Diane S. Sykes

Diane S. Sykes is an American jurist who serves as a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2004, she later became chief judge of that circuit and assumed senior status in 2025 while continuing to hear cases. Prior to her federal service, Sykes was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1999 to 2004 and spent more than a decade as a trial‑court judge in Milwaukee County.

Early life and legal career

Born Diane Elizabeth Schwerm on December 23, 1957, she grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs. Her father, Gerald Schwerm, held municipal leadership positions, first as village manager of Brown Deer and later as director of Milwaukee County Public Works, where he oversaw major infrastructure projects such as an expansion of Mitchell International Airport. Her mother, Joyce Hanrahan Schwerm, worked as a guidance counselor at Shorewood High School. Sykes is of German and Irish ancestry.

She completed secondary education at Brown Deer High School in 1976 and pursued undergraduate studies in journalism at Northwestern University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1980. Following graduation she worked as a reporter for The Milwaukee Journal before enrolling in Marquette University Law School, where she earned her Juris Doctor in 1984.

After law school, Sykes clerked for Judge Terence T. Evans of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1984 to 1985. She then entered private practice as a litigator with the Milwaukee firm Whyte & Hirschboeck, remaining there until 1992. In that year she was elected to a newly created trial‑judge seat on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, where she presided over misdemeanor, felony, and civil matters.

Sykes’s judicial career advanced to the state supreme court when Governor Tommy G. Thompson appointed her in 1999 to fill the vacancy left by Justice Donald W. Steinmetz. She subsequently stood for election in April 2000 and defeated Louis B. Butler, securing a full term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. During her tenure she authored opinions that emphasized textualist and originalist approaches to statutory interpretation, including decisions in *Baierl v. McTaggart* (2001), *Putnam v. Time Warner* (2002), *Bammert v. Don’s Super Valu* (2002), *State v. Carlson* (2003), *Tietsworth v. Harley‑Davidson* (2004), and *State ex rel. Kalal v. Dane County Circuit Court* (2004).

Federal appellate service

President George W. Bush nominated Sykes to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on November 14, 2003, to fill the seat designated CA70108. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination by a vote of 14–5 on March 11, 2004, and the full Senate confirmed her on June 24, 2004 by a vote of 70–27. She received her commission on July 1, 2004 and began serving as an active circuit judge.

During her first decade on the Seventh Circuit, Sykes participated in numerous panels and authored opinions that were subsequently reviewed by the Supreme Court. In May 2015 the Supreme Court reversed a unanimous panel opinion to which she had contributed, holding that Article III of the Constitution does not permit bankruptcy courts to create jurisdiction over a claim through the parties’ consent. The following year she wrote for a unanimous Seventh Circuit in *Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran*, concluding that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not provide victims of terrorist attacks with a right to attach foreign‑state property; that judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court in February 2018.

Sykes’s service on the circuit also included high‑profile dissents and majority opinions on civil‑rights and employment matters. In April 2017 she dissented from an en banc decision that found Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protected LGBT individuals from sex discrimination, arguing for a textualist method rather than the majority’s reliance on “sex stereotyping” analysis. The following year she authored a unanimous opinion holding that the Americans with Disabilities Act did not obligate an employer to provide a multi‑month leave as a reasonable accommodation.

Other notable Seventh Circuit rulings in which Sykes participated include the December 2017 en banc decision overturning a magistrate’s finding that Brendan Dassey’s confession had been unlawfully coerced, and the July 2018 unanimous panel opinion upholding an Illinois statute requiring certain convicted sex offenders to relocate away from newly opened daycares, finding no violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause.

Sykes served as chief judge of the Seventh Circuit beginning on July 3, 2020, a role she held until assuming senior status. In March 2025 she wrote to President Donald J. Trump indicating her intention to take senior status effective October 1, 2025; she continues to hear cases in that capacity.

Throughout her federal career Sykes has been identified as a reliable originalist by members of Congress and was reportedly considered for appointment to the United States Supreme Court in 2005 following Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement. She also appeared on President Donald Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees in 2017. In addition to her judicial duties, Sykes is a member of the Federalist Society.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Judge Sykes’s body of work reflects a consistent commitment to textualism and originalism in both statutory and constitutional interpretation. Her Wisconsin Supreme Court opinions frequently emphasized adherence to common‑law principles and legislative intent, as seen in *Baierl v. McTaggart* where she urged the use of common law to overturn a statutory rescission remedy, and in *State ex rel. Kalal v. Dane County Circuit Court*, which outlined an originalist framework for reviewing statutes.

On the Seventh Circuit, her opinions have addressed a range of issues from bankruptcy jurisdiction to foreign sovereign immunity, employment discrimination, disability accommodations, criminal procedure, and state regulatory schemes. The reversal of the 2015 panel opinion concerning bankruptcy courts highlighted the limits she recognized on judicial authority under Article III. Conversely, her unanimous rulings in *Rubin* and the Illinois relocation case demonstrate a willingness to uphold statutory schemes when they align with constitutional constraints.

Sykes’s dissent in the 2017 Title VII en banc decision illustrates her methodological preference for interpreting statutes based on their text rather than evolving doctrinal concepts. Her reasoning emphasized that courts should not extend protections beyond what Congress expressly provided, a stance that aligns with broader originalist jurisprudence.

Her participation in cases involving the Americans with Disabilities Act and criminal confessions further underscores an approach that balances statutory purpose with constitutional safeguards without expanding judicially created rights. The unanimous nature of several of her opinions indicates a capacity to build consensus among her colleagues on matters of legal interpretation.

Beyond specific rulings, Sykes’s tenure as chief judge placed her in an administrative leadership role for the Seventh Circuit, overseeing case management and court operations during a period that included significant developments in federal jurisprudence. Her continued service as a senior judge allows her to contribute experience and perspective to ongoing appellate deliberations.

Overall, Diane S. Sykes’s career spans state trial courts, a state supreme court, and a prominent federal appellate bench. Her judicial record reflects a steadfast adherence to textualist principles, an emphasis on limiting judicial overreach, and a consistent application of originalist reasoning across diverse areas of law. These attributes have shaped her reputation within the legal community and continue to influence the development of jurisprudence in the Seventh Circuit.