Louis Butler
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Gov. Jim Doyle appointed Justice Louis Butler to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in August 2004, the first African American ever to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Chicago native earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1977, then served in the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office as an assistant public defender, with positions as an appellate lawyer, a trial lawyer, and in management. In 1992, he was appointed as a judge on the Milwaukee County Municipal Court, where he served for 10 years until his election to Branch 9 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2002. Justice Butler is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Bar Association, NAACP, Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers, Community Brainstorming Conference, State/Federal/Tribal Court Forum Committee, Personnel Review Board, and the James E. Doyle Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He has also previously served on the Board of Legal Action of Wisconsin and is a former president of the Wisconsin Municipal Judges Association and the Wisconsin Black Lawyer’s Association. Justice Butler and his wife Irene live in Milwaukee and have two daughters and two grandchildren. Did you know: Justice Butler was the first public defender in Wisconsin history to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
