6

James E. Doyle (1915-1987) Senior Judge, U.S..District Court, W. District of Wisconsin

When Jim Doyle died, the University of Wis- consin Law School lost a good friend. This tribute to him may seem unusual since he never attended our School. But we could have had no better alum, no firmer friend than James Doyle. If the Law School was sponsoring some event, or welcoming some dignitary with a dinner,Jim Doyle was there. If we needed someone to talk to law students about judi- cial clerkships, Jim Doyle was there. Long after his wife, Ruth, had retired as an Assis- tant to the Dean, Ruth and Jim were as much a part of our Law School family as anyone. Early in his career,Jim even found time to serve us as a lecturer. The reflections of his friends and col- leagues collected on the next several pages more than tell his story. It is a story of politi- cal idealism, scholarship and inspiration by example. We will miss Jim Doyle, and use these pages to say not only good bye, but also remind ourselves that his memory will be with us forever.

Remarks by the the more I admired him and marveled at Many capable people can confront a his abilities. If he had a bad side, it was particular problem and devise a reasona- Hon. Barbara B. Crabb, never visible. With Judge Doyle, "what bly satisfactory solution to it. Only a few, U.S. District Court, you saw was what you got." And what like Judge Doyle, have a different order you saw was simply the kindest, bright- of intelligence that impels them to look W. District of Wisconsin est, most courageous, principled, and beyond what appears to be the problem wryly humorous person I ever expect to a different reality, to see the problem Dear Friends of James Doyle, to know. in a broader context, with farther reach- Each of you knows what kind of a per- He relished the intellectual challenge ing implications, and to approach it with son he was. You know how difficult it is of judging and brought to it a formidable an utterly fresh perspective. to describe him other than in superla- intelligence. I would call him brilliant, This capacity often caused some sur- tives, or worse, becoming mushy-a fate but for the possibility that "brilliant" prises for lawyers, who had not antici- I will try to avoid. might suggest an arrogant intellect, and pated the issues that Judge Doyle would I swear to tell the truth and nothing arrogance was never any part of Judge discover lurking below the surface of an but the truth. I do not presume to tell the Doyle. His intellect was of the probing, apparently straight-forward case. More whole truth. speculative, questioning kind. It could than one bewildered lawyer has found As a witness, I would have greater never be said of him as it is of many fed- him or herself in Chicago urging the credibility if I could testify that Judge eral judges, "often in error; never in court of appeals to affirm a favorable Doyle had some major fault or character doubt." Tothe contrary, he was often in decision of Judge Doyle's on a ground the flaw. If he did, I never discovered it. The doubt-particularly of easy answers or lawyer never asserted-or necessarily truth is, the longer I worked with him, unexamined assumptions. understood in full. 7

For Judge Doyle, there was no such His empathy and compassion made appointment show or let it affect his thing as an unimportant case; there was him an outstanding judge, but I don't friendship. no such thing as an unimportant person. think they made it easy for him to be a By friends, I include his children and To him, the purpose of the Constitution judge. Many of the aspects of the job their spouses. Never have I known any- of the United States, expressed in the pre- were terribly difficult for him. I think one who treated his children with such amble, "to form a more perfect union" in particular of the early 1970swhen so respect for their own abilities and indi- meant to form a more perfect union of many of the defendants who came before viduality. He was proud of each of them every person, whatever his or her situa- the judge for sentencing were highly for their accomplishments, but his pride tion. In a speech he gave in 1973,he moral, young men, full of promise, who was entirely for them and not for expressed this view, saying, "In signifi- chose to resist the draft. himself. cant measure, the patients in mental hos- However difficult the task, Judge Judge Doyle cared deeply about his pitals, the inmates of prisons, the stu- Doyle never flinched from carrying out friends and cherished them particularly dents in the public schools, the soldiers the duties imposed upon him by the law. after he became a judge and had to re- and sailors and marines and air corps He never viewed himself as having been move himself from the active, more personnel, have not beep.afforded full appointed to the bench to "do good," sociable life of politics and private membership in the constitutional com- whatever that might mean. He observed practice. munity. It is time that they and others the rule of law with that absolute integ- There is much more to say-about become full members. It is time that rity that governed