Markman Steps Down As U.S. Attorney,
Prez Asks Leon Cohan To Find Candidate

November 1989, Mr.
Markman and other fed-
eral attorneys throughout
the country serve at the
"pleasure of the presi-
dent."
Mr. Markman has sub-
mitted his resignation,

Stephen Markman

S . Attorney
Stephen Markman
prepares to step
down from his top post at
the Eastern District of
Michigan's federal court-
house in Detroit, Leon
Cohan is anxious to find
his replacement.
An appointee of former
President George Bush
who began his job in

A

s U.

which will not take effect
until a new attorney is
named to the post.
This bad news for the
Republican appointee
brings good news for
Michigan's Democrats,
especially to Mr. Cohan,
recently appointed by
President Bill Clinton to
chair the Judicial Merit
Selection Committee.
Accordingly, Mr. Cohan
will lead a bi-partisan
committee charged with
recommending appointees
for the federal courts
(including the top attor-
ney post) to Michigan's
Democratic senators,
Donald Riegle and Carl
Levin.
The first meeting of the
committee is expected to
take place in the coming
weeks, Mr. Cohan said.
"The purpose is to find
people with the right
qualifications," said Mr.

Faxon 'No Smoking, Please'

F

or about 25 years, Sen.
Jack Faxon, D-
Farmington Hills, has
been working to rid public
buildings of smoke, intro-
ducing legislation each
session to place restric-
tions on the smoker., ,,
"And why not?' } ; lid asks.
"I never liked ssmoking. I
always thought it was
awful. It
my eyes
water; I gotpfieadaches; I
just got iltfrom it," he
says. "And, a$,' rV6TfiCif.iiiii
that seco ICOhand ,smok*--
does, after all, harm the
non-smoker."
He feels great that he
never has given up his
fight to do battle in
Lansing for the non-smok-
er.
"I do not want people
subjected to the hazardous
effects of second-hand
smoke," he says.

mare

Mr. Faxon introduced
the Michigan Clean Indoor
Air Act, which requires
restaurants and public
buildings to offer smoke-
free areas Now he'd like
to introduce legislation to
prohibit smoking in all
public buildings. 'Perhaps
he will also push through
a bill to ban smoking in
businesses.
This year, Mr. Faxon
has sponsored and/or co-
iFOKrif rair related
Oiiekvichlid prohibit
smoking in public schools;
another places restrictions
on the free distribution of
tobacco products; one bans
smoking from public
restrooms and another
provides for more seating
for non-smokers and
requires a floor plan that
displays the non-smoking
areas for patrons.

"I do this every year,"
Mr. Faxon admits. "Some
never pass. But you can
never tell. There are not a
lot of supporters for smok-
ing in this legislative
body."

private

Jack Faxon

Cohan, a lifelong Demo-
cratic Party activist who
will retire this spring
from his position as
senior vice president/chief
legal counsel for Detroit
Edison.
The process is relative-
ly simple, yet it often can
be quite lengthy. In rec-
ommendations for the top
federal attorney job or a
federal bench position,
the committee first
reviews applicants' quali-
fications and submits top
recommendations to
Michigan's senators.
Next, the senators
meet (usually headed by
the state's senior senator,
which in this case is Mr.
Riegle) to select a nomi-
nee, and they submit an
endorsement to the presi-
dent. The president nomi-
nates a U.S. attorney,
and any federal judges,
before the final approval

is granted by the U.S.
Senate.
Already, at least 10
persons — including
Steven Kaplan, former
Southfield board of educa-
tion president who chairs
the Neighborhood Project
homeowners group —
have submitted applica-
tions for the vacant post.
Another 15 applicants
have submitted resumes
for several expected
vacancies on the federal
bench.
The Jewish community
has been well represented
in this area of the law.
Aside from Mr. Markman,
five of the 13 federal
judges for Michigan's
Eastern District are
Jewish. They are newest
appointee Nancy Ed-
munds, Stewart New-
blatt, Avern Cohn, Ber-
nard Friedman and
Gerald Rosen.

Jewish Republicans
Gaining Clout

W

hile Michigan Dem-
ocrats still are rev-
eling in the party's
first presidential victory
in 12 years, the state's
Jewish Republicans aren't
doing too badly with Gov.
John Engler at the helm.
One of Mr. Engler's
staff members, Margaret
Byington, the deputy
director for the Michigan
Department of Commerce,
will be honored by the
Jewish National Fund in
Grand Rapids.
In addition, Mr.. Engler
recently appointed long-
time GOP activist Harriet
Rotter to the Central
Michigan Board of Trust-
ees. And Oakland Coun-
ty's Republican Chairman
Jim Alexander was elect-
ed chairman of the

Michigan Board of
Canvassers, a board made
up of four members —
two Republicans and two
Democrats.
Two young Republicans
were elected to leadership
positions at the recent
Michigan Republican
State Convention Corn-
mittee. Laurie Kepes, 20,
of Southfield, was elected
as secretary for the 11th
Congressional District
Republican Committee
(Republican Rep. Joe
Knollenberg's district).
Ben Mayer, 27, also of
Southfield, was elected
treasurer of the 12th
Congressional District
Republican Committee
(Democratic Rep. Sander
Levin's district.) El