Luchsinger seeking county bench position
By Steve Sharp of the Daily Times staff
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 12:24 PM CST
Attorney Steven J. Luchsinger told the Daily Times Tuesday it is his belief Jefferson County needs a judge with significant experience in criminal law and with that in mind, he is seeking the position of Branch I Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge in the April 7, 2009, election.
Luchsinger, 61, who now resides in Waterloo, was born and raised in Watertown, and attended St. Bernard's Grade School and Watertown High School, graduating in 1965. Luchsinger is a fifth generation Jefferson County resident, his family having been in the jewelry business on Main Street in Watertown for more than 130 years.
To the extent that everyone is a product of their upbringing, he said, he reflects the conservative values of Jefferson County.
“These include hard work, personal responsibility and respect for everyone, including the unborn,” he said.
Luchsinger recalled his growing up in the Watertown area as being a wonderful experience for a youth and a young man.
“I've fished the waters, hunted the woods all over Jefferson County and I played American Legion baseball in every community in Jefferson County,” Luchsinger told the Daily Times. “I feel as though I have a wide and long view of what makes this area so special. I believe my background and values reflect the conservative character of the people of Jefferson County and I look forward to maintaining those values while I am a judge.”
Luchsinger, who is divorced with two grown sons, graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1970, majoring in economics. Following military service during the Vietnam era, he received his law degree at Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1974. While in law school, Luchsinger maintained full-time employment working as a librarian, legal researcher, bartender and cab driver while attending classes at night. About that experience he said, “I had a terrible social life, but on the other hand I went to school with some very ambitious people and many of my classmates were older and well-settled into other professions. It was hard work, but at the same time very stimulating and rewarding, and I knew the hard work would eventually pay off.”
After law school, Luchsinger was admitted to practice in Illinois and subsequently admitted to the United States Supreme Court and to the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Northern Federal District Court of Illinois. Luchsinger was employed by the Cook County State Attorney's Office for eight years, working as an assistant district attorney prosecuting thousands of serious felonies.
He said he also worked closely with victims of crimes. He described how he, “personally sharing the anger, fear and frustration crime victims can have when experiencing not only horrible crime, but also a large and impersonal court system.”
Additionally, Luchsinger prosecuted crimes involving major drug traffickers, organized crime and political corruption. At night he taught courses in real estate law at a local college.
Following his employment in Illinois, Luchsinger moved to Wisconsin, where he has for more than 20 years maintained a general practice with strong emphasis on trial work. He has handled thousands of criminal cases, representing people from all walks of life. He said he has spent hundreds of hours behind prison walls talking directly to incarcerated clients.
Luchsinger said he is often the only link between a client and the outside world.
“As a result, I am uniquely qualified to make the difficult but necessary decisions about whether convicted criminals are sent to jail or prison and how long they stay there,” he said.
In addition to criminal cases, Luchsinger has handled a wide variety of non-criminal cases.
“(I've) handled everything from adoption to zoning,” he said.
Luchsinger has worked in more than 25 counties all over Wisconsin and said he has been in court, somewhere, virtually every day of his professional life.
Luchsinger was elected to two terms on the Watertown Unified School Board, serving as president. It was during that time the board presented a hard-fought referendum to the voters of Watertown to build a new high school.
“Getting that new school approved and built has always been one of the most satisfying accomplishments of my lifetime,” he said. “The board had responsibility for huge budgets and hundreds of employees. I believe I took from that experience a recognition of the dedicated and underappreciated work that everybody in the school system performs. It also gave me genuine insights into how to effectively spread tax dollars paid by hard-working citizens.”
“It is noteworthy,” Luchsinger added, “that roughly 80 percent of all the cases pending in Jefferson County are traffic, criminal or juvenile, and that Branch I handles criminal cases exclusively. It is critical the next judge to sit in Branch I have a broad familiarity and a deep understanding of the issues which are presented and resolved in criminal court. It is important that he or she be able to hit the ground running and not have to go through a long period of on-the-job training. I am the only candidate that will be able to meet that need.”
Luchsinger has tried more than 100 jury trials and he is the only practicing attorney in Jefferson County to have personally argued a criminal case in front of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. Noting that jury trials are the final stage of many cases at the courthouse, he said, “It is essential that a judge have adequate training and experience when conducting jury trials. I have tried many cases on both sides of the fence and my background in this area is unmatched by any other candidate. I have the legal knowledge and professional experience required to preside over a complicated jury trial in an efficient and fair-minded manner.”
He said he subscribes to a conservative judicial philosophy.
“I do not believe in legislating from the bench, nor do I believe in creating new or different rights when none exist. I believe there is a time to be harsh but I also believe there is a time to be compassionate. I am confident that over the years I have gained sufficient wisdom through personal and professional experience to know the difference,” he said. “I look forward to an open, honest and vigorous campaign.”
Luchsinger is running against Jefferson County Circuit Court Commissioner and Fort Atkinson Municipal Court Judge Jennifer L. Weston.
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