The Sconi

In a 2019 case, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, a candidate for the state Supreme Court, sentenced Madison resident Brian Campbell to only two years in prison after he pleaded no contest to charges of possession of improvised explosives and reckless endangerment. 

Prosecutors had said Campbell was planning an attack on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and had sought a longer sentence.

Evidence presented at trial showed Campbell's internet search history included instructions for making explosives, along with drawn maps of underground tunnels at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Campbell had faced up to 10 years in prison for reckless endangerment and six years for possession of explosives.

"Prosecutors claimed Campbell’s internet search history produced instructions for making explosives and uncovered drawn maps of underground tunnels on University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus," wrote Restoration News' Donovan Bradley. "Campbell faced up to 10 years in prison and extended supervision on the charges of reckless endangerment and up to 6 years on charges of possession of explosives."

"Authorities found that one of Campbell’s computer passwords was 'McVeigh' – notably the name of Timothy McVeigh, one of the masterminds in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people and left over 680 injured," wrote Bradley. "Campbell’s home was found to have had all the necessary material to carry out an attack of that magnitude."

Assistant District Attorney John Rice presented evidence showing Campbell's attempts to trespass into the university's tunnel system. A plea agreement limited prosecutors from seeking more than three years in prison, but as the judge, Crawford was not bound by this agreement. She acknowledged Campbell's stockpiling of chemicals and construction of explosives but deemed plans to attack UW-Madison speculative.

Crawford’s sentence restricted Campbell from accessing certain areas on campus but did not ban him entirely. Her decision resulted in two years of imprisonment followed by three years of extended supervision.

"With a long record of sympathetic sentencing, two things remain abundantly clear: Susan Crawford is far too dangerous to serve on the state supreme court and victims don’t want criminals to get 'alternatives to incarceration' for murders, sexual assault, and bomb making," wrote Bradley.