everything about his Judge Doyle's gift of expression and love there be a sense that the majestic phrases life. He was incapable of ignoring an of language that made his speeches and of the constitution-due process of law, inconvenient fact in a case or a contrary his writings so eloquent, his courage in the equal protection of the laws-have legal precedent. He might disagree with the lonely years of judging and the lone- real meaning for every person within our the views of a higher court, but he would lier years of his illness, his self-deprecat- borders. It is time to form a more perfect never disregard those views. He never ing humor, and his sharp appreciation of constitutional union." hesitated to exercise the authority of his the absurdities of life. But time runs out. It was a fundamental proposition with office when it was necessary, but no one Having established myself a hope- him that women and minorities were as knew better than he the limits of that lessly biased witness, I will cease with capable and as deserving of opportunities authority, or was more careful not to the statement of a more impartial ob- as white males and he recruited them exercise it except when he was certain of server: a letter to Judge Doyle written and appointed them to positions within its justification. He operated on the prin- on March 2, 1987, from a United States the court. In this, surely he was spurred ciple that, as arbiters of the legal obliga- Attorney appointed by President Nixon: by Ruth Bachhuber Doyle, who by her tions of others in our society, the courts Dear Judge Doyle: own example destroyed any myth of must be particularly fastidious about the For a long time, I have had some female inferiority. propriety of their own actions. thoughts that I wanted to express to you. He extended his unimaginable cour- I have been telling you about James I regret that I did not share these thoughts tesy and kindness to everyone with Doyle as a judge. Let me tell you briefly with you at a time prior to learning of your whom he dealt. He had an empathy for about him as a friend, and about the continuing illness. No matter how clumsy people and their circumstances that was quality of his friendships. the timing of this letter may be, I could not remarkable. As anomalous as it may sound to say let my thoughts go unstated. Indeed, his empathy was legendary. It about a judge, he was the least judgmen- It would not be truthful on my part to was displayed most publicly in the court- tal of persons. There were no precondi- suggest that I agreed {or now agree} with room when lawyers struggling with their tions to his friendship or any obligations some of your more controversial decisions. arguments might hear the judge articu- placed upon it. Dozens of people sought What is totally truthful is the fact that dur- late the issue for them, more cogently him out for help, for comfort, for moral ing the time I had an opportunity to work in than they would ever have achieved. The support. He never failed to respond, but your presence, I knew then that I was in the same phenomenon occurred with all of he almost never gave advice. presence of greatness. It may be that I can- us who worked with him; we'd start talk- He trusted others to make their own not define "greatness," but I like to think ing to him about some problem and find decisions. He might help with the pro- that I know it when I see it. What I saw in that he had grasped it and could respond cess of deciding, articulating the prob- you was a magnificent human being and before we'd even given shape to it. Un- lem, listening with that focused, calm jurist. I can truthfully say that I have never like most people, and particularly unlike concentration to what was said, and sens- had an opportunity to know another person most people in public life, Judge Doyle ing much of what was left unsaid, but he who I considered to measure up to the quali- preserved a calm inner center, and the would not impose his own views on his ties that you display. ability to focus all his energies on the friends. If at times the course of action I will always cherish my brief association issue, or the task, or the person before taken disappointed him, and I'm sure with you. him. sometimes it did, he never let the dis- SO SAYWE ALL. 8

Remarks by the combs." With his extraordinary wit and a devoted and loyal following, many of dry sense of humor, Jim would make whom adored him. In fact, his following Hon. John Reynolds, friends and gain supporters wherever he at times was referred to as a cult. It traveled for the cause. wasn't though, because you can't have a U.S. District Court, The first statewide convention of the cult without a cult leader; a role that Jim E. District of Wisconsin Democratic Organizing Committee was would never accept. Jim was truly loved held in Green Bay in 1949, and Jim Doyle and admired deeply by his friends, and of Madison was elected party treasurer. they showed their feelings by the hard James E. Doyle played a central role in Joe McCarthy started his national cam- work they did for him. shaping Wisconsin's political and legal paign against