Next time a Republican screams judicial partisanship about a “radical” Dane County Judge, ask them

about Henry Butler and Koch Industries, and Paul Reilly.

This class, taught by Henry Butler, came to the Wisconsin Judicial Conference 12 years after the publication of the WSJ report, at the 2009 Judicial Conference. With the help of methodical and systematic co-opting of academicians and institutions, Koch influence came to Wisconsin, still under the radar in 2009 – with a little help from a “non-partisan” judge…from Waukesha County.

Documents obtained by the Wisconsin Judiciary Education Board confirm that Justice Michael Gableman has fulfilled his required continuing education hours by attending State Judicial Conferences for the years 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , and 2011 (links to conferences agendas attached). In almost all cases, seminars at these conferences deal with non-partisan matters of law, changes in legislation affecting sentencing, etc. For example, at the 2010 conference (link, above), seminars were held pertaining to new OWI laws, updates on deferred compensation and early retirement planning; at-risk restraining orders, and increasing prison populations and sentencing issues. One year before Scott Walker would be elected to office, and Koch Industries would become a household name connected with political influence, a Waukesha County Judge brought a known Koch Industries “academician” to present his “Law and Economics” program to the 2009 State Judiciary Conference.

Judge Paul F. Reilly is an Appeals Court Judge in District II, Waukesha County. While the office is supposedly non-partisan, Reilly is a known Republican. In the 2010 election, Reilly received the endorsement of the heavily Republican-conservative Wisconsin Family Action PAC, applauding his bringing “…respect for the law and the separation of powers to this key judicial position.” The twisting of “separation of powers” meaning was key to conservatives in defending the overreach of Act 10 enactment, and their legal opining that courts could not intervene – even in light of constitutional challenges. According to Judicial Education Commission staff, Reilly “pushed hard” for Henry Butler’s seminar on Law and Economics to be included in the 2009 program. A non-partisan judge, lobbying for a seminar created, and paid by Koch Industries in 1995, focusing on Friedman principles of “free-market economics.” Butler moves from one university to the other with private funding. In 2009, the program was at Northwestern University. Now, the Law and Economics program resides at George Mason University – but always under the direction of Henry Butler.

Henry Butler is a known conservative and free market proponent-economist. Butler had a long affiliation with the American Enterprise Institute, having been the former director of the “Judicial Education Program.” In 1992, Butler left George Mason University to accept the “Koch Distinguished Professor of Law and Economics” at the University of Kansas – funded entirely by a generous grant from the Koch Foundation. While at the U of K, Butler developed his course, with money, support, and influence on policy from the Kochs. In its formative stages, U of K received over $2 million dollars in private endowments from the Koch Foundation for the “Judicial Education” Institute (pgs. 18-20 of the document).https://bdgrdemocracy.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/investigative-report-koch-industries-and-the-wisconsin-judiciary/