{{Short description|American judge and lawyer (1938–2015)}} {{Use American English|date=April 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = N. Patrick Crooks | image = Justice Crooks 2009 (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = 2009 portrait | office = Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court | term_start = August 1, 1996 | term_end = September 21, 2015 | predecessor = Roland B. Day | successor = Rebecca Bradley | office1 = Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge {{nowrap|for the Brown Circuit, Branch 6}} | term_start1 = August 1, 1978 | term_end1 = July 31, 1996 | predecessor1 = ''Position established'' | successor1 = John D. McKay | birth_name = Neil Patrick Crooks | birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|5|16}} | birth_place = Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2015|9|21|1938|5|16}}}} | death_place = Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. | resting_place = | spouse = Kristin | children = {{unbulleted list | Michael | Molly | Kevin | Kathleen | Peggy | Eileen }} | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list | St. Norbert College {{small|(B.A.)}} | University of Notre Dame {{small|(J.D.)}} }} <!--Military service--> | nickname = | allegiance = {{flag|United States|1963}} | branch = {{flag|United States Army}} | service_years = 1963&ndash;1966 | rank = | unit = Judge Advocate General's Corps | commands = | battles = | mawards = | footnotes = }} '''Neil Patrick Crooks''' (May 16, 1938{{spaced ndash}}September 21, 2015) was an American judge and lawyer. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1996 until his death in 2015. He was appointed as a county judge by a Democratic governor, later professing conservatism as a Supreme Court candidate in 1995 and 1996. In his later years, Crooks gained notice as a perceived judicial moderate and swing vote on a court otherwise divided into two ideological blocs.

==Early life and career== Crooks was a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and graduated from the city's Premontre High School in 1956. He received a B.A. degree from St. Norbert College in 1960 and a J.D. degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1963.<ref name="Bio">{{cite web|url=https://wicourts.gov/courts/supreme/justices/retired/crooks.htm|title=Supreme Court: Former justices |publisher=Wisconsin Court System|accessdate=February 10, 2018}}</ref>

From 1963 to 1966, Crooks served as an officer in the United States Army, assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the Pentagon. After his discharge from the Army, Crooks worked for eleven years as a private practice attorney in Green Bay and as an instructor of business law at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.<ref name="Bio"/>

In 1977, Crooks was appointed to the Brown County Court by Governor Martin J. Schreiber, a liberal Democrat.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Richard|title=Bradley grabs early lead in judicial race|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1683&dat=19950405&id=kEscAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7iwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4373,7351130&hl=en|accessdate=June 28, 2015|agency=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=April 5, 1995}}</ref> Crooks was designated a circuit court judge in 1978, when Wisconsin's county and circuit courts were merged.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Brief Biographies 2015 Wisconsin Officers |journal=Wisconsin Briefs|url=http://lrbdigital.legis.wisconsin.gov/digital/collection/p16831coll2/id/1021/rec/14 |volume=15 |number=1 |page=2 |publisher=Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau|accessdate=February 10, 2018}}</ref>

Although appointed by Schreiber, Crooks ran for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1995 as a conservative; his campaign was directed by Scott Jensen, a prominent Republican legislator later convicted of criminal ethics violations.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Richard|title=Bradley, Crooks cast in ideological battle for state Supreme Court post|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19950222&id=iQsdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OH8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1709,6813765&hl=en|accessdate=June 28, 2015|agency=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=February 22, 1995|archive-date=April 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414044120/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19950222&id=iQsdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OH8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1709,6813765&hl=en|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was defeated in the general election by Marathon County circuit judge Ann Walsh Bradley but elected to the court in 1996, defeating appellate judge Ralph Adam Fine of Milwaukee after a contentious campaign.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Richard|title=Fine attacks Crooks as politicians' candidate|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1683&dat=19960309&id=CwkeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3S0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3240,3639337&hl=en|accessdate=June 28, 2015|agency=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=March 9, 1996}}</ref>

==Supreme Court service== [[File:Paul Ryan Speaks to Justice Crooks before swearing in.jpg|thumb|Crooks with Paul Ryan in 1999]]

In 1999, Crooks became enmeshed in a factional dispute on the court, aligning with justices Donald Steinmetz, William Bablitch, and Jon Wilcox against Bradley, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, and Justice David T. Prosser, Jr. The dispute arose from numerous controversies and the unsuccessful attempt of Green Bay lawyer Sharren Rose to unseat Abrahamson; Crooks had supported Rose.<ref>{{cite news|title=Judges solicit professional aid|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19990416&id=xRoiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lKYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3941,9266&hl=en|accessdate=June 28, 2015|agency=Reading Eagle|date=April 16, 1999}}</ref>