the "communists" in the As the intellectual leader and con- history for four decades. Jim was the con- state department about then. Jim saw the science of the Democratic party in Wis- science and intellectual leader of the Wis- challenge and rededicated himself to the consin from 1945 until he assumed the consin Democratic party in the twenty rebuilding of the Democratic party as an bench in 1965,James E. Doyle had great years immediately following World War effective vehicle against Joe McCarthy. influence. jim's individual support for a II. His dedication towards protecting and His speech attacking Joe McCarthy at the candidate translated into a statewide net- nurturing the policies of the Progressives, 1950Democratic state convention in Eau work of workers. He gave to the party and extending those principles into the Claire was electrifying. It inspired those to which he dedicated himself not only areas of civil rights and individual liber- present to go home and work incessantly intellectual leadership, but a form of ties, is his lasting contribution to our for the defeat of what was then consid- pragmatic liberalism. He recognized that society. ered to be one of the most evil forces in compromise was often times the price of Jim was born and raised in Oshkosh, America, led by a relatively innocuous, political support for government action received his undergraduate education at almost comical, figure. Jim later stated or inaction. the University of Wisconsin-Madison that he regarded the whole effort of Jim brought to the DOC and later to and his law degree from Columbia. He rebuilding the Democratic party worth- the Democratic party its first and, for a immediately commenced his public ser- while if it slowed down or stopped Joe while, only national contacts. His time at vice by becoming a law clerk for Justice McCarthy. The opposition to Senator Columbia, and as a Supreme Court clerk James F. "Jimmy" Byrnes of the U.S. McCarthy at home was, in no small part, and assistant to the Secretary of State, Supreme Court. Service in the U.S. Navy due to the efforts of Jim Doyle. gave him contacts with the eastern estab- during the war interrupted his legal Jim was elected chairman of the Dem- lishment that few of the homegrown lib- career. He left the navy when Jimmy ocratic party of Wisconsin in 1951and set erals in Wisconsin had. During those cru- Byrnes, who was then "Deputy Presi- upon preparing for the campaign against cial post New Deal years, Jim led the dent," asked him to serve as his aide. Joe McCarthy. He released the organiza- DOC, and later the state Democratic He went with Byrnes to the state depart- tional director of the Democratic party, party, towards the Americans for Demo- ment and attended the peace conference Pat Lucey, to manage Tom Fairchild's sen- cratic Action's support of Truman's Fair at Potsdam as an aide to Secretary of atorial campaign. He then hired John Deal, and away from Henry Wallace's State Byrnes. Gronouski, who later served as Postmas- Progressive Party. Jim returned to Wisconsin in 1946as ter General and Ambassador to Poland, Following his term as state chairman an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the West- as the party organizer. Despite the non- in 1952, he was elected national co-chair- ern District of Wisconsin. At that time, endorsement position of the Democratic man of the Americans for Democratic the liberals were in disarray. Senator party, Jim was pleased to ~ee his old Action with Arthur Schlessinger. Eleanor Robert M. La Follette, jr., had just been friend, Tom Fairchild, win the party's Roosevelt was honorary chairman. Jim defeated by Joe McCarthy, and the Dem- nomination to run against Joe McCarthy. continued his interest in national politics ocratic party was an empty shell. After Jim and other Fairchild supporters and supported Adlai Stevenson in 1952 he left the U.S. Attorney's Office, he worked tirelessly because they were and 1956. In the 1960 campaign, he was joined the law firm headed up by former driven by a feeling, rarely experienced the national chairman of the "Stevenson Governor Phillip F. La Follette. in a political campaign, that it truly was for President" committee. Jim and his wife Ruth became active a battle between good and evil. Jim was blessed not only with an in Wisconsin politics. They helped organ- All through the 1950s, he took an amazing political and legal life, but also ize the "Democratic Organizing Commit- active role in the Wisconsin Democratic by a remarkable family. Throughout tee" ("DOC"); the vehicle used to turn party, going from county meeting to his career, his wife Ruth was equally the then-conservative Democratic Party county meeting. Particularly memorable involved in the organization of the Demo- of Wisconsin into a liberal movement. was a speech he gave to a county meeting cratic party; and in fact one time, Jim Jim drafted the original constitution of in Green Bay in 1957. He discussed John wondered out loud, "Wasn't it remark- the DOC in 1948, and he, along with sev- Kenneth Galbraith's then-new book, able how we men just all assumed that eral other young