Janine P. Geske

Janine P. Geske
Speaking at the investiture of Janet Protasiewicz in 2023
Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
In office September 4, 1993 – September 10, 1998
Appointed by	Tommy Thompson
Preceded by	Louis J. Ceci
Succeeded by	David Prosser Jr.
Interim Executive of Milwaukee County
In office February 2002 – April 30, 2002
Preceded by	Karen Ordinans (acting)
Succeeded by	Scott Walker
Wisconsin Circuit Judge for the Milwaukee Circuit, Branch 23
In office August 13, 1981 – September 3, 1993
Appointed by	Lee S. Dreyfus
Preceded by	Fred Kessler
Succeeded by	Elsa C. Lamelas
Personal details
Born	(1949-05-12) May 12, 1949 Port Washington, Wisconsin, U.S.
Alma mater	Beloit College Marquette University Law School

Janine Patricia Geske (born May 12, 1949) is an American lawyer and jurist from Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. She was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1993 to 1998, and served as interim Milwaukee County Executive in 2002. Earlier in her career, she was a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County (1981–1993).

Life and career

Born in Port Washington, Wisconsin, Geske was raised in the nearby community of Cedarburg. She graduated from Cedarburg High School in 1967 and received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Beloit College in 1971 and 1972, respectively. Geske earned her J.D. degree from the Marquette University Law School in 1975.

Geske worked as chief staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee until 1979. She was an assistant professor at Marquette University Law School from 1978 to 1981 and was founding director of the Marquette University Law School's Clinic for the Elderly. From 1981 to 1993, Geske served as a Milwaukee County circuit court judge. In 1993, she was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by Governor Tommy Thompson, a Republican. Geske was elected to a full term on the court in 1994 but resigned from the bench in 1998.

Following her departure from the court, Geske worked as a professor at Marquette University, holding the Association of Marquette University Women's Chair in Humanistic Studies in 2000 and 2001. From February to May 2002, she served as the interim Milwaukee County Executive, following the resignation of F. Thomas Ament amid a massive pension scandal. Later in 2002, Geske was appointed interim dean of the Marquette University Law School, serving until 2003. Geske has remained on the law school faculty and is on the faculty of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. In both 1994 and 2002, the Milwaukee Bar honored her with its Lawyer of the Year award.

In 2017, Geske was one of 54 former Wisconsin judges who signed a letter advocating for rules requiring judges to recuse themselves in cases involving campaign donors.

Geske endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election, her first time endorsing a partisan candidate in, according to her, at least 40 years.