Our Women, Our Treasures, Our Jewels

"Sunday Morning Prayer" by Charles Bibbs ©

Judge Maxine Aldridge White

by Patricia O’Flynn Pattillo
"Order in the Court! Order in the Court! All rise for the Honorable Maxine Aldridge White." This familiar cadence can be heard many times as Our Woman, Our Treasure, Our Jewel, Judge Maxine White, begins her day.

With the stroke of her gavel, major decisions have been made for over 15 years, in her position as a State Trial Court Judge in the Milwaukee County Circuit Courts.

First appointed in August 1992 by Governor Tommy G. Thompson, Judge White was elected to office in April 1993, re-elected in 1999 and re-elected again in 2005.

She has consistently earned the people’s trust. She is currently a finalist for a presidential appointment to the United States federal district court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which is located in Milwaukee.

Presently, and for the past three and half years, she is the Presiding Judge over the Milwaukee County Circuit Court Family Division, running her own court as well as performing administrative duties on behalf of five judges and 10 court commissioners and their staffs.

This demanding judicial schedule involves a full workload where she decides domestic and foreign property and other rights under divorce, paternity and injunctive relief laws. Her reputation for fairness and astute sensitivity is undisputed, as she remains "no nonsense" in her delivery.

Her judicial experience in this Wisconsin jurisdiction also included four years in the Civil Division (2000-2004), where she presided over Large Claims, with cases of medical malpractice and other negligence suits, contracts, real estate and labor disputes. There also, she shone as a legal scholar and superb jurist.

Completing her plethora of rulings at the County Courthouse were her eight years in the Criminal Courts (1992-2000), where she presided over numerous jury trials and sentencing in cases involving major crimes such as homicides, sexual assaults, illegal drug manufacturing and sales and domestic violence.

A gifted intellectual, professional leader and judicial giant, Judge White continues to be celebrated locally and nationally.

For example, she received an award from the National Association of Women Judges ("NAWJ") for her work on the historic Women Judges Portrait Project and for bringing NAWJ’s careers in law program--"The Color of Justice--to Wisconsin students.

Judge White was named "Judge of the Year" by the State Bar of Wisconsin for her work on and off the bench.

She was elected by the Wisconsin judiciary as a representative to the Wisconsin Judicial Council and as a director of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference.

Judge White has provided instruction, within the State and nationally, to judicial programs and law associations on a variety of subjects including family court matters and on domestic violence.

With such an outstanding vitae of court service, one is driven to learn more about this impeccable Wisconsin treasure.

Like beads strung to make a valuable piece of jewelry, we see quickly the pearls, cultured through experience, that make Maxine Aldridge White this gem, this jewel!

Born to a loving family where education and aspirations were tenets of daily life, young Maxine became an early academic achiever.

After high school, she attended the HBC Alcorn State University where she graduated Magna cum Laude earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973.

In 1982, she received a Masters degree in Public Administration with honors from the University of Southern California.

Later that same year, in 1982, she chose Marquette University Law School for her Juris Doctorate degree, earning multiple merit and service scholarships, membership on The Marquette Law Review, and graduating in 1985.

Throughout her college career, instructors were moved by her brilliance, her tenacity, and her depth of purpose.

It was not surprising that immediately after Law School, U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III, upon the recommendation of then U.S. Attorney J.P. Stadtmueller, appointed her to be a prosecutor in the federal courts.

It was during this period of her career that then Assistant U.S. Attorney Maxine Aldridge White represented the United States before federal district and bankruptcy courts in Milwaukee and in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

She was responsible for civil, bankruptcy and criminal cases, including prosecuting high profile drug conspiracies, bank robberies and other violent crimes as well as white-collar crimes such as bank fraud, tax and mail fraud.

Judge White has been a prolific writer/drafter/editor, having served most recently as a commissioner on Governor Jim Doyle’s Commission on Reducing Race Disparities in the Wisconsin Justice System.

She previously served as the chair of Governor Tommy G. Thompson’s Task Force on Racial Profiling and as co-chair of the legislatively created Judicial Selection Committee.

She co-authored the Lloyd Barbee article for "Wisconsin Lawyer Magazine" and co-authored a book along with Dr. George R. Palermo, titled "Letters from Prison: A Cry for Justice."

Judge White’s awards are too numerous to name but they originate from her professional, academic, social, civic and religious communities.

Her affiliations are equally broad in the same diverse arenas. In the words of her peers and her colleagues, "Maxine is an exemplary model whom we all cherish and aspire to emulate."

In presenting Judge White with its All Alumni Award for Community Service, Marquette University, her alma mater, wrote; "At Marquette, she was a star student: Boden Scholar, recipient of Marquette University Lawyers and Thomas More scholarships, a spot on Marquette Law Review."
To which Judge White modestly responds, "I am blessed to be able to serve, especially for people who have often been underserved in many areas of their lives.

"Milwaukee, Marquette University Law School, my family, my friends, the community, my church, all of these areas of my life have been so nurturing, so fulfilling, they inspire me to continue to seek ways to do more."

She is actively involved on and off the bench--with reviewing procedural matters affecting the judiciary as a member of the Wisconsin Judicial Council, with coordinating training programs for lawyers and judges with local and national bar organizations, with leadership on the Wisconsin Association of African American Attorneys, as chair of the Advisory Board of House of Peace and in several mentor and intern projects geared to motivate youth.

Judge Maxine Aldridge White, you have demonstrated the best--of faith, family, friends and community. You are a treasure.

You have exampled passion, tenacity, and commitment and giving back, you are a jewel.

You, Presiding Judge White of the Circuit Court of Milwaukee’s Family Division, are saluted and celebrated as the first African American woman to go straight to the United States Attorney’s office, after Law School graduation, and only the second African American female to serve the Wisconsin State Courts.

We thank you for your service and we applaud your magnanimous accomplishments. You are our Treasure, Our Jewel!