persons, set about to The Affluent Society. Jim thoughtfully ex- those Dane County women should do all organize a DOC chapter in each country plained to the Green Bay Democrats the that hard work while we would go out in the state. difficulties of maintaining a high level of and give the speeches." Ruth always Jim and his fellow DOC state co-chair- governmental services, the support for worked very hard in her own right-in men, Carl Thompson and Gaylord Nel- which came from the unpopular progres- party activities, as a candidate for state son, proceeded to travel to every county sive income tax. He was one of the first treasurer, as a two-term member of the in the state, including some where there Democrats to support the sales tax as a legislature, and as a member of the Madi- were almost no Democrats. Jim once said means to pay for the services the voters son school board. "There are places around the state where desired. Jim was also a remarkable and patient it takes courage to be a Democrat. The jim's defeat by William Proxmire in father. If he ever gave his children direc- few professed Democrats are like the the primary race for Governor in 1954 tion, I never noticed it, but he certainly early Christians-they feel as though they was a keen disappointment to him. It inspired them. They were free to do what should hold their meetings in the cata- was especially so because he had such they wanted to do, but it so happens they 9 all wound up being lawyers. Mary is the rare in political life. Others will write, active and still retain their intellectual Dean of the Law School at University of I trust, of his great legal career, but his honesty. Miami; Jim, Jr., is practicing law in Madi- work and dedication to shaping the pub- James E. Doyle had a great and full son; Kate is practicing law in Milwaukee; lic policy of the State of Wisconsin was life, and for those of us who had the and Ann just graduated from Georgetown even more important and profound than opportunity to work with him, we were Law School in Washington. his contributions on the bench; and this inspired by his example. We are, even Jim was a true friend in that he stuck is not because he wasn't an outstanding those who never met him, better for the with you even when he thought you were judge. His life is a shining example to our fact that Jim has lived amongst us. wrong. Anyone can stand by you when young lawyers who will shape the politi- you're right, but a man like Jim is very cal future; they can become politically

persons he considered worthy to be can- While there are those who would con- Remarks by the didates in each county. Additionally, he tend that judges should spring fullblown Hon. Nathan Heffernan, was the philosopher of the party, articu- from the head of Zeus-or a judicial qual- lating in carefully researched speeches ifications commission-it is my belief Chief Justice, the reasons why there should be a vigor- that the best judges are those who have Wisconsin Supreme Court ous Democratic Party in Wisconsin. He had experiences in the struggles and pas- was also the principal speechwriter for sions of their time and have had some numerous candidates on the state Demo- contact with the political world. Because I knew Judge Doyle well in his cratic ticket. I think it is clear that he, Additionally, Jim Doyle possessed- two separate careers-first as a partisan more than anyone else in the early days beyond mere technical competence and politician and then as a non-partisan of the party's struggles and up to the qualifying experience-the cardinal vir- judge, it is tempting to dwell on the for- breakthrough election of 1958when Gay- tues which are the prerequisite to being a mer at the expense of the latter. I will try lord Nelson was elected governor was the great judge. He was independent within not to do so and instead will attempt, I spokesman for the party's reason for the limits of the litigation before him. He hope, a balanced remembrance of Jim existence. strove and succeeded in being free of all Doyle's completely separate, but never- In addition, Jim Doyle was the state partisan influence and the influence of theless related personae. I believe the party's principal liaison with the National any factors save those that he conceived relationship is important, for Jim Doyle's Democratic Party and such national to be a part of the law and the cause of career as a politician foreshadowed his organizations as the Americans for Dem- justice. He was a courteous and patient qualities as a judge. ocratic Action, which he co-chaired with man. When a lesser person would have Jim, a Wisconsin native and graduate Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1960, he was been rankled by vexatious situations, Jim of the University of Wisconsin, received first the State Chairman and then the Doyle, painstakingly and with consum- his legal training at Columbia University. National Chairman of Adlai Stevenson's mate patience, gave every litigant and From the beginning, his career was spec- attempt to secure the Democratic Party lawyer his day-and then some-in court. tacular. He was president of his senior