News

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis B. Butler Jr. will be the keynote speaker at the University of Wisconsin Law School’s 2007 “Presentation of the Colors” ceremony May 18 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison.

Butler, a graduate of the Law School’s Class of 1977, will address graduating law students during the traditional ceremony, which begins at 1 p.m. The official commencement ceremony for all professional school students, including law students, will be held that evening at the Kohl Center. About 240 students are expected to receive law degrees.

Past keynote speakers include Supreme Court Justices Ann Walsh Bradley and William Bablitch, and U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin.

The occasion won’t mark Justice Butler’s first visit as a speaker at the law school. In 2004, he addressed students of the nationally recognized Legal Education Opportunities Program on the same day he was appointed to the Supreme Court. In that speech, Butler described the long and challenging journey that took him to the state’s High Court.

Justice Butler, who was appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle, became the first African-American Supreme Court justice in Wisconsin history. After serving as an assistant state public defender from 1979 to 1992, Justice Butler was appointed to the Milwaukee Municipal Court. He served as a municipal judge until 2002, when he was elected to Branch 9 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

For more information contact:
Tom Sheehan
Court Information Officer
(608) 261-6640