# William Griesbach **William C. Griesbach** (born 1954, Milwaukee) is a federal judge in Green Bay, appointed by [[George W. Bush]] in 2002, chief judge of the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 2012 to 2019, and on senior status since December 31, 2019. Before the federal bench he was a Brown County prosecutor (1987–1995) and a state circuit judge appointed by Gov. [[Tommy Thompson]] (1995–2002). He is a Republican appointee who ruled **against** the Trump administration's CFTC in the prediction-market fight. ## The Wisconsin ruling (July 2026) The CFTC asked him to bar Wisconsin from enforcing its gambling laws against [[Kalshi]], [[Polymarket]], [[Coinbase]] and [[Crypto.com]]. He refused. He found that Wisconsin's gambling statutes appear to cover sports event contracts, that the CFTC had shown no irreparable harm, and that it was unlikely to win on the merits. He disagreed with the Third Circuit's view that such contracts are swaps. He also pointed out the flaw in the government's case: "Of course, if Wisconsin's gambling statutes do not cover sports-related event contracts, then the CFTC's case against the State makes no sense." His ruling conflicts with Judge [[Martha Pacold]]'s October 2026 Illinois decision, which leaves two district courts in the **Seventh Circuit** on opposite sides. See [[CFTC v. Arizona]]. ## Earlier: Wisconsin redistricting In November 2016 he **dissented** when a three-judge panel struck down Wisconsin's 2011 Assembly map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The Supreme Court vacated that decision in June 2018. See [[The Efficiency Gap]]. ## See also - [[CFTC v. Arizona]] · [[Martha Pacold]] · [[Josh Kaul]] · [[The Mathematics of Redistricting]]