nomination for the presidency. He also was a judge of great dignity in class at Wisconsin; and after his gradua- His services as a partisan Democratic the sense that he manifested the noblest tion from the Columbia Law School, he were idealistic, unselfish, and commit- and most honorable attributes of high was clerk to United States Supreme ted. While so engaged, he also was devel- office. He was a person to be trusted Court Justice James Byrnes and assistant oping his skills as a lawyer, and he soon with great powers vested in a United to the Solicitor General of the United was recognized as one of the leading law- States District Judge. Yet, although he States and, as assistant to the Secretary yers in the state. took his duties seriously, he was far from of State, one of the principal organizers In 1965,Jim Doyle volunteered to being a lugubrious or overly solemn per- of the San Francisco Conference which manage my campaign for the Supreme son. He did not take himself too seri- formed the United Nations. Court. He put his talents as a political ously. He was, in fact, one of the funniest But he left this brilliant career in organizer and as a fundraiser unstintingly and best humored persons I have ever Washington to return to Wisconsin for at the disposal of my campaign commit- met. It was his good humor that kept Jim the avowed purpose of revitalizing the tee. His wise counsel and abundant expe- Doyle from being a stuffed shirt. He was state's Democratic Party, which had rience were undoubtedly the difference dignified but never pompous. fallen into difficult days when the La Fol- that meant success in a hotly contested Despite his partisan past, open- lette branch of the Republic Party pre- and narrowly won election. mindedness and careful attention to con- empted-or so it seemed-the liberal Shortly after that election in 1965, tending parties' points of view were the point of view in Wisconsin. President Johnson appointed Jim Doyle hallmarks of his craft as a judge. Never Jim Doyle, more than anyone else, to be the United States District Judge did he issue an opinion that failed to I believe, was the healer who brought a here in Madison. He was immediately demonstrate that he had carefully con- degree of harmony between the bickering confirmed by the Senate. sidered the conflicting points of view of branches of those who would be Wiscon- He was a natural for the job. His past the litigants. sin Democrats. He worked unceasingly career had proved that he was a brilliant He had the great literary aptitude of on the difficult organizational problems scholar and a person who understood being able to express his views in a way of the new party. He travelled from one how the government operated and how that his consideration of the fine points end of the state to the other to encourage the political and legal systems really ran. of law and the point of view of the par- 10

ties was demonstrated and expressed not the time to digress and to restate his crossed-first in the political world and with unmistakable clarity. concern about those who had come then as judges. Judge Doyle was acutely A corollary to his open-mindedness before him and had been convicted of aware of the role of the state courts in was his impartiality. Although he was a crimes, I mention in passing his interest our American system of justice and was person of intense personal predilections in seeing to it that our prison system not always ready to cooperate and to lead in and beliefs, in his judicial work those contribute to man's inhumanity to man. the efforts to smooth the occasional dif- personal preferences, no matter how Also, while all these attributes-inde- ferences that cropped up between the clearly cherished, were put aside and pendence, courtesy and patience, dignity courts of Wisconsin and the courts of the the cases before him were decided with with a sense of humor, open-mindedness, United States. He actively participated in impartiality on the basis of the facts and impartiality, thoroughness and decisive- the programs of the Wisconsin Judicial in accordance with the applicable law. ness, and an understanding heart-made Conference. He was the understanding While these attributes stated above are Jim Doyle a great judge, we should not friend of every Wisconsin judge. indicia of deliberativeness, his judgments forget the characteristic that made him By the passing of Jim Doyle, I have were decisive for the very reasons that a great man before he became a great lost a great friend, who has been an the ratio decedendi of each decision was judge-the characteristic that made him inspiration to my career and for whose so framed that the results were the logi- a great and respected political leader-an help I will be forever grateful. But more cal and inexorable outcome of his delib- acute and sensitive social consciousness. significantly, Wisconsin and the nation erations. Yet, if I were to rest my ap- I have no doubt that Jim Doyle was have lost a great man and a great judge. praisal of Jim Doyle on only the above impelled to be a judge for the same rea- But the fact that he, for more than forty