John Louis Coffey (April 15, 1922 – November 10, 2012) was an American lawyer and jurist from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He served as a judge of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals from 1982 until his death, taking senior status in 2004. Prior to his federal appointment, he served four years as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and 16 years as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County.
John Louis Coffey
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Born 1922 in Milwaukee, WI
Died 2012 in Whitefish Bay, WI
FJC ID: 465
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 55/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 2,275/year
Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1978–1982Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1982–2012
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Wisconsin Supreme CourtJustice · 1978–1982
- Wisconsin Circuit Court, Milwaukee CountyJudge · 1962–1978
- ↳senior judge, Criminal Division · 1972–1975
- ↳chief presiding judge, Criminal Division · 1976
- ↳Civil Division · 1976–1978
- Milwaukee County [Wisconsin], Municipal CourtJudge · 1960–1962
- Milwaukee County [Wisconsin] Civil CourtJudge · 1954–1960
- Milwaukee, WisconsinAssistant city attorney · 1949–1954
U.S. Navy1943–1946
Appointments
1982–2012 · Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican)Term ended: Death
Education
- Marquette Universityba
- Marquette Universityjd
J.D. · 1948- Marquette UniversityB.A. · 1943