| way for the appointment of Justice Louis Butler to the Supreme Court in 2004. It is probably this string of "firsts" that caused someone -- to this day Higginbotham does not know who -- to nominate him back in September for a 2007 Excellence in Leadership recognition by the Dominion Corp. When talking about this recognition, Higginbotham speaks in awe because of those who have been honored in the past. "They had all of these names of these incredible people such as Rosa Parks, Jeanetta Cole, Correta Scott King, Hank Aaron, Maya Angelou and Thurgood Marshall," Higginbotham said. "John Hope Franklin and James Farmer, two of my heroes, were there." There is a two-fold purpose to the awards program. "The focus of the program is not only to recognize African Americans who have contributed to their community -- and they recognize people who have been 'firsts' in what they do -- but they also have an essay writing contest that targets high schoolers," Higginbotham said. The materials that are developed are placed in a booklet and used to teach Black History to students in Dominion's service area. That is the real reward to Higginbotham. "They teach it to African American, Hispanic, Native American, and White kids and say 'You can do this,'!" Higginbotham exclaimed. "That's the inspiration. 'Look at these great people. They aren't born with silver spoons in their mouths. Almost all of us come from humble beginnings and we have pushed through whatever adversity was there. We've worked hard. We've demonstrated leadership in our respective communities. And you can do it too.' That's really the thrust of this program to tell the kids they can succeed by being excellent, not succeed for the single purpose of succeeding, but by trying to achieve excellence, success naturally follows. It's almost like living Black History. It's so cool." And it is Higginbotham's persistence over time that has kept him ever climbing higher on Wisconsin's judicial ladder. In 2002, soon after Minnesota's progressive senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash, Higginbotham decided to run for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It was a long jump between Dane County circuit court judge and Wisconsin Supreme Court justice. But Wellstone's death made a big impact on Higginbotham. "I thought 'You know, Progressives have to get out there,'" Higginbotham recalled. "'There aren't enough people sticking their necks out.' I was so motivated. I took a look at who was on the Supreme Court and I decided to hop into the race. It took a while for that to happen, unfortunately. I was waiting for one possible candidate to make up his mind. And he waited and waited and waited until mid-December, which wasn't helpful to me. I was ready to go much sooner than that. I feel I could have won if I had gotten going a month earlier. So I stuck my neck out and I was amazed at the outpouring of support. I was just blown away. In six very short weeks leading up to the primary, my campaign raised $110,000. None of it was my money. I think I put in a total of $100 into that campaign. I crisscrossed the state. I was just all over the place. It was brutal. I had to take some days off from the bench, but it was real hard to do. Plus we had just had our first son, Paulito, Paul Jr. He was barely six weeks old. So it was really tough. It was so brutal. But even though I lost the primary, the fact that I got that close really told me that with a little more time we could have done it." Higginbotham settled back into his duties on the circuit court and made plans to vacation in Panama with his wife Cora, a native of Panama. But as electoral fate would have it, Pat Roggensack, a judge on the Court of Appeals won the Supreme Court seat that April, creating a vacancy that Governor James Doyle would have to fill. Higginbotham put his hat in the ring to be considered for appointment to the appeals court bench. "You apply and then there is a cut," Higginbotham said. "Then there is an interview before a commission. I did the interview and felt very good about it. After that, it's a question of who is forwarded to the Governor. There were three names forwarded and I was one of them. We all met with the Governor separately. I had this vacation planned, and so, I went to Panama. I got the call from the governor himself while I was in the jungles of Panama on vacation, it was really funny. Cora and I got back from visiting a Catholic priest we know who was working for the Indians out in the Darien Jungle. He's actually from Ripon, Wisconsin. We've actually provided some help to them. So we came back and I had the sense that the Governor would probably call Cora's grandmothers. She said 'The Governor called.' So I had to call the Governor back from Panama. He offered the position and I was thrilled to take it." It wasn't an easy transition to the appellate court. Higginbotham couldn't just pick up and leave the circuit court where there were pending trials in motion. "There was so much work; after I was sworn in to the Court of Appeals the Chief Justice had to issue an order to allow me to continue serving on the trial bench so I could finish up my cases," Higginbotham said. "I no longer had jurisdiction." In all, there are 16 appellate court judges assigned to four appellate court districts. The fourth district, the one Higginbotham is assigned to that is located in Madison, has five judges due to the volume of cases filled in Dane County circuit courts against or on behalf of the state of Wisconsin. And while Higginbotham has always been an unabashed progressive and holds deeply held personal views that are progressive, he learned quickly that the state appeals court wasn't about his progressive views, it was about the law. "The labels 'Liberal' or 'Conservative' don't mean a lot on the court," Higginbotham confided. "This is why people need to pay close attention to the judges whom they elect, particularly on the appellate level. People bring their life experiences and their life's viewpoint to the job. You can't help that. That is just what it is. And this is something I ran on for the Supreme Court. It's very important for the vitality of the institution that you have people from diverse backgrounds. I've learned this on the Court of Appeals that there is a natural tension that is created when you have diverse experiences represented. What I have observed on our court is there is always someone who has a little bit more experience in this area and more experience in that other area. It helps inform the rest of us on how to make a good decision." "Take our Court of Appeals, for instance," Higginbotham continued. "Our colleague, Judge Deininger who is retiring this week, brought a whole lot to the bench, just an enormous amount. Interestingly enough, he was a Republican legislator who was then appointed by Tommy Thompson to the Court of Appeals. One would think, 'Oh, here we go. We have a Republican, so he will make decisions that are consistent with that ideology.' But when I was a trial judge, I rendered the Milwaukee school voucher cases. It went up to the Court of Appeals and it was Judge Deininger who wrote that opinion affirming my decision. No way did his politics come into play. Then it went up to the Supreme Court and it reversed the decision. I'm very proud of Judge Deininger because it was very obvious that he didn' bring his politics into the room. And I can say that unequivocally about my other colleagues on the Court of Appeals. No political agendas get played out. Everybody is very interested in making sure the job is right and done properly. When we're in that conference room trying to sort through how we're going to decide a case, it's all about the law. It's all about the facts. This is exactly what it is supposed to be and nothing more than that." Higginbotham admits that he has become a moderate in the last three years because the role as appeals court judge dictate that he take a different approach to his work. And he can no longer be an advocate of a judicial position because he must now look at the big legal picture. Next issue: The workings of the appellate court. |
| Leading the way Part 2 of 3 By Jonathan Gramling |
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| 2007 Excellence in Leadership honorees: From top left - Dwight L. Williams, Ph.D., Blair Underwood, Dawn Staley, Charles F. Lovell Jr., M.D. From bottom left - Billy K. Cannaday Jr., Ed.D., Sheila C. Johnson, Paul B. Higginbotham, J.D., Jerry Sue Thornton, Ph.D., Marc H. Morial |
| 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 |
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