J/S ENDORSEMENT OMITS BUTLER CIRCUIT COURT STINT

By Michael Horne

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel endorsed Justice Louis Butler in his bid to remain on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in an editorial today, Sunday, March 30th, 2008. The sages of the editorial board see Butler as "the clear choice" for the position, and then muddy their endorsement with an incomplete accounting of Butler's career:
"Butler has been a judge for more than 15 years, including four on the state Supreme Court and before that as a municipal judge in Milwaukee. For 13 years prior to that, he was a public defender who worked with some of the state's poorest citizens."

However, Justice Butler's biography in the 2007-2008 edition of the State of Wisconsin Blue Book, which is prima facie assumed to be authoritative in such matters, tells us that Butler was a municipal judge in the City of Milwaukee from 1992-2002; a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge from 2002-2004; and that he was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in August, 2004, to replace Diane Sykes, who was off to Federal Court. Just to be sure, milwaukeeworld checked Butler's biography on the Supreme Court website, where we are further enlightened that Butler served on Branch 9 of the Milwaukee court.
In that election, he defeated Robert Crawford by a lopsided vote of 83,228 to 44,182, according to the official canvass of what was then the Wisconsin Elections Board for the Spring General Election of April 2nd, 2002. Here, see for yourself. That election was particularly noteworthy since Butler defeated an incumbent judge, which is a rarity. Perhaps he did it with the help of the Journal Sentinel's endorsement, published on March 16th, 2002, in which the editorial board supported Butler "with not a single caveat," adding he "remains the superior candidate."
Community columnist Jeff M. Jensen, also writing in today's paper, correctly notes Butler's experience in his assessment of the candidate, whom he favors in this race.
The reason experience is so vitally important an issue in judicial campaigns is that there is very little else candidates are permitted to run on. Butler said so the other night at the Italian Community Center when he told supporters an assistant of his had given him a copy of "The Appeal," a new novel by John Grisham, where we learn that "politics has always been a dirty game. Now, justice is too." Included with the book was a note to not open it until April 2nd, 2008, the day after the election.
According to an article in Newsweek, which was scathingly critical of the Gabelman race to oust Butler, there are "uncanny parallels" to the book, set in Mississippi, and the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. "A sitting African-American justice targeted for defeat by business interests in both, ads accuse the incumbent of coddling criminals and being too tough on business. And in both, the election results could tip the liberal-conservative balance of the court."
Butler told the supporters at the ICC event that he was living the book right now, and urged everybody to read it. (Apparently he ignored the admonition to not open it until after the election.)
"But I'm not asking you to buy the book. As a justice I cannot promote any commercial activity. But you can go to the library and check it out," he told the crowd.
Later in the evening I told the Justice how the Gabelman campaign would interpret his endorsement of the novel. "So Butler supports putting booksellers out of business, and raising taxes by forcing public libraries to load up on his favorite books." Louie had a big laugh at that one. It's a crazy race, but the Journal Sentinel's endorsement falls far short of the mark for completeness and accuracy.

WRONG SOCIETY FOR DUDEK
Also in today's newspaper, film columnist Duane Dudek writes about the estimated $350,000 generated in the city of Columbus "when the Johnny Depp film 'Public Enemy' shot there this month." Dudek says the film's crew is now in Oshkosh, and then "they are expected to move to Milwaukee, where one anticipated location, the Wisconsin Historical Society building downtown, is undergoing a 'massive restoration.'"The Wisconsin Historical Society building is in downtown Madison, the state capital. Dudek was clearly referring to the Milwaukee County Historical Society building, which indeed is located in downtown Milwaukee -- right across the street from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. O.K. Now let me go back to my Sunday paper. My coffee is already cold!
--Michael Horne