Milwaukee Municipal Court Judge Derek Mosley named new director of Marquette Law School's Lubar Center

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee Municipal Court Judge Derek Mosley is turning in his robe and gavel for a leadership position at Marquette Law School after nearly three decades in the justice system.

Marquette President Michael R. Lovell named Mosley the new director of Marquette University Law School's Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

“It has been my great honor to have served the people of Milwaukee for more than 27 years, first as a prosecutor and then a presiding judge. I now look forward to the unique and exciting challenge of helping to advance public understanding of and discourse around matters of law and public policy through the city’s preeminent public forum," Mosley said in a Marquette University press release.

The 1995 Marquette Law School graduate will return to campus on Monday, Jan. 9, where he will lead the Lubar Center, which "seeks to serve as the region's leading venue for intelligent civil discourse about law and public policy matters."

"I want the Lubar Center to be the town hall for not only just Milwaukee, but Wisconsin and the nation," Mosley said. 

Mosley said this position will also afford him the opportunity to make a difference in issues impacting the community by coming up with public policy initiatives that move into legislation. 

"I'm not going to be on the enforcement piece anymore. We're going to be in the initiation piece," Mosley said. 

Mosley served on the bench of the Milwaukee Municipal Court for the past 20 years after the Milwaukee Common Council appointed him to fill a vacancy in Branch 2 in 2002. 

At the time, Mosley was the youngest African American to be appointed judge in the State of Wisconsin, according to a Marquette University press release.

Prior, Mosley served as an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County from 1995 to 2002. 

Mosley helped improve the system.

"We've become more accessible to justice," Mosley said. "We took the court from a structure that you had to come to, to now community court. So, we have a homeless court, we have a veteran's court, we do juvenile court."

Mosley is well-known for his community outreach, including a summer program he started in 2022 to introduce middle school students to different career opportunities. 

Those initiatives will continue even after Mosley's transition to the Lubar Center.

Mosley also received national attention in 2016 after fellow Judge JoAnn Eiring donated her kidney to him. He was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease two years prior.

The judge will officially make the transition in the new year.

"For the last 20 years, it's always been 'Judge, judge, judge,'" Mosley said. "It's going to be nice to be Derek again."