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FACT BRIEF

Did Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly compare Social Security and affirmative action to slavery?

By Tom Kertscher
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YES

In a 2014 book, Daniel Kelly wrote:

"Affirmative action and slavery differ, obviously, in significant ways. But it's more a question of degree than principle, for they both spring from the same taproot. Neither can exist without the foundational principle that it is acceptable to force someone into an unwanted economic relationship. Morally, and as a matter of law, they are the same…."

Kelly included the same passage in his 2016 application for a Supreme Court vacancy.

In a 2013 blog post, Kelly described Social Security as "involuntary servitude" by taxpayers to benefit those whom he described as "people who have chosen to retire without sufficient assets to support themselves."

Kelly, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, is running in the April 4 Supreme Court election against Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
DocumentCloud Daniel Kelly Supreme Court application (Page 59 of pdf)
The Cap Times Who is new Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly? Questions and answers about Scott Walker's appointment to the bench
Internet Archive The Moral Consensus That Must Not Be Mentioned
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.