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Beloit City Council President Regina Dunkin, also a Black woman, expressed pride at the time of Morse’s 2022 appointment β€œthat Attorney Ashley Morse will be Rock County’s first woman of color to serve as judge. I know that her caring, intellect, and experience as a public defender will ensure that she applies the law fairly.”

Barbara McCrory, the first woman elected circuit judge in Rock County in 2012, echoed Dunkin in celebrating Morse’s historic accomplishment, citing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: β€œβ€˜Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.’ I welcome Ashley Morse to the Rock County bench as she takes the next step forward.”

For Morse, the appointment was a key moment in her life that had been marked by early challenges and a law career cemented in a judicial philosophy of fairness, compassion, and advocacy for those overlooked by the system.

Morse expressed at the time of her appointment her gratitude and commitment to the community going forward.

β€œI am truly grateful to Gov. Evers for the opportunity to serve Rock County as a circuit court judge,” she said at the time. β€œI would like to thank my family, friends, and colleagues for supporting me in this endeavor, and for their unwavering confidence in my ability to serve as a fair and impartial jurist dedicated to treating all individuals with dignity and respect. I am committed to ensuring the dispensation of justice equally for all by bringing a new perspective, expertise, and extensive experience to the bench.”

First in family to attend college

A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Wisconsin Law School, Morse was the first in her family to attend college and law school. Born in Holly Hill, Florida, before moving to the small town of Providestown, Ill., she knew at a young age what socioeconomic disparity looked like.

Raised primarily by a single mother, she recalls times when her family relied on local charity.

Her biological father struggled with addiction and he spent time in jail and prison during her childhood before dying of an overdose in 2010. Meanwhile, her stepfather, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty.

This dual perspective -- one of a crime victim’s family and one of a defendant’s family -- helped fuel her commitment to fairness and equity in the courtroom.

"It was always like seeing two sides of the same coin," Morse reflected, on her personal experience with her father as a defendant and stepfather as crime victim.

Morse said her decision to work as a public defender early in her career was directly linked to witnessing her father’s struggle. She said helping others achieve different outcomes than his was a "very healing" process for her.

A brief experience as a special prosecutor also proved defining.

She was prosecuting a young man for misdemeanor THC possession when the defendant, who was undergoing chemotherapy, told the court, "it's the only thing that will help me eat."

Morse recalls deciding then that prosecuting people in such situations β€œisn't me and this doesn't reflect my values,” and she shifted toward public defense and advocacy.

Morse credits her early professional experience as building the confidence she needed to hold a judicial post.

Prior to her appointment as a Rock County judge, Morse worked for the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office beginning in 2010 and then established a law practice in Janesville in 2014, in which she gave special focus to indigent clients in complex criminal and civil proceedings, traveling to other Wisconsin counties to argue cases.

She recalls a moment when she was the attorney in a guardianship case in Polk County, representing an elderly man desperate to not be separated from his dogs. The case made her weep publicly in the courtroom.

She was profoundly moved when the judge and court staff joined in her sadness, demonstrating human grace in the courtroom. "It made me think, 'wow, this can feel different,' " she recalls. Going forward, she vowed to offer that same level of compassion on her own bench, if she became a judge.

She said she hopes her appointment as a judge encourages others to "believe in themselves" and "shoot your shot," without self-doubt.

As a judge, Morse said she strives to "operate from a place of kindness and love," with every defendant and victim leaving her courtroom feeling they have been heard and treated with dignity and respect, recognizing that people appearing before her are often in the midst of "the worst day of their life.”

Morse also said true judicial impact is often found in seemingly small interactions. Once, a Black woman came into her courtroom for the sole purpose of seeing her on the bench.

β€œShe’s like, β€˜I just wanted to see it for myself,’ ” Morse recalls, calling it a powerful reminder of the hope her public role offers some people.

The demands of the bench have also spurred a personal commitment to self-improvement. She said she feels a deep responsibility to "practice what I preach" to those she serves.

In striving to live the principles she voices, Morse lost 250 pounds and sought therapy, changes she said have made her "a much better person."

β€œI don’t know that I would have made those changes for myself without kind of having this community be a mirror for me in a lot of ways,” she said.

Looking ahead, Morse said she is focused on the critical challenge of improving access to an attorney for people who need one but might not be able to afford it.

While criminal defendants have a constitutional right to an attorney, people in civil mattersβ€” including in custody and divorce cases β€” often cannot afford one, an issue she said she is committed to highlighting and addressing.

Morse’s focus on systemic issues and racial disparities runs deep. Prior to her 2022 judicial appointment, she had served on the Rock County Trauma Task Force and the Rock County Youth Justice Racial Disparities Committee and had coached the Turner High School Mock Trial Team.

At the national level, Morse has worked extensively with the National Juvenile Defender Center (now The Gault Center), where she was selected as an Ambassador for Racial Justice. This highly selective program, jointly sponsored by the Georgetown Juvenile Justice Initiative, seeks defenders committed to challenging racial injustice in the juvenile legal system.

As a capstone project, she developed a local training program focused on the impacts of racial trauma on youth. Her subsequent leadership led to her selection as the racial disparity practice coordinator for the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office, where she was able to expand this crucial training.

In a 2022 release announcing her appointment, Gov. Evers praised Morse’s qualifications.

β€œAshley Morse is a recognized and accomplished leader whose dedication to improving the legal system, especially the juvenile legal system, and tireless commitment to justice will make her an excellent judge for the people of Rock County. I am proud to announce her appointment today, and of the strong, positive impact she will continue to have in the community and in our state,” Evers wrote.