To the Editor-

This letter is to voice my support for Judge Robert Shannon in the upcoming election.

I have had the privilege of knowing Bob as a friend for a decade now and feel I can shed a bit of light on him as both person and a professional thru our relationship.  First and foremost, Bob is a family man.  He was raised right here in Stevens Point, is a graduate of UWSP and Marquette Law School, and it’s right here, in his hometown, that he and his wife Ann decided to raise their family.

He’s been married to Ann for 27 years and together they have raised two sons who have turned into remarkable young men, both recent college graduates.  Above all things, Bob’s first priority will always be his family.  When we talk about family you can see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice, the love and respect he has for them, and this unquestionably includes his parents Jack and Josette as well as his siblings.

As for his experience as an attorney, it largely speaks for itself.  He returned home to Stevens Point, to start and built a successful law practice thru hard work, honesty, integrity and intelligence.  I’ve had the benefit of working with Bob thru his representation also.  I watched and listened as he prepared for what needed to be done and was honestly impressed in the way he did this with great patience, integrity, and in the case of working with a friend, great humor!

Bob has appeared and litigated in a countless number of Wisconsin’s circuit courts and done so in front of again, a countless number of the states most respected judges.  This alone gives Judge Shannon a great and wide perspective of Wisconsin’s legal/judicial system as well as the benefit to witness, experience and learn from so many of our most effective courts and judges.

I took a morning to sneak into the back row of Bob’s courtroom to watch and listen to a trial a few months after he was sworn in by his predecessor, the Honorable Judge John Finn and took the bench.  The way he handled what, to me, was a difficult case was admirable.  He treated the individual on trial with great respect but gave a sentence that seemed just, doing so with respect and explanation as to why it was done in this manner, leaving the defendant and their attorney as well as the prosecuting attorney with a very real sense of dignity.

His involvement in the community is admirable as well!  He’s long been involved with numerous charitable and nonprofit organizations as well as doing significant pro-bono work for organizations and individuals that didn’t have the means to pay.  He’s done these things with no fanfare whatsoever, knowing in his heart that these are things that are expected of members of society!  I know it to be true that Judge Shannon is not running for circuit court judge based on ego, career advancement or any other self-serving motive.  Bob is running out of a sense of duty, honor and service to the community that he spent his entire life living in, all the while doing his part to make Stevens Point such a wonderful, vibrant, caring and giving community.

I have never had the honor of meeting Judge Shannon’s opponent in the race and have heard only very good things about Trish Baker, her character and her integrity.  What it comes down to is that I really know and happily support Bob.  I know him as a person, as a friend, as an attorney and as a judge.  In my most honest opinion, Portage County would be very hard pressed to find a better a person, better legal mind or higher moral integrity to sit on the bench of Circuit Court ll.

The wonderful thing about an election of a circuit court judge is that it’s bipartisan.  It’s not about political parties, who’s beholden to whom, and so on.  At the end of the day what really matters is that we the voters go into the voting booth and vote for the person who is clearly the most qualified and experienced to be the Branch ll Portage County judge.  That person is your sitting judge, the Honorable Robert J. Shannon.

Tim Neufeld
Stevens Point