| Judge Paul Higginbotham, recipient of a 2007 Excellence in Leadership Recognition from the Dominion energy company, has been leading the way for over 20 years as African Americans have risen up the ladder in the private and public sectors in Wisconsin. An unabashed progressive, since tempered when he was appointed to the Wis. Court of Appeals, Branch IV three-and-a-half years ago, Higginbotham has paved the way for African Americans in several positions including Dane County's first minority affairs coordinator, the city of Madison's first municipal judge, and now an appellate court judge, all "firsts" for African Americans. And it was probably his unsuccessful run to become a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice in 2003 that more than likely helped pave the way for the appointment of Justice Louis Butler to the Supreme Court in 2004. Yet in spite of the fact that Higginbotham has risen to a prominent place in state government, he hasn't forgotten the every day people who make the world turn. When I met Higginbotham at The Great Dane for our interview, he was animatedly telling one of the waitresses about the recognition he had recently received. Higginbotham regularly goes to The Great Dane, just a block from the Court of Appeals, to eat and sometimes to get away and read briefs. Clearly, he is on a first name basis with the staff. The waitress is very much interested in his award as a friend. "My cousin Leon [Federal Judge A. Leon Higginbotham] always thought everyone was important," Higginbotham said later in his office. "And so he made it a point to talk to the doorman. He made it a point to talk to the custodian. In his view, nobody is more important than anyone else. It takes all of us. I have the same viewpoint. Whether it is a waitperson or someone who carries out my trash or whatever, heck even the people who are vacuuming the floor in our offices right now, I always try to talk with them and relate to them one on one. The interns we have and the staff attorneys and the assistants, all of us need each other. And if we start to think that somebody is lower than we are, then we've lost sight of that very important notion. None of us can exist in this world without each other. That's exactly what Leon thought and that's exactly what I think. You can't lose sight of humanity because the minute you lose it, then you diminish yourself. How can you feel you are more important than anyone else at that point because you are not." Higginbotham's ascent to the bench was fortuitous in a way. Back in the early 1990s, Madison had grown large enough to merit a municipal court judge. Mayor Paul Soglin had really pushed for the court, but Governor Tommy Thompson was reluctant to create the court unless it was shielded somewhat from a liberal Madison appointment. A deal was struck and the court was created. However, the person Soglin would appoint to the judgeship for the nine months before an election could be held could not run for election to it. It wasn't the most appealing appointment because the appointee would only be a caretaker. "I knew that was the case going into it," Higginbotham said. "At the same time, there was a bill winding its way through the legislature to create Seat 19 of the Dane County Circuit Court. I looked at that and looked at the municipal judgeship and I thought a great way to run for circuit court is with the title "judge." Knowing that the municipal judgeship was limited term, I knew I could run with that experience and getting that experience is always very helpful. So I did that." Higginbotham ran for the Dane County Circuit Court, in part because of the encouragement of two key people. "I called Attorney General James Doyle and asked him to come over to talk to me about running for the bench," Higginbotham recalled. "I wanted to knock it around. He very graciously came over to my chambers and said 'There's no better time.' My name recognition was excellent. I was finishing up a stint as municipal judge. I had the credentials. Between Doyle and my good friend Donna Jones who talked me into running for the Dane County Circuit Court bench. So I ran and I won. I was the first African American to sit on the circuit bench in Dane County. That's how it all got rolling." Next issue: Running for the Supreme Court, appointment to the Court of Appeals and the Excellence in Leadership Recognition |
| Leading the way By Jonathan Gramling Part 1 of 2 |
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| Judge Paul Higginbotham is the first African American to sit on a Wisconsin appellate court |
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