions/21-CV-848%20Estate%20of%20Alvin%20Cole%20et%20al%20v.%20Mensah%20et%20al.pdf|title=UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN-ESTATE OF ANTONIO GONZALES, Plaintiff, v. JOSEPH ANTHONY MENSAH, et al., Defendant. Case No. 21-cv-0848; ESTATE OF JAY ANDERSON, JR., et al., Plaintiff, v. JOSEPH ANTHONY MENSAH, et al., Defendant, Case No. 21-cv-1179; ESTATE OF ALVIN COLE, et al., Plaintiff, v. JOSEPH ANTHONY MENSAH, et al., Defendant. Case No. 22-cv-0856|publisher=wied.uscourts.gov|date=October 18, 2024|accessdate=January 29, 2026}}</ref><ref name=thirdciviltrialovercole>{{cite news|url=https://www.wisn.com/article/civil-jury-deadlocks-second-time-in-police-shooting-death-of-teen/66057142|title=Civil jury deadlocks second time in police shooting death of teen|first=Kendall|last=Keys|publisher=WISN|date=September 11, 2025|accessdate=January 29, 2026}}</ref><ref name=lawsuitsagainstmensah /> All three lawsuits against Mensah were initially filed in 2021 and 2022, each of which alleged that Mensah used excessive force and that the Milwaukee Police Department promoted racism, and were then consolidated in September 2022.<ref name=lawsuitsagainstmensah>{{cite news|url=https://www.fox6now.com/news/joseph-mensah-civil-retrial-ends-hung-jury-again|title=Joseph Mensah civil retrial ends with a hung jury again|publisher=Fox 6 Milwaukee|date=September 12, 2025|accessdate=January 29, 2026}}</ref> As of September 2025, Adelman has dismissed the lawsuits against Mensah of the deaths of Gonzalez and Anderson, but has allowed the lawsuit against Mensah for the death of Cole to continue.<ref name=lawsuitsagainstmensah /> On September 11, 2025 the same day a second mistrial was ruled in Cole's case due to a hung jury, Adelman scheduled for a third civil trial against Mensah for Cole's death to start on May 4, 2026.<ref name=thirdciviltrialovercole />
===Criticism of the Supreme Court under John Roberts===
In February 2020, Adelman wrote an article criticizing the recent record of the Supreme Court of the United States under Chief Justice John Roberts The article singled out Chief Justice Roberts and accused him of actively participating in "undermining American democracy," through activist decisions on voting rights and campaign finance by corporate interests. Adelman wrote, "Instead of doing what it can to ensure the maintenance of a robust democratic republic, the Court's decisions ally it with the most anti-democratic currents in American politics, forces that would be pleased if unlimited money could be spent on elections and if minorities could be deterred from voting."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://journals.law.harvard.edu/lpr/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2020/03/Adelman.pdf|title=The Roberts Court's Assault on Democracy|website=Harvard Law & Policy Review|date=February 2020|access-date=November 28, 2021}}</ref>
The article specifically cited a number of partisan 5–4 decisions, such as ''Shelby County v. Holder'', (which struck down part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965), ''Rucho v. Common Cause'', (which decided that federal courts could not rule on cases of gerrymandering), ''Citizens United v. FEC'', (which allowed unlimited corporate spending on elections), and ''Janus v. AFSCME'' (which held that it was unconstitutional for public employee unions to require collective bargaining fees). The article created waves in legal circles because of the unusually blunt criticism of the Court coming from a sitting federal judge.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/11/lynn-adelman-roberts-trump/ |title= 'Assault on Democracy': A sitting federal judge takes on John Roberts, Trump and Republicans |last= Barbash |first= Fred |date= March 11, 2020 |access-date = March 11, 2020 |newspaper= The Washington Post }}</ref><ref>{{cite periodical |url= https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3540318 |title= The Roberts Court's Assault on Democracy |publisher = Social Science Research Network |last= Adelman| first= Lynn | date = February 18, 2020 |journal= Harvard Law & Policy Review |ssrn= 3540318 |access-date= March 11, 2020 }}</ref> Legal scholar Jonathan Turley argued that the article makes "a better case of bias against himself than he does Chief Justice John Roberts" and noted previous articles where Adelman had also directly criticized conservatives while serving as a federal judge.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/487564-judge-attacking-conservatives-spotlights-bias-in-court-system |title= Judge attacking conservatives spotlights bias in court system |last= Turley |first= Jonathan |date= March 14, 2020 |access-date = July 23, 2020 |newspaper= The Hill }}</ref> The Judicial Council for the Seventh Circuit censured Judge Adelman for writing this article.<ref>[https://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/judicial-conduct/judicial-conduct_2020/07-20-90046_90044.pdf Judicial Council of the Seventh Judicial Circuit June 22, 2020.] Resolution of Judicial Misconduct Complaints about District Judge Lynn Adelman</ref>
=== Consideration for Seventh Circuit === On January 22, 2010, United States Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold forwarded four names to the Obama White House for consideration to fill the vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit created when Judge Terence T. Evans assumed senior status.<ref name=wbar_20100125>Adam Korbitz, [http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=News&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=89976 Kohl, Feingold forward four names to President Obama for Seventh Circuit], ''State Bar of Wisconsin'' (January 25, 2010). {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214114354/http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=News |date=February 14, 2010}}</ref> Adelman was recommended along with Victoria F. Nourse, Richard Sankovitz and Dean Strang,<ref name=wbar_20100125/> but was not selected for the spot.
