MPA Endorses Butler, Righties Start Teeth Gnashing!

Earlier today, the Milwaukee Police Association endorsed Louis Butler in his re-election bid for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Here’s a little blurb from the MPA’s official press release:

Justice Louis Butler is the right choice for Wisconsin. He has been a strong leader and he understands the needs of our community, its citizens and law enforcement.

Justice Butler has had a distinguished career in public service, including a long tenure overseeing cases in the Milwaukee Municipal Court, where MPA members often appeared before him. In addition to serving on the local court, Justice Butler was a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge before being appointed to the high court by Governor Doyle in 2004. He is the Court’s first African-American justice and the only member with roots in the Milwaukee criminal justice system.

This experience has given him great insight into the challenges that face the citizens and law enforcement in the City of Milwaukee. He understands the affect that crime has upon our society and the need to combat it while safeguarding the rights of our citizens and law enforcement officers.

We believe that Justice Butler’s lifetime of accomplishment and his work behind the gavel makes him the right choice for Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

Predictably, folks on the right have already begun gnashing their teeth about the endorsement, with former Milwaukee Police Captain Glenn Frankovis saying, “Such an endorsement can’t even be defended! I listened to this guy speak to the Governor’s Commission investigating racial disparities in the criminal justice system and what I heard was anything but a call for law and order. This endorsement can’t even be called “politically savvy”.”

Now I don’t proclaim to be an expert on state politics, but it can’t be a good sign for Paul “Law and Order” Bucher’s burgeoning campaign against Butler if the state’s largest police union has already gone on record endorsing Butler. I’m inclined to believe they know the State Supreme Court isn’t the place for on the job training, which is what Paul Bucher – who hasn’t served one day as a judge – would need.