The Last Nixon Judge

I was saddened to hear about the passing of Judge William Bauer of the Seventh Circuit. He was 99 years old and was still hearing cases until three years ago.

While I only talked to him a few times, he frequently sat on the panels I was assigned to while clerking. (He was something like 88 at the time.) My judge, Diane Sykes, was notoriously tough on crime — the guards jokingly named a wing of Wisconsin’s maximum-security prison after her — but next to Judge Bauer she was Chesa Boudin. Judge Bauer’s jurisprudence was best described as “Harry Callahan.”

About the Author

Michael A. Fragoso

Michael A. Fragoso is a lawyer in Washington, D.C. and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He previously served as chief counsel to Senator Mitch McConnell and chief counsel for judicial nominations and constitutional law on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He clerked for Judge Sykes from 2014 to 2015.

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I was saddened to hear about the passing of Judge William Bauer of the Seventh Circuit. He was 99 years old and was still hearing cases until three years ago.

While I only talked to him a few times, he frequently sat on the panels I was assigned to while clerking. (He was something like 88 at the time.) My judge, Diane Sykes, was notoriously tough on crime — the guards jokingly named a wing of Wisconsin’s maximum-security prison after her — but next to Judge Bauer she was Chesa Boudin. Judge Bauer’s jurisprudence was best described as “Harry Callahan.”

About the Author

Michael A. Fragoso

Michael A. Fragoso is a lawyer in Washington, D.C. and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He previously served as chief counsel to Senator Mitch McConnell and chief counsel for judicial nominations and constitutional law on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He clerked for Judge Sykes from 2014 to 2015.