Crooks had run for the court in the 1990s as an ideological conservative.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Segall |first1=Cary |title=6 Big Names Back Crooks; Fine Calls That "Worthless" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/398382069 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription|publisher=Wisconsin State Journal |access-date=April 16, 2026 |page=3B |date=March 7, 1996}}</ref> By 2005, the court's justices had aligned into different blocs, now defined more closely by ideology. His participation in decisions lifting a medical malpractice damages cap and permitting a lawsuit against lead paint manufacturers disassociated him from the court's conservative bloc.<ref name="Christofferson">{{cite web|last1=Christofferson|first1=Bill|title=Enough crooks on the bench?|url=http://thexofffiles.blogspot.com/2005/07/enough-crooks-on-benchrandom-thoughts.html|website=The Xoff Files|accessdate=June 28, 2015}}</ref> Since 2005, Crooks acted at times as a swing vote on the court, sometimes associated ideologically with liberal justices Abrahamson and Bradley. Some commentators identified him as a judicial liberal,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Price|first1=Jenny|title=State Supreme Court comes down to numbers|url=http://www.channel3000.com/madison-magazine/business-city-life/state-supreme-court-comes-down-to-numbers/31866602|publisher=Madison Magazine|accessdate=June 28, 2015}}</ref> some classified him as a centrist who retained strong conservative leanings,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Murphy|first1=Bruce|title=Justice Crooks is not a liberal|url=http://www.milwaukeemag.com/2011/09/06/JusticeCrooksisNotaLiberal|accessdate=June 28, 2015|agency=Milwaukee Magazine|date=September 6, 2011}}</ref> others classified him as a centrist with liberal leanings,<ref name="highwater">{{cite web |last1=Ball |first1=Alan |title=A Liberal High-Water Mark? |url=https://scowstats.com/2023/04/05/a-liberal-high-water-mark/ |website=SCOW Stats |access-date=November 4, 2025 |date=April 5, 2025}}</ref> and others classified him a generally reliable conservative who had some notable breaks from fellow conservatives.<ref name="thisisfirst">{{cite web |last1=Lueders |first1=Bill |title=Op Ed: This Is First Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court In Living Memory |url=https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2023/04/17/op-ed-this-is-first-liberal-wisconsin-supreme-court-in-living-memory/ |website=Urban Milwaukee |access-date=April 16, 2026 |language=en |date=April 17, 2023}}</ref> Crooks generally joined the conservative majority's opinions, especially in criminal matters,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ziemer|first1=David|title=Ziegler in majority most often|url=http://wislawjournal.com/2010/08/09/ziegler-in-majority-most-often|publisher=Wisconsin Law Journal|accessdate=June 28, 2015|date=August 9, 2010}}</ref> but joined the liberal minority's dissents on certain constitutional issues and matters of court administration.<ref name="June 2015">{{cite news|last1=Marley|first1=Patrick|title=Justice Crooks rips Abrahamson for digging in heels on job|url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/justice-crooks-rips-abrahamson-for-digging-in-heels-on-job-b99482661z1-300198131.html|accessdate=June 28, 2015|agency=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=April 16, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Murphy|first1=Bruce|title=The powerful Pat Roggensack|url=http://www.isthmus.com/news/news/the-powerful-pat-roggensack|accessdate=June 28, 2015|agency=The Isthumus|date=March 21, 2013}}</ref>

In April 2015, Crooks broke from both Abrahamson and the conservative majority in a dispute over the election of Patience Drake Roggensack as the court's chief justice. Earlier in 2015, voters had approved a referendum permitting the court's justices to elect their chief justice; throughout Wisconsin's history, the most senior justice had occupied the court's highest office. Crooks condemned Abrahamson's attempts to retain her position, which included a federal lawsuit, but did not support Roggensack's election; instead, he indicated that he would consider seeking the chief justiceship and running for reelection in 2016, an event theretofore considered unlikely.<ref name="June 2015"/>

In the wake of this dispute, and with Crooks's intentions uncertain, state judges Joe Donald, JoAnne Kloppenburg, and Rebecca Bradley filed to run for Crooks's seat in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|title=UPDATE: Kloppenburg, Donald plan runs for Supreme Court|url=http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Kloppenburg-announces-run-for-Wisconsin-Supreme-Court-308453551.html|accessdate=June 28, 2015|agency=NBC 15|date=June 19, 2015}}</ref>

==Death== On Thursday, September 16, 2015, Crooks announced that he would not seek reelection.<ref>[http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/justice-n-patrick-crooks-makes-it-official-hes-retiring-b99578027z1-327876491.html Justice N. Patrick Crooks makes it official: He's retiring], jsonline.com; accessed February 25, 2017.</ref> Crooks was absent from oral arguments the next day. He came to the court on Monday, September 21, 2015, for a hearing, but excused himself before the hearing was over. He was later found dead in his chambers at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. He was 77.<ref>[http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-supreme-court-justice-n-patrick-crooks-dies-b99581412z1-328560641.html Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks dies], jsonline.com; accessed February 25, 2017.</ref>

==Professional memberships and awards== While serving in 1994 as a Brown County circuit judge, Crooks was recognized as Trial Judge of the Year by the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Crooks was a law school evaluator for the American Bar Association and also a member of the Wisconsin Law Foundation Board. He was a director of the Notre Dame Law Association and a member of the James E. Doyle Chapter of the American Inns of Court.<ref name="Bio"/>

