Senate Panel Approves Another Liberal Activist Judge

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved, along party lines, President Obama’s nomination of a highly controversial liberal activist judge twice rejected by Wisconsin voters for a spot on that state’s Supreme Court.

Regardless, the president is shoving the notoriously leftist judge (Louis Butler) down the collective throats of Badger State residents by giving him a lifetime federal judgeship in Wisconsin’s Western District. The full Senate must still vote on Butler’s nomination and more than likely will confirm him.

In 2000 Butler, a municipal court judge at the time, lost his bid for a spot on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court after Diane Sykes defeated him by a margin of 2 to 1. Four years later President George W. Bush elevated Judge Sykes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and Wisconsin’s Democratic governor appointed Butler to finish out Sykes’ term on the Supreme Court. 

Although he was the incumbent, Butler was defeated several years later in a contentious race against a circuit judge to keep his spot on the Supreme Court. It marked the first time in four decades that a sitting justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court lost a retention election. Voters wanted him out because, during his tenure, Butler became well known for overturning the will of the people, disregarding the Constitution and a soft stance on crime. A detailed review of his decisions can be viewed here. 

Butler is simply the latest of several admitted leftist and activist judges handpicked by Obama for coveted lifetime posts. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whose decisions have repeatedly been overturned, believes judges make laws and admits having decided cases based on race. David Hamilton, nominated to the 7th Circuit, is closely tied to a scandal-plagued community organization (ACORN) involved in several fraud scandals and received a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association when Bill Clinton assigned him to Indiana’s federal district court.  

Butler’s nomination sticks out however, because citizens in his state have officially repudiated him in two separate elections. As one national newspaper editorial points out, in selecting Butler Obama has demonstrated brazen contempt for Wisconsin voters.