| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honorable |
| Joan F. Kessler | |
| Office: | Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District I |
| Term Start: | August 1, 2004 |
| Term End: | February 7, 2020 |
| Predecessor: | Charles B. Schudson |
| Successor: | Maxine Aldridge White |
| Office1: | United States Attorney for the |
| Appointer1: | Jimmy Carter |
| Term Start1: | 1978 |
| Term End1: | 1981 |
| Predecessor1: | William J. Mulligan |
| Successor1: | Joseph Peter Stadtmueller |
| Birth Place: | Louisiana, U.S. |
| Spouse: | Fred Kessler |
| Profession: | lawyer, judge |
Joan F. Kessler (born 1944) is an American lawyer and a retired judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, serving from 2004 to 2020. Kessler previously served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin under President Jimmy Carter, and was the first female U.S. attorney in Wisconsin. She is married to Fred Kessler, who was also an influential Democratic politician and judge in Wisconsin.
A native of Louisiana,[1] Kessler graduated from the University of Kansas in 1966 and from Marquette University Law School in 1968.[2] She worked as a law clerk for United States District Judge John W. Reynolds, Jr., in Milwaukee from 1968 to 1969 before entering private practice.[1] [2] Kessler was a supporter of Jimmy Carter's candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976; in 1978, Carter appointed her United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.[1]
As United States Attorney, Kessler received praise for her performance in court and her open-door policy toward criminal defense attorneys,[3] but clashed with Milwaukee City Attorney James Brennan over her investigation into the Milwaukee Police Department's hiring and promotion practices.[4] She resigned in March 1981, following Carter's 1980 defeat to Ronald Reagan, and entered private practice with the Milwaukee firm Foley and Lardner.[5] Kessler specialized as a divorce attorney at Foley and Lardner and was eventually selected as a partner in the firm.[6]
In 2004, Kessler challenged incumbent Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Charles B. Schudson for his seat on the court's Milwaukee-based District I.[6] [7] The campaign was hotly contested; Kessler's campaign alleged that Schudson had committed several violations of judicial ethics, charges he vehemently denied; Schudson later levied ethics allegations against Kessler.[7] [6] Kessler unseated Schudson in the April general election, but was not cleared of ethical wrongdoing until 2010.[8]
Kessler has participated in several notable cases during her tenure as an appellate judge. In December 2014, she authored a decision affirming the conviction of Kelly Rindfleisch, deputy chief of staff to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker when he served as Milwaukee County Executive.[9] In July 2015, Kessler wrote a concurring opinion in a decision reinstating Milwaukee's employee residency rules, which had been voided by a Milwaukee County circuit judge.[10]
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 6, 2004| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 6, 2010| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 5, 2016