Judge Mary Triggiano. Photo courtesy Marquette University.

Sept. 18, 2024 – It took a powerful experience in a Wisconsin prison to convince then-Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Mary Triggiano of the vital need for restorative justice.

That experience in 2007 – a three-day restorative justice circle at Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) that Judge Triggiano describes as “transformative” – revealed that our current justice system doesn’t work for everyone.

“Some people benefit, while others are left behind,” said Triggiano, who recently stepped down from the bench after 19 years. “Those who are harmed as well as those who harm are not set up for success to heal and overcome the countless challenges they face after a harm has occurred.”

Triggiano was invited to share in the program at GBCI – and its introduction to restorative justice – by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske, whom Judge Triggiano now describes as “my mentor and dear friend.”

In fact, it was Judge Triggiano’s commitment to restorative justice, and teaching law students about it, that took her in 2023 from the bench as Chief Judge in Milwaukee County Circuit Court to become director of the Andrew Center for Restorative Justice at Marquette University Law School – succeeding its first director, Justice Geske.

Using restorative justice practices to support those who are harmed is an important public safety and public health strategy, she says. “It is my belief that how we acknowledge harm and trauma can lead to healing and safety for those harmed, accountability and compassion for those who harm, stronger relationships, and safer communities,” Judge Triggiano said.

That belief is why she used restorative justice practices while on the bench, and why she continues to teach others about trauma-informed care and restorative justice, “trying to make our justice system more humane, equitable, problem-solving, trauma-informed, accessible and restorative.”

A Driving Need

Judge Triggiano is the 2024 recipient of the Charles L. Goldberg Distinguished Service Award from the Wisconsin Law Foundation, the charitable arm of the State Bar of Wisconsin​. The award recognizes a lifetime of service to the profession and the community.

Triggiano will receive the award at the Law Foundation’s Fellows Dinner on Oct. 10 at the Wisconsin Country Club in Milwaukee. Learn more about the Wisconsin Law Foundation Fellows Program.

Judge Triggiano decided to pursue law early on, in high school. Her parents taught her the values of serving and giving back. “I wanted to be part of a helping profession to serve the community,” she said. She decided, through the example of relatives and mentors, that law would be the best way for her to do that.

She earned her undergraduate degree from U.W.-Oshkosh in criminal justice and political science. Accepted into the U.W. Law School, she volunteered with the school’s Legal Assistance to Institutionalized Persons program. She was able to help her first client get a reduced sentence after learning that the client was defending herself from her boyfriend, who abused her, when she fatally stabbed him with a screwdriver. No one, Judge Triggiano realized at the time, had listened to her client’s full story to learn that her actions came out of a need for self-defense.

Earning her J.D. in May 1988, Judge Triggiano joined what is now Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren s.c., as an associate in commercial litigation and family law. There she learned trial practice and “the art of negotiation and dispute resolution,” and litigated pro bono cases involving family law, consumer, and landlord-tenant issues.

On Building Relationships

Another vital lesson from this time: the importance of building professional relationships.

It was volunteer work with State Bar leadership and committees as well as with other organizations that helped Judge Triggiano build her professional relationships. She served on the State Bar's Board of Governors (1999-2004), including as liaison to the Diversity Committee (2004) and the Section Leaders Advisory Council (2002-04), and as a member of its Executive Committee (2003-04). She served on the board and vice chair of the Dispute Resolution Section (1994-2002) and was involved with the Legal Assistance Committee for a decade, and served as chair (2003-04).

Judge Triggiano is also involved with the Association for Women Lawyers, the Milwaukee Young Lawyers Association, the Milwaukee Bar Association, and the Wisconsin African American Lawyers Association. Past involvement includes many community organizations.

“The relationships I built” offered her support and encouragement as she took each successive step in her career, Judge Triggiano said. “Our relationships matter. I deeply believe that the law is a profession of service, of helping others navigate their most challenging times. But it is also a profession that thrives on connection – connection to colleagues, to mentors, to clients, and to the communities we serve.”

In March 1994, Triggiano changed course, and joined Legal Action of Wisconsin, spending a decade as director of its Volunteer Lawyers Project and an overlapping eight years as managing attorney of its Milwaukee office, again serving her community.

In July 2004, with the encouragement of colleagues and judges, she applied for and was appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle to the Milwaukee circuit court bench.

Reshaping the Justice System for Better Outcomes

Judge Triggiano’s first rotation in Milwaukee County was the children’s court. She quickly learned that the stories of harm and trauma would keep her up at night. “It was because I had this insatiable curiosity about the ‘why’ of human behavior. I needed to know why people who are hurt often hurt others, while some do not,” she said.

That led to learning about trauma-informed care (TIC), an approach to human behavior that recognizes that trauma, especially childhood trauma, affects an individual’s behavioral, physical, and mental health through their lifetime. “I knew this information and practice would reshape how we worked with people in the justice system,” she said.

An advocate for its use, Judge Triggiano has been teaching legal professionals and others about TIC for more than 15 years. She now sits on the board of the Neuroscience Research Center of the Medical College of Wisconsin to further her knowledge of human behavior and brain science.

