Judge 'Loophole Louie' coming to Wisconsin again...

[WhiskeyGirl]

A judge twice rejected by voters is nominated by President Obama.

... After being twice rejected by Wisconsin voters for a place on the state Supreme Court, the former judge has instead been nominated by President Obama to a lifetime seat on the federal district court. If he is confirmed, Wisconsin voters will have years to contend with the decisions of a judge they made clear they would rather live without.

In Ferdon v. Wisconsin Partners, he drew the rage of doctors and others when he dismantled the state's limit on noneconomic damages in medical malpractices cases—the kind of tort reform that had been serving the state well. Business groups were likewise floored by his decision in Thomas v. Mallet, which allowed "collective liability" in lead paint cases—making any company a potential target, regardless of whether they made the paint in question. His nickname as a public defender was "Loophole Louis," a name that stuck when, as a judge, he was considered to be soft on crime.

At his confirmation hearing this month, Mr. Butler was quick to make light of his double rejection by Wisconsin voters, telling the Senate Judiciary Committee that "After 16 years on the bench, I may be a better judge than a politician."

Ahem. That's a coded nod to liberal groups like the George Soros-funded Justice at Stake that are trying to eliminate judicial elections. Rather than letting voters choose judges, they prefer so-called "merit selection" plans whereby judges are selected by committees of lawyers.

read more here - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704402404574525741364961888.html


Wow....does that mean trial lawyers will be selecting judges? 

[WhiskeyGirl]

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted 12-7 in support of a controversial Wisconsin judge’s nomination to the federal bench.

Wisconsin Democratic Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold voted to support Butler's nomination. All seven of the Republicans on the committee opposed the nomination.

Butler lost his bid for the state Supreme Court in 2000. Gov. Jim Doyle appointed him to the high court in 2004, but he was defeated four years later in a contentious race against then-Burnett County Circuit Judge Michael Gableman.

Senate Republicans have questioned Butler’s nomination, noting that Wisconsin voters twice rejected him at the ballot box. They also say they are troubled by several of his previous rulings as a judge.

I guess the Obama White House could care less about what people think or want.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/78462762.html

I didn't see this advertised in the local news.  I wonder if anyone is reporting this in Wisconsin?  Do all those victims know that Obama nominated this man to a lifetime in our Federal Court serving Wisconsin?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Madison defense lawyer Chris Van Wagner...

"The fact is that (Shabaz) appreciated a good, organized, punctual, prompt and aggressive attorney," Van Wagner said. "He was a challenge for good lawyers, but in a good way. He was a challenge for an unprepared lawyer in a bad way. But he was always a challenge."

Butler will likely be more open to lawyers' various styles because he was a practicing lawyer in various courts, Van Wagner said.

Butler is "not somebody they're going to fear," he said. "I think a lot of people will find that to be a breath of fresh air."

Van Wagner said he also hoped that Butler would depart from often-severe federal sentencing guidelines, which are no longer mandatory, as Shabaz never did.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_95b01f90-aeda-11de-99db-001cc4c002e0.html

What about victims?

[WhiskeyGirl]

here are the good things about Judge Butler, endorsements, etc. -

http://www.afscme48.org/butler.html

[WhiskeyGirl]

Butler 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. The Wall Street Journal argued this loss stemmed from opinions he wrote in medical malpractice, search and seizure and products liability cases.[1] Business groups, including Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) paid for an unprecedented number of issue ads in this campaign cycle, although the Butler campaign outspent Gableman's by several hundred thousand dollars.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_B._Butler

I wonder if this will create is poor business climate?

[WhiskeyGirl]

On Tuesday, for the first time in over four decades, Wisconsin voters turned out an incumbent justice of their state supreme court. The election showed that, given a clear choice, voters usually prefer a judicial conservative to one with an activist bent.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court certainly bent the rule of law over the past four years, as a 4-3 liberal majority became the nation's premier trailblazer in overturning its own precedents and abandoning deference to the legislature's policy choices. Thus the defeat of Justice Louis Butler at the hands of Burnett County Judge Michael Gableman has national implications. A recent study in the University of California-Davis Law Review found that Wisconsin is the eighth most-cited state supreme court by other judicial bodies. Its rulings play a larger role in shaping court decisions elsewhere than those of courts in states such as New York, Florida or Texas. In addition, 38 states elect all or part of their appellate-level judges by popular vote. Judge Butler's defeat sends a signal that a judge who dramatically oversteps traditional boundaries can be brought to account.

Justice Butler soon wrote the infamous decision in Thomas v. Mallet, which created a guilty-until-proven-innocent approach to product liability. Wisconsin became the only state to adopt a "collective liability" theory in lead paint cases: Whether a company actually produced the lead paint that harmed a claimant was irrelevant to its guilt or innocence.

Then came Ferdon v. Wisconsin Patients, declaring unconstitutional the state's cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases. It argued that the caps bore "no rational relationship to a legitimate government interest." That conclusion was bizarre, since the legislature had specifically passed the caps to make malpractice insurance "available and affordable," and the caps worked.

All of this meant that Louis Butler's bid this year for a full 10-year term was bound to be contentious. Teacher unions, trial lawyers and Indian tribes (which had benefited from the court's controversial expansion of casino gambling) poured money into third-party ads attacking Judge Gableman. They were matched by business groups such as Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, which ran ads noting that Justice Butler had earned the nickname "Loophole Louie" from fellow public defenders for winning reversals of his clients' criminal convictions. Justice Butler made the mistake of embracing the nickname, claiming it was "affectionate." Voters weren't amused.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120735975782591721.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

No tort reform?  Ever rising healthcare costs due to rising malpractice awards?