==Personal life and family== Lynn Adelman is the eldest of three sons born to Albert Adelman and his wife Edith (''{{nee}}'' Margoles) Adelman. Albert Adelman was a successful businessman in Milwaukee, and became a prominent member of the Milwaukee Jewish community, serving as national chairman of United Jewish Appeal, Wisconsin chairman of Israel Bonds, and president of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/jsonline/name/albert-adelman-obituary?id=3339212 |title= Albert Adelman |newspaper= Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date= January 14, 2012 |accessdate= May 16, 2025 |via= Legacy.com }}</ref> The Albert and Edith Adelman House in Fox Point, Wisconsin, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Lynn Adelman married Elizabeth "Betty" Halmbacher on April 23, 1976, at Corrales, New Mexico. Through the marriage, Adelman became stepfather to Betty's two daughters from her previous marriage.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/waukesha-daily-freeman-adelman-marriage/172501898/ |title= Lynn Adelman Joins Ranks of Married |newspaper= Waukesha Freeman |date= May 10, 1976 |page=3 |accessdate= May 16, 2025 |via= Newspapers.com }}</ref>
==Electoral history==
===U.S. House of Representatives (1974)===
{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin's Ninth Congressional District Election, 1974<ref>{{cite report|chapter-url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1975 |title=The state of Wisconsin 1975 Blue Book |publisher= State of Wisconsin|location= Madison, Wisconsin |year= 1975 |editor1-last= Theobald |editor1-first= H. Rupert |editor2-last= Robbins |editor2-first= Patricia V. |chapter= Elections in Wisconsin |pages= 802, 822 |access-date= March 11, 2020 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''Primary Election, September 10, 1974''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Robert W. Kasten Jr. |votes = 22,749 |percentage = 31.59% |change = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Lynn Adelman |votes = 18,201 |percentage = 25.27% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Glenn Robert Davis (incumbent) |votes = 17,054 |percentage = 23.68% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = G. Sam Davis |votes = 12,000 |percentage = 16.66% |change = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = American Party (1969) |candidate = William D. Quirk |votes = 77 |percentage = 0.11% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 72,014 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 5, 1974''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Robert W. Kasten Jr. |votes = 77,733 |percentage = 52.25% |change = -8.59% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Lynn Adelman |votes = 66,071 |percentage = 44.41% |change = +8.07% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = American Party (1969) |candidate = William D. Quirk |votes = 3,037 |percentage = 2.04% |change = +0.13% }} {{Election box total |votes = 148,774 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -29.41% }} {{Election box hold with party link no swing | winner = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}
=== Wisconsin Senate (1976–1996) ===
{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Senate, 28th District Election, 1976<ref name="1977elex">{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1977 |title= The state of Wisconsin 1977 Blue Book |publisher= State of Wisconsin|location= Madison, Wisconsin |year= 1977 |editor1-last= Theobald |editor1-first= H. Rupert |editor2-last= Robbins |editor2-first= Patricia V. |chapter= Elections in Wisconsin |pages= 888, 910 |access-date= March 11, 2020 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 2, 1976''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Lynn Adelman |votes = 45,439 |percentage = 66.24% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = James C. Devitt (incumbent) |votes = 23,158 |percentage = 33.76% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 68,597 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box gain with party link no swing | winner = Democratic Party (United States) | loser = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Senate, 28th District Election, 1980<ref>{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1981 |title= The state of Wisconsin 1981-1982 Blue Book |publisher= State of Wisconsin|location= Madison, Wisconsin |year= 1981 |editor1-last= Theobald |editor1-first= H. Rupert |editor2-last= Robbins |editor2-first= Patricia V. |chapter= Elections in Wisconsin |pages= 890, 912 |access-date= March 11, 2020 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 4, 1980''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Lynn Adelman (incumbent) |votes = 44,330 |percentage = 54.65% |change = -11.59% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Joseph E. Wimmer |votes = 36,786 |percentage = 45.35% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 81,116 |percentage = 100.0% |change = +18.25% }} {{Election box hold with party link no swing | winner = Democratic Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Senate, 28th District Election, 1984<ref name="bb1985"/>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 6, 1984''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Lynn Adelman (incumbent) |votes = 41,690 |percentage = 64.85% |change = +10.20% }} {{Election box candidate with party link||party=Republican Party (United States)|candidate=Raymond J. Gray|votes=22,596|percentage=35.15%|change=}} {{Election box total |votes = 64,286 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -20.75% }} {{Election box hold with party link no swing | winner = Democratic Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}