On the Milwaukee bench, a rotation into the domestic violence court and then back into children’s court also taught Judge Triggiano about the role played by treatment courts – where collaborative teams help parents suffering from substance use disorders – in helping families become whole again and minimizing a child’s trauma when they are separated from their parents.

She led the county’s Family Drug Treatment Court (2013-17) and helped create a new court – the Healthy Infant Court, in 2015.

“Both courts take a TIC and restorative justice approach to child welfare,” she said, and have the primary goal of reunification of child and parent, if appropriate. The Healthy Infant Court helps to make sure infants are safe, flourishing, and have a better chance at healthy brain development.

Both treatment courts have “reshaped the way we handle families in our child welfare courts.” The result is much better outcomes “even for those parents whose lives have been upended by heroin use,” Judge Triggiano said.

Chief Judge during the Pandemic

In 2020, Judge Triggiano was appointed Chief Judge of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. It was February – just one month before the world shut down from the COVID-19 pandemic. “We knew it was coming,” she said, but like many others at the time, “we thought it would last a short few weeks.”

On the stark realization that the courts would be shut down for months, not weeks, the case backlog was increasing, impacting victims, defendants sitting in jail, children awaiting adoption hearings or reunification with their parents, probate matters, divorces, civil cases – everyone in the court system.

A team approach was required – and relationships and experience matter in a time of crisis. “I had a lot of practice as a judge doing a lot of problem-solving work in various leadership positions,” she said. The Community Justice Council – chaired by Judge Triggiano and comprised of stakeholders in the community, such as law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, the mayor, the county executive, and various community advocates – already had a strong working relationship.

Anticipating what would come, “we were meeting even before the shutdown,” she said. “We were as ready as we could be to deal with something no one’s ever dealt with.”

They worked “around the clock” to open the courts back up – but most importantly, in a way that kept people safe. “We certainly didn’t want anyone to die from COVID on our watch,” she said.

Judge Triggiano led the team to get the courts on Zoom, and to get plexiglass and other safety measures installed in the courtrooms. They even opened a makeshift courtroom at Zoofari Conference Center in Milwaukee. By June 2020, they partially opened back up for some trials.

“We managed the crisis together. Having built up relationships before the pandemic was a game-changer in getting us going again,” she said.

“I along with my leadership team and countless others navigated the pandemic and its incredible impact with grace, tenacity, and success,” Judge Triggiano said.

The next crisis then presented itself: the loss of staff, with some people not returning – yet they needed more to keep the cases moving through the system. “We’re still in that situation now,” she said.

Director of the Andrew Center

In 2023, she received an offer she could not refuse: to be director of the Andrew Center for Restorative Justice at Marquette University Law School.

The Andrew Center, established after receiving an endowment in 2021, supports teaching, practicing, and promoting restorative processes in the justice system and broader community.

Justice Geske had called – telling Judge Triggiano that a generous gift would allow Justice Geske’s work in restorative justice at Marquette University Law School to continue after she stepped down. She suggested Judge Triggiano apply to be the Andrew Center’s next director.

That invitation was “humbling.” Justice Geske’s “more than two decades of incredible restorative justice work has left an indelible mark at Marquette Law School, nationally, and internationally,” Judge Triggiano said. “That work needs to continue.”

More than a year now in the position, Judge Triggiano maintains close contact with Justice Geske. “I have her on speed dial,” Judge Triggiano said.

‘A Uniquely Human Approach’

Restorative justice, says Judge Triggiano, is a uniquely human approach to harm.

The justice system deals with harm all the time but views it in terms of a specific law or rule that was broken, and how to punish the responsible party.

“Restorative justice seeks to identify the harm that has happened – to understand its impact and discern what can be done to put it right.” Better understanding about harm comes from using generous listening, storytelling, connecting, and sharing among those affected, Triggiano said.

Restorative justice elevates the voices of those most directly affected by the harm – especially victims, who are often sidelined in traditional justice practices.

Restorative justice isn’t always appropriate – for it to work, the person who caused the harm must take responsibility. “They have to want to help repair the harm,” she said. “With some, you’ll never get to that point.”

One of Judge Triggiano’s tasks is to teach law students – as the next generation of community leaders – about using restorative justice processes. It’s not only useful in the justice system, but outside it as well, such as in businesses and educational settings. “It’s an approach to resolving community-based conflict.”

One year into her new position, “I love what I do. I love teaching. The students are great – I learn from them too, so it's been a wonderful experience,” she said. “Law students and I are able to work in community, the courts, and corrections using restorative justice approaches.”

How to Be Better Lawyers

Judge Triggiano's other passion is the the importance of wellness. “To be your best and be in service to others, you must practice self-care,” she said. “Not only do we have to understand the person in front of us, but we have to understand our own well-being, to become better decision-makers, better lawyers.”

For Judge Triggiano that sometimes means stopping and taking a few deep breaths. Other times, it means getting out on her bicycle and making sure she gets her 12,000 daily steps in (by having walking meetings at work).

Helping lawyers learn self-care “should be a priority, just like we teach ethics,” she said. When each day may bring a crisis, frustration or anger, or simply a day of sitting at the computer working, “we should remind each other about self-care,” she said.

Part of self-care includes kindness, she says. “Everyone you know deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. And kindness really matters.”

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