Robert Butcher, from the downriver Detroit area of Michigan, died on 27 July 2011 at the age of 85.

 

Robert was a husband, a father of six, and worked as a self-employed lawyer. He was also a golfer, mad about crosswords, and had been a champion bowler in his younger days, having won the down-payment for his first house at a Chicago bowling tournament in the 1950s.

 

He was also opinionated and determined and took action on issues that were important to him, or where he saw injustice.

 

One of Robert’s most personal and longstanding actions began with a query about the local sewer taxes he was being asked to pay in the mid-1960s.  By 1972, having worked its way up through the Michigan court system, what had become a seven-year battle reached the Supreme Court of the United States. That Court only reviews "final judgments rendered by the highest court of a state in which a decision could be had" if those judgments involve a question of federal statutory or constitutional law, so having the case accepted there was no small matter.

 

It was widely referred to as a landmark case by the courts, the news media and local government officials, because it had state-wide as well as national implications.[1]  Despite raising questions about the law, constitution, taxation, property ownership and the power of the electorate, the case was ultimately lost.

 

But Robert’s clear determination to forge ahead and act against injustice as he saw it was to continue to be a thread that ran throughout the rest of his life.

 

Robert’s family request that instead of sending flowers, anyone who would like to do something in his memory makes a donation to the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, a registered UK charity.  You can find out more at www.smk.org.uk.

 

Run by his daughter Linda, the Foundation informs, connects and supports individuals who want to take a stand, speak out and make a difference on issues that matter to them, their organisations and their communities.

 

Linda uses her father’s ‘sewer taxes’ campaign as a case study when she trains campaigners, telling a story that has informed, moved and inspired many others.

 

You can read more about Robert Butcher in the  Detroit News at http://bit.ly/oJHcDV and the Detroit Free Press at http://bit.ly/ncEXR6.

 

Note to US givers:  There is no problem with donating on this site despite the fact it shows the amount in British pounds.  You can use www.xe.com\ucc\ to check exchange rates.  At the time of posting this page, $10 (US dollars) was worth about £6.14 (British pounds) but this can fluctuate.