Hon. Louis B. Butler, Jr. (Ret.) was a justice for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He was appointed to the seat by former Governor Jim Doyle in August 2004. Butler retired in April 2008.
He holds the distinction of being the first African-American justice in the history of Wisconsin. Butler began his judicial career as a judge for the Milwaukee County Circuit Court after being elected to Branch 9 in 2002. He also presided as a municipal judge for the Milwaukee Municipal Court (1992 to 2002).
Prior to joining the bench, Butler worked as an assistant state public defender for thirteen years (1979 to 1992).
He received a bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University in 1973. Butler went on to complete a J.D. at the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1977. He was admitted to practice in Illinois (1978) and Wisconsin (1979).
Butler taught as an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School and as a permanent faculty member at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. He has also served as a member of the bench in the Southwestern Law School Moot Court Competition in Los Angeles, California.
His memberships have included the Milwaukee Bar Association, the Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers, the Wisconsin Law Foundation (Fellow and past president), and the James E. Doyle Chapter of the American Inns of Court. Butler was also involved with the NAACP, the Community Brainstorming Conference, and the Personnel Review Board.
He was named Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (2018) and Humanitarian of the Year by the American Federation of Teachers - Local 212. Butler is also the recipient of the Twenty Years of Teaching Award from the National Judicial College (2016), the Thomas G. Cannon Equal Justice Award from the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, the William M. Coffey Memorial Award from the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the NAACP Food Soldiers’ Award, the Outstanding Citizen Award from the Wisconsin Council of Deliberations (Prince Hall Masons), the 2014 Leaders in the Law from the Wisconsin Law Journal, and the Trail Blazer Award from the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (2002,2004).
He was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as a judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin on September 30, 2009, though his nomination was returned to the President in December of that same year. President Obama renominated him on January 20, 2010, and again on September 13, 2010, but both of those nominations were also returned.
Following his retirement, Butler became an attorney at DeWitt LLP.
Bulter was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. He attended South Shore High School.
Butler is a married father of two.