| William Pocan | |
| Birth Place: | Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Office: | Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin |
| Status: | Designate |
| Term Start: | TBD |
| Appointer: | Joe Biden |
| Succeeding: | William C. Griesbach |
| Predecessor: | William C. Griesbach |
| Successor: | --> |
| Office1: | Judge of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court |
| Term Start1: | July 14, 2006 |
| Appointer1: | Jim Doyle |
| Predecessor1: | Michael P. Sullivan |
| Education: | University of Wisconsin–Parkside (BA) University of Wisconsin–Madison (JD) |
| Relations: | Mark Pocan (brother) |
| Spouse: | Gerald Waupoose |
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. He has served as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County since 2006. In 2021, he was nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden to serve as a United States district judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, but his nomination expired without a hearing at the end of the 117th Congress.
William Pocan was born and raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He attended Mary D. Bradford High School[1] and graduated early, entering college at age 16.[2] He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Parkside in 1981 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1984.[3]
Pocan began his legal career at Brookhouse & Brookhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he worked from 1984 to 1985. From 1985 to 2006, he was an associate at Jastroch & LaBarge.[4] In 2006, Pocan was appointed a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County by Governor Jim Doyle.[5] [6] [7] 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.[7] At various times, Pocan presided over juvenile, civil, and felony division cases.[8]
In 2014, Pocan was one of three finalists recommended to President Barack Obama by the bipartisan Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission to fill a vacancy on the federal district court bench, but Pamela Pepper received the nomination instead.[8]
On December 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Pocan to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.[9] Pocan was one of four finalists recommended to the president earlier in 2021 by the Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission.[7] Biden nominated Pocan to the seat vacated by Judge William C. Griesbach, who took senior status on December 31, 2019.[9]
On February 15, 2022, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson announced he would withhold his blue slip, 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.[10] [11] On January 3, 2023, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.[12]
Pocan's father, William S. Pocan Sr., was an alderman on the Kenosha city council during the 1970s and 1980s.[13]
Pocan's younger brother, Mark Pocan, is a member of the United States House of Representatives for Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district.[14] Both Pocan brothers are gay.[15] [16]
| 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