Donald Walter Steinmetz (September 19, 1924August 31, 2013) was an American lawyer and judge. He served as a justice of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

for 19 years, and before that was a trial judge in

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

for 14 years.

Background

Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, Steinmetz served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Steinmetz then graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

and received his law degree from the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

. Steinmetz was a claims attorney before his service in government. Between 1958 and 1966, he worked as an assistant Milwaukee city attorney, an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County, and an assistant Wisconsin Attorney General. In 1964, he was the preferred candidate of Democratic leaders, including Governor

John W. Reynolds, Jr. John Whitcome Reynolds Jr. (April 4, 1921January 6, 2002) was the List of Governors of Wisconsin, 36th Governor of Wisconsin (1963–1965) and served 21 years as a United States federal judge, United States district judge in the United States ...

, to replace deceased

Milwaukee County District Attorney The Milwaukee County District Attorney is a state constitutional officer responsible for criminal prosecution in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. The current district attorney is John T. Chisholm, who has served since 2007. History The first Milwau ...

William McCauley, but the post went to

Hugh O'Connell Hugh O'Connell (August 4, 1898 – January 19, 1943) was an American film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in m ...

. He was a Wisconsin county judge and later a

Wisconsin Circuit Court The Wisconsin circuit courts are the general trial courts in the state of Wisconsin. There are currently 69 circuits in the state, divided into 10 judicial administrative districts. Circuit court judges hear and decide both civil and criminal case ...

judge for Milwaukee County after the county courts were combined into the circuit courts. He was also a teacher at the Wisconsin Judicial College. He was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1980 and re-elected in 1990. He died on August 31, 2013, in Milwaukee.Justice Donald Walter Steinmetz-obituary
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Notes

Justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Wisconsin state court judges University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Politicians from Milwaukee United States Army Air Forces soldiers Military personnel from Milwaukee 1924 births 2013 deaths Lawyers from Milwaukee 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers {{Wisconsin-politician-stub