Bablitch, former Supreme Court Justice, dies at age 69

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Retired Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice William Bablitch passed away at his home in Hawaii Wednesday evening.

Bablitch was elected to the Court in 1983 and served until 2003, when he left the court and joined the Madison office of Michael Best & Friedrich. At Michael Best, Bablitch did appellate work, working with and advising attorneys in all their cases before the Court, although Bablitch did not participate in oral arguments himself.

Attorney David Hanson, who was a classmate of Bablitch’s in law school and a partner at Michael Best, remarked, “The State will miss him; we will miss him; and his friends will miss him. He was a fine gentleman.”

Before joining the Court, Bablitch served as Portage County District Attorney, and in the Wisconsin State Senate. Bablitch was Senate Majority Leader for 7 years until announcing his candidacy for the Supreme Court.

Bablitch’s service on the court is remembered for its color and pragmatism.

In County of Adams v. Romeo, 191 Wis.2d 379, 528 N.W.2d 379 (1995), in which the majority held that catching fish from a heavily-stocked pond constituted fishing under the nature conservancy laws, Bablitch, an avid fisherman, dissented, opining:

“Fishing is many things, the least of which to many who indulge is the catching of fish.

It is, in the winter doldrums, the casual browsing through the fishing catalogues, the fisherperson’s equivalent of the gardener’s seed catalogues, contemplating the coming renewal;

It is the snap of a twig across the lake on a dew filled morning signalling the approach of a deer taking the first sip of the dawn;

It is the desolate cry of a loon signalling its mate in a most haunting communion indecipherable to mere humans;

It is the screech of the owl ten feet above the river bend warning the invader of its displeasure as we approach at dusk to witness the fleetingly hypnotic hatch of the mayfly, ironically renewing itself at the moment of its demise;

It is the swish swish swish of the giant wings of the heron as it rises reluctantly from its shallow water preserve, glaringly reminding us that this is its home, not ours.

It is all of this, and more, that brings us back again and again. This is fishing; the catching of a fish is merely ancillary.
…

An artificially constructed pond within yards of a natural waterway, 100 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 3 feet deep into which is put a corn or pellet baited hook with sufficient strength of line to water ski a polar bear is not fishing.”

Bablitch’s tenure on the court was also marked by eloquent defenses of defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights and the right to recover punitive damages from intentional tortfeasors.

Justice N. Patrick Crooks was a close friend of Bablitch’s during their time together on the court, and has remained friends since Bablitch’s retirement.

Crooks said, “When I think of Bill Bablitch, I think of a Renaissance man. He had so many interests, and was so god at so many things. We have lost a great jurist and a great human being.” Among varied interests outside the law (and fishing), Crooks said Bablitch was a great chef, a wine connoisseur and Packer fan.

Before joining the Supreme Court, Bablitch even tried a case in front of Crooks, when Crooks was on the circuit court in Brown County, successfully defending a defendant charged with disorderly conduct at a Packers game.

“It’s hard to say anything but what a great justice he was for 20 years,” Crooks said. “He was a justice you could work with and compromise with when you had to.”

In a statement, Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson said, “He brought to the court a wealth of knowledge and experience as a former prosecutor, legislator and Peace Corps volunteer. His diverse interests – fishing, cooking, gardening – found their way into many of the opinions he authored.

“When Justice Bablitch retired from the court in 2003, he hoped to dedicate a great deal more time to three priorities: his family, fly fishing and golf.  Although his retirement was tragically brief, I am happy to say that he was able to follow these passions in his beautiful adopted home state of Hawaii.”