qualities-all of which are qualities that son that he was impelled to be a political years, contributed to the political and make a great judge-I would miss the leader. His motivating force was to im- judicial life of Wisconsin is cause for characteristics that made him more than prove the lot of his fellowman-as a parti- gratitude. Wisconsin and the nation are just an extraordinarily fine judge. I refer san through a revised and more sensitive better places to live because Jim Doyle to his oft demonstrated characteristic of political order, and as a judge by assuring has been among us. This enhancement an understanding and compassionate that each person before him was afforded of the cause of justice overshadows our heart. He was not a mechanical jurispru- equal justice under our Anglo-American momentary loss. I am sure Judge Doyle dent. He was concerned with each liti- system of law. would want us to view his career in no gant as a human being entitled to justice It has been my good fortune that Jim other way. under our system of law. While this is Doyle's career and mine occasionally

Remarks by the tions, but by 1958,the party began to work out, but bringing government elect Governors. toward his ideal was always the main Hon. Thomas Fairchild, Starting in 1948,Jim played a signifi- goal. He said his activity in Americans cant role, along with Carl Thompson, for Democratic Action and his support 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Bob Tehan, Horace Wilkie, Jerry Fox, for Adlai Stevenson, continuing into 1960, Gaylord Nelson, Miles McMillin, and as furthering this purpose. More than 50 years ago, while I was a others in the revitalization of the Wiscon- We know now, of course, of the great law student at Madison, I became aware sin Democratic Party. The objective was individual contribution of public service of the stature of lim Doyle as a forceful to spark up long-time Democrats, win he was to make as United States District and eloquent leader among independents over former La Follette Progressives, and Judge from 1965 to 1987. His task was in campus politics. Two other university appeal to other unaligned people. Jim unusually arduous. He was the only students, Ruth Bachuber, later Doyle, profoundly affected my life with a tele- judge in the Western District of Wiscon- and Eleanor Dahl, later Fairchild, had be- phone call early one Sunday morning in sin. Comparing the per judge case load come friends, and Jim and I got to know July, 1948. He told me a state ticket was figures in all Districts, his were for many each other as a result. being put together, not with any expecta- years consistently near the top. He car- I recall a visit with Jim after the war, tion of winning, but as a start in building ried the burden magnificently, without shortly before he returned to Madison to an effective Party. He persuaded me sacrificing his standard of objective, practice law. He had,been a law clerk for within a day or two to be a candidate for even-tempered consideration of every Justice Byrnes, and an aide when Byrnes Attorney General. During my political person who came before him. was Secretary of State. Byrnes had efforts for the next four years, and in the He believed in his duty to uphold First advised him not to return to Wisconsin, years to come, I often received his valued Amendment freedoms and gave judicial a solidly Republican state. Jim had said advice and help. He was a wonderful per- protection to types of expression distaste- Democratic strength could be built up. son, and great fun to know. ful to the majority and probably to him- Byrnes replied with a prediction: "You Jim worked to create an effective self. He was devoted to the University as will work hard. Every election you will political instrument to express the will an intellectual institution, but in the trou- take satisfaction in increasing the Demo- of the many. He had an ideal of a govern- bled times of protest, firmly insisted on cratic vote a tiny fraction of a per cent. ment capable of making rational choices due process in its regulation of student And about the end of your career, maybe in the search for peace, protection of conduct. He was not in awe of shibbo- you can say, 'Yesterday, we got close to individual well-being, and broadening leths and would carefully test a newly 49%: t t In the late '40s and early '50s, opportunities. Any thoughts he had of advanced proposition in any type of case Jim had to be happy with the little frac- holding political office himself did not until convinced it had no merit. 11

After Congress authorized a second respect of his colleagues on those courts. eign to his judicial work. The political judge for the district, and after Jim Objective, impartial, analytical, and judicial stages of his career had in became a senior judge, he was free to learned, and considerate. All those adjec- common, however, his service of lofty accept designations to courts of appeals tives were characteristic of Jim Doyle as ideals with ability, integrity, and respect around the country. His work won the a judge. Partisan politics were wholly for- for every individual.

success rate may have improved some- than I had in my whole life up to an hour Remarks by what-it hardly couldn't-one aspect of ago." For any attorney wanting to learn, Prof. Frank Tuerkheimer, the first two experiences remained con- Judge Doyle was there to teach. stant: every time I appeared before him All of the above, however, only yields University of Wisconsin I learned something. Therefore the per- a partial picture of Judge Doyle. There Law School spective I developed of Judge Doyle is were yearly notes on the anniversary of a rare perspective of a judge: the judge my appointment as United States Attor- In my first appearance before Judge as teacher. ney containing some personal sentiments Doyle, I represented the Sierra Club in Judge Doyle was clearly that. He of his. There were yearly notes to my sec- an effort to enjoin construction of a dam made sure that a lawyer swept nothing retary on her birthday, written in a tone on the Kickapoo River. I had heard that under the rug in trial preparation for he of appreciation and affinity with just a Judge Doyle was a great "liberal" judge was certain to lift the rug and find it. He touch of appropriate distance. There was and, feeling that my case was correct and made sure that lawyers, while mired in his inevitable presence at courthouse solid, was quite sure that with this com- the complexities of a case, asked the functions, usually co-mingling with non- bination I would prevail. When I lost the basic and simple questions because if the legal staff-open, but still, at times, shy. case I learned that "liberals" growing up lawyers didn't, he was sure to do so. Per- It is here that Jim Doyle emerges from during the New Deal do not necessarily haps most important, Judge Doyle was a the pack. There are other brilliant judges, view public works projects with the same fantastic barometer of the rhythm of a judges who inspire reverence, if not awe misgivings as latter-day liberals. case. Passion and dispassion are not from those regularly appearing before In my second appearance before Judge mutually exclusive courtroom demean- them. Perhaps some of these are even Doyle, I represented an indigent in an ors; there is a time for each. I learned more brilliant than Jim Doyle-he cer- effort to set aside a judgment of convic- that by watching him, I could gauge by tainly would be the first to say they were. tion. I had heard that Judge Doyle was a his reactions whether he thought either But very few judges evoke both a sense "pro-defendant" judge and, feeling that was out of place or wanting. His involve- of reverence and a sense of warmth. Jim my case was meritorious, was sure I had ment in a trial was total and it created an Doyle is one of the very few who does. a good chance at prevailing. When I lost exciting dimension to the trial of cases in His extraordinary abilities set him apart the case I learned that Judge Doyle, front of him. from the many; his warmth sets apart while perhaps "pro-defendant" in the Because he had so much to offer trial from this select few. sense that the presumption of innocence attorneys, I encouraged new Assistant From a professional point of view, meant something to him, in the last anal- United States Attorneys to talk to him every litigator's dream is the triad of an ysis, was governed by the facts. In that about their appearances in front of him interesting and complex case, a masterful vein, he was a master at culling a record once the case was over. Their initial reac- judge, and a skillful opponent. With Jim and combining the product of that search tion of "You can't be serious" amused Doyle as judge in the Western District of with precedent.There was a weakness me because implicit in it was an aura of Wisconsin, we who Were fortunate in my position, he found it, enlarged it unapproachability about Judge Doyle enough to practice here, knew that we masterfully in his opinion, and the case which was just plain wrong. The Assis- always began with a third of that triad as was lost. tants, after building up their courage, a given. How lucky we were! He was a I subsequently appeared before Judge would see him and perhaps an hour later giant of a judge and a giant of a human Doyle on numerous occasions while would return with comments such as being and we will miss him. representing the Government. While my "I just learned more about trial practice 12

Remarks by Atty. John Greene, who wondered what the Judge did with inmates pro bono. Such was the inner the motions "under advisement," I can soul of James Doyle, and such is the Legal Action of Wisconsin say that from the beginning of the day to picture of him that I will carry always. the end he would twist and turn prob- The Judge's great gift to the legal I had the great fortune of spending one lems in his mind, examining them from world was to demonstrate that a court is year at the elbow of a most remarkable all sides and creating his own conceptual a place where grace, dignity, compassion, human being, Judge James Doyle. From context. A major part of his job was to and high intellect could unfailingly pre- my law clerk's perch inside the Judge's make law clerks feel inadequate by vail. In the world of mortals in which we chambers, I offer a few observations of demolishing and recreating within min- travel most of the time, perpetual frustra- the Judge, as pitifully inadequate as mere utes what had taken days or weeks to tion is the natural result of the Judge's words are in such an endeavor. accomplish. Without fail the Judge'S anal- demonstration. Yet as he always tried to Tome Judge Doyle was and always ysis was more creative, more insightful, transform negative into positive, the will be a man of mystery and contradic- and accomplished in much less time. Judge would have us strive to erase our tion: a consummate lawyer and legal When he had completed his delibera- discontent by elevating our standards, by scholar, yet utterly lacking in the arro- tions, the Judge would march impatiently always reaching for the higher path, by gance and self-importance which so often to his writing table where he would stand not sacrificing our values for unworthy are appendages to superior traits; a mas- and with great gusto and precision pour short-term ends. Tohave inspired some- ter politician, yet without the capacity for out his inventive, smooth prose. thing good that otherwise would not have guile and self-promotion; physically frail, Every attorney and litigant in Judge been would have given Judge Doyle his in his last years, yet possessed of granite Doyle's court was treated with great highest pleasure. strength. And he was a magnificent judge respect. The Judge was acutely sensitive Apart from his attributes as a Judge, in all respects, marvelous to behold in to the unequal distribution of power in however, what really defined James the courtroom, yet his character was non society, and was loath to perpetuate that Doyle were his intangible personal qual- judgmental to the core. inequality in his courtroom. Thus the ities-his genuine love of others, his On the bench, Judge Doyle was a Judge went to great lengths to give per- unflagging kindness and generosity, his straight arrow, unbending and undaunted sons, particularly unrepresented ones, sharp wit and warm humor, his absolute in his pursuit of the right decision. He the chance to speak their mind. The devotion to open inquiry and honest never flinched when faced with tough patient and careful attention which he answers, his compassion for persons decisions, and he never hesitated to lavished upon even the most exasperat- scorned by society, his genuine modesty, apply the rule of law. Those who prac- ing, unpolished, pro se litigants reflected and his simple lifestyle and indifference ticed in his court know well his insis- the fact that Judge Doyle's federal court to the trappings of wealth and luxury. tence on adherence to the rules of proce- belonged as much to the poor, ordinary Those around him could not escape the dure, and his intolerance of sloppy citizen as to the wealthiest and most spell cast by his qualities, and he in turn thinking and careless practice. The many well-heeled. could not escape the universal admira- lucky enough to practice before him also No case or legal question was too tion and love for him that exuded from know well the excitement and rigors of minor or mundane to engage the full, those whose lives had intersected his- the Doyle School of Law, which con- attention of the Judge. He approached from former law clerks, from attorneys, vened in the federal courthouse. every decision with intellectual freshness from the courthouse staff, from friends. While many lawyers and litigants and open-mindedness, and in his I hold out little hope of ever meeting were able to observe Judge Doyle in his approach he did not distinguish between another Judge Doyle. Although I look for courtroom, perhaps what a former law the important and the unimportant, the him in every courtroom and on every clerk can best offer is a view of the Judge sexy and the routine, the momentous and corner, I am resigned to the futility of from behind the bench. I must report the trivial. During my period with the my search. Yetthe Judge would not be that his fabled courtroom demeanor and Judge, however, there were some cases pleased with such a negative perspective. approach to cases were not ruses to con- which he considered so deserving of the The eternal optimist, the Judge would ceal his true persona; he was consistent utmost care that he shielded them from want us all to strive for the better, to through and through in his public and any tampering by law clerks. These were think of the brighter side, to struggle to private faces. pro se prisoner cases. To me there is create in ourselves what we admire in Judge Doyle savored the intellectual nothing more telling about the judge's others. challenge of judging, and he had a great compassion for the powerless in society Judge Doyle left a legacy far more gift of analysis. He would spend long than in his agonizing over lawsuits important than his legal decisions, a leg- hours mentally dissecting and recon- brought by inmates and other pro se acy found in the lives of all those he structing conceptual problems, and he plaintiffs. touched and who inexorably came under relished his contemplative tasks. The I once asked Judge Doyle what he his spell. It is to the great fortune of the Judge'S agile mind and his mental creativ- would most like to be doing if he were legal profession that James Doyle brought ity were astounding, not to mention his not on the bench. I will never forget the his extraordinary intellectual gifts and remarkable memory (which despite the Judge'S response-so poignant and reveal- wisdom to bear on the legal issues fact that it had been used over forty years ing. After a deep sigh and his usual brought before him. It is, too, the undy- longer than mine, was in much better reflective pause, he replied that he ing benefit of us all that he graced our working order). For all those attorneys thought he would like to represent lives with his magical human qualities.