===U.S. House of Representatives (1982, 1984)===
{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin's Fourth Congressional District Election, 1982<ref name="1983elex">{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1983 |title=The state of Wisconsin 1983-1984 Blue Book |publisher= State of Wisconsin|location= Madison, Wisconsin |year= 1983 |editor1-last= Theobald |editor1-first= H. Rupert |editor2-last= Robbins |editor2-first= Patricia V. |chapter= Elections in Wisconsin |pages= 882, 904 |access-date= March 11, 2020 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''Primary Election, September 14, 1982''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Clement J. Zablocki (incumbent) |votes = 56,047 |percentage = 60.60% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Lynn Adelman |votes = 36,102 |percentage = 39.04% |change = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Libertarian Party (United States) |candidate = Nicholas P. Youngers |votes = 223 |percentage = 0.24% |change = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Constitution Party (United States) |candidate = John Gudenschwager |votes = 111 |percentage = 0.12% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 92,483 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 2, 1982''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Clement J. Zablocki (incumbent) |votes = 129,557 |percentage = 94.58% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Libertarian Party (United States) |candidate = Nicholas P. Youngers |votes = 4,064 |percentage = 2.97% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Constitution Party (United States) |candidate = John Gudenschwager |votes = 946 |percentage = 0.69% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Independent (United States) |candidate = John F. Baumgartner |votes = 2,421 |percentage = 1.77% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 136,988 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box hold with party link no swing | winner = Democratic Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin's Fourth Congressional District Special Election, 1984<ref name="bb1985">{{cite report|chapter-url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1985 |title=The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book |publisher= State of Wisconsin|location= Madison, Wisconsin |year= 1985 |editor1-last= Theobald |editor1-first= H. Rupert |editor2-last= Robbins |editor2-first= Patricia V. |chapter= Elections in Wisconsin |pages= 899, 903, 918, 922 |access-date= March 11, 2020 }}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''Primary Election, February 21, 1984''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Gerald D. Kleczka |votes = 33,384 |percentage = 28.91% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = E. Michael McCann |votes = 27,614 |percentage = 23.91% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Lynn Adelman |votes = 27,279 |percentage = 23.62% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Gary J. Barczak |votes = 15,827 |percentage = 13.70% |change = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Robert V. Nolan |votes = 7,742 |percentage = 6.70% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = James Paul Buckley |votes = 1,149 |percentage = 0.99% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Roman R. Blenski |votes = 859 |percentage = 0.74% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = John F. Baumgartner |votes = 717 |percentage = 0.62% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Ray Derringer |votes = 598 |percentage = 0.52% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Joseph A. Ortiz |votes = 316 |percentage = 0.27% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 115,485 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, April 3, 1984''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Gerald D. Kleczka |votes = 76,384 |percentage = 65.07% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Robert V. Nolan |votes = 41,007 |percentage = 34.93% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 117,391 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box hold with party link no swing | winner = Democratic Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}
==See also== * List of Jewish American jurists
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{FJC Bio|nid=1390426}} * {{CongLinks|votesmart= 3433 |fec= H2WI04013}} * {{Ballotpedia|Lynn_Adelman}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-wi-sen}} {{s-bef|before=James Devitt }} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the Wisconsin Senate {{nowrap|from the 28th district}}|years=1977–1997}} {{s-aft|after=Mary Lazich}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Thomas John Curran}} {{s-ttl|title=Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin|years=1997–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}} {{United States 7th Circuit district judges}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelman, Lynn}} Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American judges Category:20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American judges Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators Category:Jewish state legislators in Wisconsin Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Category:Lawyers from Milwaukee Category:Princeton University alumni Category:United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton