Spotlight
Ukrainian Athlete Banned from Winter Games in Italy
One of the disputes arising from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy was the case of Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who had planned to compete wearing a helmet honoring Ukrainians killed in the war with Russia.
Moments before Heraskevych was set to compete, the president of the International Olympic Committee informed him that he could not race. Olympic rules bar athletes from engaging in political speech.
Meanwhile, Russia (as a country) has faced suspension from the Olympic Games for nearly a decade, first for its state-sponsored doping program.
In 2023, the International Olympic Committee again suspended Russia because the Russian Olympic Committee “had moved … to incorporate sports bodies from four Ukrainian regions that it occupies, a breach of Olympic rules on territorial integrity.”
Under that indefinite ban, Russian athletes can still compete under the banner of “individual neutral athletes,” and did so in Italy last month.
Sources: New York Times; International Olympic Committee
On the Radar
Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidates to Debate on March 25
Candidates running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the April 7 election, Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor, will engage in a debate on March 25 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lubar Center at Marquette University.
Matt Smith and Gerron Jordan of WISN 12 will moderate the debate.
How to watch: It will be livestreamed on wisn.com and on WISN 12’s free streaming app.
It will also be aired at WISN 12 in southeastern Wisconsin as well as at partner stations in Green Bay (WBAY), Madison (WKOW), Wausau (WAOW), Eau Claire (WQOW), and
La Crosse (WXOW).
Source: Associated Press
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From the Archives
The First Women Judges in Federal Court
In 1928, President Calvin Coolidge appointed Genevieve Rose Cline to the U.S. Customs Court. She was the first woman to serve on the federal bench.
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Florence Allen to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She was the first woman to serve as an Article III judge.
In 1949, President Harry S. Truman appointed Burnita Shelton Matthews as the first woman to serve as a U.S. district judge.
As of Aug. 1, 2024, 33% of Article III judges were women.
Sources: U.S. Courts; ABA Profile of the Legal Profession 2024.
By the Numbers
63
The number of circuit court judges that Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has appointed over seven years in office, as of Jan. 5, 2026. He also appointed six judges to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.
The governor may temporarily appoint judges to fill vacancies until an election is held.
Source: Isthmus
Did You Know?
Sans Serif Takes the Lead
Under 2025 Wisconsin Act 72, effective Dec. 11, 2025, all legal notices required to be published in newspapers must be published in a sans serif typeface. Under prior law, legal notices were required to be published in Arial typeface.
The Wisconsin Newspaper Association supported the change, stating in legislative documents that “some newspapers are now struggling to meet the Arial requirement because of the layout and design platform that they use” and the “Arial typeface in some instances is no longer available to the newspaper.”
Source: Wisconsin Legislature
» Cite this article: 99 Wis. Law. 8 (March 2026).
