Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
A native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, William Bablitch graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1963. He then served in the Peace Corps in Liberia as one of its earliest volunteers before returning to Wisconsin to attend law school, where he graduated in 1968. He was district attorney for Portage County, Wisconsin from 1969 to 1972, and a Wisconsin state senator from 1972 to 1983, for seven years of which he was Democratic Majority Leader. Bablitch played a crucial role in working to pass new laws such as groundbreaking sexual assault legislation, the reorganization of the state court system, divorce reform, mandatory reporting of child abuse, and Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law. He wrote the state's first campaign finance reform law that placed restrictions on campaign funding and established public financing.
Bablitch served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1983 to 2003. After earning his LL.M. from UVA, he joined the faculty of New York University Law School, Institute of Judicial Education, where he taught appellate judges. Following retirement from the Wisconsin Supreme Court he became a partner with Michael, Best and Friedrich in Madison, Wisconsin. Bablitch died in February 2011.
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