Amid a barrage of negative campaign advertisements circling the upcoming Supreme Court election, incumbent Justice Louis Butler spoke with University of Wisconsin law students Tuesday, calling the ads, which have attracted national attention, � misleading,� �dishonest� and �sleazy.�

Two advertisements released by the Coalition for America’s Families, a third-party group unaffiliated with any party or campaign, were found by the Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee Tuesday to �unfairly attack the record and integrity of Justice Louis Butler.�

The WJCIC has also recently condemned a third-party ad that attacks Judge Mike Gableman, who faces Butler in the April 1 election.

Butler said that such advertisements are not confined to the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, but are part of a national trend. He added responsibility needs to be taken for �negative, nasty attack ads being influenced by outside interest groups with the express purpose of trying to buy seats on our court.�

Both ads claim that Butler �sides with criminals nearly 60 percent of the time,� a number Butler challenged. He said a group of students analyzed the cases in which Butler made a decision and found that �75 percent of the time, I voted to uphold convictions,� adding �if you factor the petitions for review that the court denied, the figure rises to 97 percent.�

Butler and the WJCIC criticized both ads for factual errors that made them misleading.

In an effort to combat such advertisements, Butler said he signed a clean campaign pledge created by an independent group including state law leaders, former elected officials and professors, which Butler said �my opponent is trying to demonize.�

Butler denied the committee was designed to help him be re-elected. He said he was �very candid about the fact that I didn’t know many of the people on the committee,� but is �nervous about it because it ties my hands.�

Nevertheless, Butler supports the effort to prevent misleading attack advertisements, saying �it’s a travesty to the people of Wisconsin who have to put up with [such ads].�

He added the media and citizens must speak out against such ads.

�The only way to stop that nonsense is when you see it, vote against it,� Butler said. �My message has been positive, and you’ll see I’m going to run a very positive campaign.�

Apart from addressing the recent attack advertisements, Butler allowed those present at the talk to ask questions. When asked about the differences between him and Gableman, Butler cited experience as a judge and his approach toward analysis of the law.

�[Court members] have to be neutral, detached, impartial, nonpartisan, not biased and independent in every single decision that we make,� Butler said. �When we make these decisions, we can’t say, for example, as my opponent has, �I’m going to support law enforcement.� That’s totally inappropriate for a judge to say.�

First-year University of Wisconsin law student Chris Armstead said he appreciated Butler�s efforts to avoid �judicial activism� on the Supreme Court.

�I particularly agree with Justice Butler’s holding of the law as the only standard in making decisions,� Armstead said.