Louis B. Butler

Who is Louis B. Butler?

Louis Bennett Butler, Jr. is a former justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Butler was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Jim Doyle in August 2004; his term expired on July 31, 2008. He is the first African American to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Louis Butler was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University in 1973 and his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1977.

After serving as an assistant state public defender from 1979 to 1992, Louis Butler was appointed to the Municipal Court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as a municipal judge until 2002, when he was elected to Branch 9 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Butler also served as an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School.

Butler campaigned for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2000, but lost his election bid to incumbent Diane Sykes by a wide margin. After being appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2004, he was defeated by the Judge Michael Gableman in the April 1, 2008 elections. Butler was the first sitting Wisconsin Supreme Court justice to be defeated in a reelection campaign since 1967.