POSTED: Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 1:00 am

BY: dmc-admin

Two candidates were on the brink of filling federal judicial vacancies in Wisconsin before President George W. Bush left office, but they never made it to the bench.

After the new Congress convened and President Barack Obama took office, the nominations expired. Now the process is starting over for the same job in the Western District Court, as well as for the recently vacated U.S. Attorney position in the Eastern District.

Neither of Bush’s choices, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge J. Mac Davis nor Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Timothy G. Dugan, applied for the current openings, but there are plenty of other interested parties.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Louis B. Butler Jr. is among 13 applicants for Judge John C. Shabaz’s seat, while five federal prosecutors account for half of the hopefuls for the U.S. Attorney position previously held by Steven M. Biskupic.

Shabaz had been on medical leave for almost a year prior to announcing his retirement effective Jan. 20 and Biskupic resigned his post in December and left office on Jan. 9.

“Folks who were likely to get approval from President Bush and folks likely to get approval from President Obama tend to be different folks,” said Marquette University Law School Professor Peter K. Rofes, who formerly chaired the state’s Federal Nominating Commission.

Past and Present

While pundits said past nominees Davis and Dugan had little chance of getting confirmed by the Senate prior to the end of the Bush administration, whoever is selected for the open judgeship and U.S. Attorney position could start relatively soon under President Obama and a Democrat-controlled Congress.

“My guess is that the [Federal Nominating] Committee’s work and the confirmation process will move quickly and without much in the way of fireworks,” said Marquette University Law School Professor Richard Esenberg.

Dugan had been nominated for Eastern District seat held by Judge Rudolph T. Randa, who rescinded his request for senior status in January. Davis was Bush’s selection to succeed Shabaz.

Davis indicated he chose not to apply again because he expects Obama will appoint a “judicial liberal,” which he said he is not. He also served as a Republican state Senator for seven years prior to taking the bench in 1990.

He also suggested one of the candidates may have an inside track on the position.

“The rumor mill is that Louis Butler is going to get the appointment as a consolation for getting beat in the Supreme Court race,” Davis said.

University of Wisconsin Law School Dean Kenneth B. Davis Jr. is chair of the nominating commission charged with screening candidates for the Western District judicial seat.

Davis said the 11 members have not even begun to evaluate the qualifications of each candidate, but he hopes to forward recommendations to state Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl by the end of March.

“We have not even had discussions about specific candidates and when we do, we are bound by the [commission] charter to keep them confidential,” Davis said.

Other judicial applicants for the district court seat include Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker, District IV Court of Appeals Judge Paul B. Higginbotham, La Crosse County Circuit Court Judge Ramona A. Gonzalez, Eau Claire County Circuit Court Judge Lisa K. Stark and Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing Administrative Law Judge John N. Schweitzer.

Attorney applicants include Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen P. Sinnott, Kendall W. Harrison and James D. Peterson of Godfrey & Kahn S.C., James R. Cole of Quarles & Brady LLP, William M. Conley of Foley & Lardner LLP, Eric G. Barber of Perkins Coie LLP and Stephen J. Meyer of Meyer Law Office.

U.S. Attorney Applicants

While five assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Eastern District applied for the vacant job in Milwaukee, the woman temporarily filling Biskupic’s position was not among them.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Jacobs was named the interim U.S. Attorney after her boss departed in January, but she chose not to permanently seek the position.

“I gave careful consideration to the decision, but for both personal and professional reasons, I decided to forgo applying,” Jacobs said.

She said she plans to remain an assistant prosecutor in the district once a new U.S. Attorney is appointed and declined to speculate as to who might land the job.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard G. Frohling, Mel S. Johnson, William J. Lipscomb, James L. Santelle and Karine Moreno Taxman are among the candidates for the vacancy.

Also in the running are Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Maxine A. White, Wisconsin Department of Transportation Chief Legal Counsel Robert J. Jambois, Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney David A. Feiss, Daniel J. Vaccaro of Michael Best & Friedrich and Alex Flynn of Alex Flynn & Associates.

Esenberg did not guess as to who will be appointed, but said that there are a number of highly qualified “prosecutor types” who do not have strong partisan connections.

“If you look over the past 32 years, a number of the appointments to this office fit that pattern,” Esenberg said. “The last two Democratic appointees, [Tom] Schneider and [Joan] Kessler were more politically connected, but I just don’t think we are going to see a nominee who is seen to have strong partisan connections.”

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