==Electoral history==

===Wisconsin Circuit Court (1985, 1991)===

{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Circuit Court, Brown Circuit, Branch 6 Election, 1985<ref>{{cite report|url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1985|title= The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book |year=1985 |publisher=State of Wisconsin |editor-last1= Theobald |editor-first1= H. Rupert |editor-last2= Robbins |editor-first2= Patricia V. |location=Madison, Wisconsin |accessdate= January 5, 2020 |chapter=Elections in Wisconsin | page=881}}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, April 2, 1985''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = N. Patrick Crooks (incumbent) |votes = 15,815 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 15,815 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Circuit Court, Brown Circuit, Branch 6 Election, 1991<ref>{{cite report|url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1991|title= State of Wisconsin 1991-1992 Blue Book |year=1991 |publisher=State of Wisconsin |editor-last1= Barish |editor-first1= Lawrence S. |editor-last2= Theobald |editor-first2= H. Rupert |location=Madison, Wisconsin |accessdate= January 5, 2020 |chapter=Elections in Wisconsin | page=876}}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, April 2, 1991''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = N. Patrick Crooks (incumbent) |votes = 33,413 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 33,413 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box end}}

===Wisconsin Supreme Court (1995)===

{{Election box begin | title=1995 Wisconsin Supreme Court election<ref>{{cite report|url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1995 |title=State of Wisconsin 1995-1996 Blue Book |publisher=State of Wisconsin |year= 1995 |location= Madison, Wisconsin |editor-last= Barish |editor-first=Lawrence S. |chapter=Elections in Wisconsin |page= 893 |accessdate= January 4, 2020}}</ref>}} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''Primary Election, February 21, 1995''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Ann Walsh Bradley |votes = 131,889 |percentage = 38.85% |change = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = N. Patrick Crooks |votes = 88,913 |percentage = 26.19% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Ted E. Wedemeyer, Jr. |votes = 64,668 |percentage = 19.05% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Patience D. Roggensack |votes = 41,303 |percentage = 12.16% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = William A. Pangman |votes = 12,753 |percentage = 3.76% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 339,526 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, April 4, 1995''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Ann Walsh Bradley |votes = 514,588 |percentage = 54.82% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = N. Patrick Crooks |votes = 424,110 |percentage = 45.18% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 938,698 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} {{Election box end}}

=== Wisconsin Supreme Court (1996, 2006) === {{Election box begin | title=1996 Wisconsin Supreme Court election<ref>{{cite report|url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1997 |title= State of Wisconsin 1997-1998 Blue Book |publisher=State of Wisconsin |year=1997|editor-last=Barish |editor-first=Lawrence S. |chapter= Elections in Wisconsin | pages=869–870 |accessdate= January 5, 2020}}</ref> }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, February 6, 1996''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = N. Patrick Crooks |votes = 84,223 |percentage = 27.03% |change = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Ralph Adam Fine |votes = 50,801 |percentage = 16.31% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Ted E. Wedemeyer, Jr. |votes = 44,988 |percentage = 14.44% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Lawrence J. Bugge |votes = 44,020 |percentage = 14.13% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Harold Vernon Froehlich |votes = 34,632 |percentage = 11.12% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Stanley A. Miller |votes = 28,047 |percentage = 9.00% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Charles B. Schudson |votes = 24,853 |percentage = 7.98% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 311,564 |percentage = 100.0% |change = }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, March 19, 1996''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = N. Patrick Crooks |votes = 520,594 |percentage = 59.07% |change = +13.89%}} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = Ralph Adam Fine |votes = 360,686 |percentage = 40.93% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 881,280 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -6.12% }} {{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin | title=2006 Wisconsin Supreme Court election<ref>{{cite report|url=https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/lrb/blue_book/2007_2008 |title= State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book |publisher=State of Wisconsin |year=2007 |chapter= Elections | page=890 |accessdate= January 5, 2020}}</ref> }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, April 4, 2006''' {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Nonpartisan politician |candidate = N. Patrick Crooks |votes = 499,636 |percentage = 99.39% |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = |candidate = ''Scattering'' |votes = 3,052 |percentage = 0.61% |change = }} {{Election box total |votes = 502,688 |percentage = 100.0% |change = -9.06% }} {{Election box end}}

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before = New circuit}} {{s-ttl|title = Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the {{nowrap|Brown Circuit, Branch 6}}|years= 1978{{spaced ndash}}1996}} {{s-aft|after = John D. McKay}} {{s-bef|before = Roland B. Day}} {{s-ttl|title = Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court |years= 1996{{spaced ndash}}2015}} {{s-aft|after = Rebecca Bradley}} {{s-end}} {{Wisconsin Supreme Court justices navbox|state=collapsed}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crooks, N. Patrick}} Category:1938 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Politicians from Green Bay, Wisconsin Category:Military personnel from Wisconsin Category:Wisconsin circuit court judges Category:Justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Category:St. Norbert College alumni Category:Notre Dame Law School alumni Category:United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Category:20th-century Wisconsin state court judges