{{Short description|American judge (1926–2025)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = William Bauer | image = William J. Bauer, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge.jpg | office = Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | term_start = October 31, 1994 | term_end = December 15, 2025 | office1 = Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | term_start1 = September 1986 | term_end1 = July 31, 1993 | predecessor1 = Walter J. Cummings Jr. | successor1 = Richard Posner | office2 = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | appointer2 = Gerald Ford | term_start2 = December 20, 1974 | term_end2 = October 31, 1994 | predecessor2 = Otto Kerner Jr. | successor2 = Diane Wood | office3 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | appointer3 = Richard Nixon | term_start3 = November 10, 1971 | term_end3 = January 3, 1975<!-- Termination date per FJC Bio, termination date reflects oath date at Seventh Circuit. --> | predecessor3 = Joseph Sam Perry | successor3 = Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. | birth_name = William Joseph Bauer | birth_date = {{birth date|1926|9|15}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2025|12|15|1926|9|15}} | death_place = North Riverside, Illinois, U.S. | spouse = {{marriage|Patricia Spratt|2013}} | education = Elmhurst College (AB)<br>DePaul University (JD) }} thumb|Bauer in 2012, with his future wife Patricia Spratt
'''William Joseph Bauer''' (September 15, 1926 – December 15, 2025) was an American judge who was a senior circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago from 1974 until his death, having been nominated to the position by President Gerald Ford. He previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1971 until 1975, having been nominated by President Richard Nixon. He was known for presiding over the Amoco Cadiz oil spill case.<ref name=":0"/>
==Early life== William Joseph Bauer was born on September 15, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name=":0"/> He served in the United States Army from 1945 to 1947.<ref name=":0"/> He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1949 from Elmhurst College and a Juris Doctor in 1952 from DePaul University College of Law.<ref name="auto"/>
==Career== Bauer served as an assistant state's attorney in DuPage County, Illinois, from 1952 to 1956, serving as first assistant state's attorney from 1956 to 1958 and serving as state's attorney from 1959 to 1964.<ref name=":0"/> He was an instructor at Elmhurst College from 1952 to 1959 and was in private practice in Illinois from 1953 to 1964.<ref name="auto"/>
Bauer served as a Judge of the Illinois Circuit Court for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit from 1964 to 1970. He was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1970 to 1971.<ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|122|nid=1377576|name=William Joseph Bauer<!--(1926–)-->}}</ref>
===Federal judicial service=== Bauer was nominated by President Richard Nixon on September 14, 1971, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois vacated by Judge Joseph Sam Perry. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 8, 1971, and received his commission on November 10, 1971.<ref name=":0"/> His service terminated on January 3, 1975, due to elevation to the Seventh Circuit.<ref name="auto"/>
Bauer was nominated by President Gerald Ford on December 11, 1974, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated by Judge Otto Kerner Jr. He was confirmed by the Senate on December 19, 1974, and received his commission on December 20, 1974. He served as Chief Judge from 1986 to 1993. His most famous decisions include the Amoco Cadiz oil spill case.<ref>[https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F2/954/954.F2d.1279.90-2954.90-2946.90-2857.90-2841.90-2832.html In the Matter of OIL SPILL BY THE AMOCO CADIZ OFF THE COAST OF FRANCE ON MARCH 16, 1978]</ref>
He assumed senior status on October 31, 1994. He was a Member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1987 to 1993.<ref name="auto"/>
On April 19, 2018, Bauer wrote the majority opinion striking down Indiana's ban on abortion due to disability as unconstitutional. Bauer was joined by Joel Flaum, over the dissent of Daniel Anthony Manion. This part was upheld in ''Box v. Planned Parenthood''.<ref>{{Cite web| last1=Weiss | first1=Debra Cassens |url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/7th_circuit_blocks_disability_abortion_ban_partial_dissent_labels_abortion|title = 7th Circuit blocks disability abortion ban; partial dissent labels the procedure a 'super-right' | work=ABA Journal }}</ref>
On September 30, 2022, at the age of 96, Bauer transitioned to inactive senior status on the Court of Appeals.<ref name="rider2022">{{cite journal |url=https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.7thcircuitbar.org/resource/resmgr/circuit_rider/the_circuit_rider_vol_31-com.pdf |volume=31 |page=46 |first=Sarah |last=Schrup |title=News and Events of Interest Around the Circuit |journal=The Circuit Rider |date=May 1, 2023 |quote=Senior Circuit Judge William Bauer assumed inactive senior status on September 30, 2022. }}</ref>
==Personal life and legacy== Bauer was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the state's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2010 in the area of Government & Law.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thelincolnacademyofillinois.org/4632-2/#toggle-id-6|title=Laureates by Year - The Lincoln Academy of Illinois|publisher=The Lincoln Academy of Illinois|language=en-US|access-date=March 4, 2016|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923204516/http://thelincolnacademyofillinois.org/4632-2/#toggle-id-6|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2013, Bauer married Patricia Spratt, an appellate litigator and a shareholder of the firm Shefsky & Froelich. She had previously clerked for Bauer in 1991 and 1992.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lat |first1=David |title=Judges in Love: Three Seventh Circuit Judges Getting Married - Above the Law |url=https://abovethelaw.com/2013/03/judges-in-love-three-seventh-circuit-judges-getting-married |website=abovethelaw.com |access-date=November 22, 2024 |date=March 21, 2013 }}</ref> In 2015, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Spratt to a vacant judgeship on the 7th subcircuit of the Cook County Circuit Court.<ref>{{cite web |title=Spratt appointed Circuit Judge of Cook County, 7th Subcircuit |url=https://www.isba.org/barnews/2015/08/26/spratt-appointed-circuit-judge-cook-county-7th-subcircuit |publisher=Illinois State Bar Association |access-date=November 22, 2024 |date=August 26, 2015 }}</ref> She was elected to the judgeship in 2016, and won retention in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Patricia S. Spratt |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Patricia_S._Spratt |website=Ballotpedia |access-date=November 22, 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
Bauer died in North Riverside, Illinois, on December 15, 2025, at the age of 99.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=15 December 2025 |title=William J. Bauer, 'sage' Chicago-based 7th Circuit judge and US attorney, dies at 99 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/judge-william-bauer-obituary/ |access-date=15 December 2025 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>
==See also== * List of United States federal judges by longevity of service
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{FJC Bio|122|nid=1377576|name=William Joseph Bauer<!--(1926–)-->}} * {{C-SPAN|29233}} * [http://www.dcba.org/brief/sepissue/1999/art90999.htm DCBA Brief Online]
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Joseph Sam Perry}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois}}|years=1971–1975}} {{s-aft|after=Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr.}} |- {{s-bef|before=Otto Kerner Jr.}} {{s-ttl|title=Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|years=1974–1994}} {{s-aft|after=Diane Wood}} |- {{s-bef|before=Walter J. Cummings Jr.}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|years=1986–1993}} {{s-aft|after=Richard Posner}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bauer, William J.}} Category:1926 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:DePaul University College of Law alumni Category:Illinois state court judges Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Category:Lawyers from Chicago Category:Military personnel from Chicago Category:People from Elmhurst, Illinois Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:United States attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by Gerald Ford Category:United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon