William S. Pocan Jr. (born 1961) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as deputy chief judge of the 1st district of

Wisconsin circuit courts 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 ...

. He has served as a Wisconsin circuit court 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 ...

since 2006. In 2021, he was

nominated A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

by U.S. President Joe Biden to serve as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, but his nomination expired without a hearing at the end of the

117th Congress The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...

Early life and education

William Pocan was born and raised in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

. He attended Mary D. Bradford High School and graduated early, entering college at age 16. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Wisconsin–Parkside The University of Wisconsin–Parkside (UWP) is a public university in Somers, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and has 4,644 students, 161 full-time faculty, and 89 lecturers and part-time faculty. The university of ...

in 1981 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

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 ...

in 1984.

Career

Pocan began his legal career at Brookhouse & Brookhouse in

, where he worked from 1984 to 1985. From 1985 to 2006, he was an associate at Jastroch & LaBarge. In 2006, Pocan was appointed a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County by Governor

Jim Doyle James Edward Doyle, Jr., (born November 23, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Wisconsin, serving from January 6, 2003 to January 3, 2011. In his first election to the governorship, he defeated incu ...

.Jeramey Jannene
Biden Appoints Milwaukee Judge William Pocan to Federal Bench
''Urban Milwaukee'' (December 17, 2021). Pocan was subsequently elected to a full six-year term on the court in 2007, and was then re-elected twice without opposition. He was appointed deputy chief judge of the first district of Wisconsin circuit courts (Milwaukee County) in 2020. At various times, Pocan presided over juvenile, civil, and felony division cases.

Nominations to district court

In 2014, Pocan was one of three finalists recommended to President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

by the bipartisan Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission to fill a vacancy on the federal district court bench, but

Pamela Pepper Pamela Pepper (born 1964) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and former chief United States bankruptcy judge of the same c ...

received the nomination instead. On December 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Pocan to serve as a

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (in case citations, E.D. Wis.) is a federal trial court of limited jurisdiction. The court is under the auspices of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, ...

. Pocan was one of four finalists recommended to the president earlier in 2021 by the Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission. Biden nominated Pocan to the seat vacated by Judge William C. Griesbach, who took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on December 31, 2019. On February 15, 2022, U.S. Senator

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Se ...

announced he would withhold his

blue slip Blue slip or blue-slipping refers to two distinct legislative procedures in the United States Congress. In the House of Representatives, it is the rejection slip given to tax and spending bills sent to it by the Senate that did not originate in ...

, effectively blocking Pocan from receiving a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, despite having previously recommended Pocan in a letter to the White House on June 22, 2021. On January 3, 2023, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Personal life

Pocan's father, William S. Pocan Sr., was an alderman on the Kenosha city council during the 1970s and 1980s. Pocan's younger brother,

Mark Pocan Mark William Pocan ( ; born August 14, 1964) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 2013. The district is based in the state capital, Madison. A member of th ...

, is a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for

Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southern Wisconsin, covering Dane County, Iowa County, Lafayette County, Sauk County and Green County, as well as portions of ...

. Both Pocan brothers are

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

Electoral history

Wisconsin circuit court (2007, 2013, 2019)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 3, 2007 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 2, 2013 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 2, 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocan, William S. Living people 1961 births Date of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers American gay men LGBT appointed officials in the United States LGBT judges American LGBT lawyers LGBT people from Wisconsin Lawyers from Milwaukee People from Kenosha, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Parkside alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Wisconsin state court judges