Gavel Dreams

A two-time political candidate looks to a judicial post.
This one won't require a campaign.

JULIE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER

S

teve Kaplan is chasing a
new dream.
After a depressing sec-
ond failure to clinch the
Oakland County prosecutor's
post, he is staking his hopes on
a lifetime federal judicial ap-
pointment.
Mr. Kaplan is among the 70
or so applicants vying for two
open seats in the U.S. District
Court-Eastern District of Michi-
gan, according to Leon S. Cohan,
chairman of the 40-member
committee charged with inter-
viewing applicants. While the
law prohibits the release of
names, Mr. Kaplan's has sur-
faced, along with Chief Oakland
County Circuit Court Judge Ed-
ward Sosnick's and attorney Al-
bert Holtz's.
Mr. Cohan said 40 percent of
the applicants are sitting judges Steve Kaplan is going for a new job.
and one-third of them are
recent retirement and Judge Ju-
women.
lian Cook Jr.'s new senior status.
The court vacancies were cre-
Mr. Cohan said a third post will
ated by Judge George LaPlata's
be available if Judge Barbara

Hackett takes senior status this during his stints as a law clerk
year.
and staff attorney for three judges.
The application deadline was Throughout law school, Mr. Ka-
early last week. •
plan, 43, worked for now-deceased
Mr. Cohan, a former president Oakland Circuit Court Judge
of the Jewish Community Coun- Bernard Kaufman and his suc-
cil of Metropolitan Detroit, cessor, outgoing federal Judge
explained that the nonpar- George T aPlata. Before joining the
tisan Citizens Merit Selec- Prosecutor's Office in Macomb
tion Committee, working in County, he worked for former
four groups, will interview Michigan Court of Appeals
all applicants by the end of Judge William
February, and then come Beasley and again
together to recommend for Judge LaPlata,
three candidates for each of who by then had
the posts. Sen. Carl Levin, left the circuit court
who appointed the com- to become a federal
mittee members, will sub- judge.
mit the recommendations
"Working in the fed-
to President Clinton, who eral court won't be a
will then present the can- novelty. As a staff attor-
didates to the Senate Judi- ney you're involved in set-
ciary Committee for tlement discussions with
confirmation. Mr. Cohan attorneys, you're in court during
predicts that the judicial ap- trials, you assist the judge in draft-
pointments will be made by ing opinions. It's not foreign ter-
the fall.
ritory," Mr. Kaplan said.
Mr. Kaplan, a former
He knew early last year that
president of the Southfield Judge LaPlata would leave a va-
School Board, believes his cancy on the federal bench, but
professional experience el- was much too entrenched in his
evates him above the pack. campaign for the Oakland Coun-
For the past 10 years, he ty prosecutor's office to think about
has tried over 100 criminal himself for the job.
cases as an assistant pros-
`My goal at that point was to be
ecutor in Macomb County.
elected prosecutor, and about a
And while he's never held or week after the election in No-
run for a judicial post, he said his vember, people were encouraging
judicial aspirations were kindled me to apply for one of the federal

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judgeships — attorneys, Democ-
rats, judges — and I decided to
run. The election was so intense
and time-consuming that I wasn't
pondering other goals. I was fair-
ly confident we would win the elec-
tion and we didn't," Mr. Kaplan
said.
The blow has been softened by
time, but Mr. Kaplan was burned
by a vote miscount that had him
ahead of his opponent,
David Gorcyca, up
until mid-morning
the day after the
general election.
He acknowledges
that he couldn't
go anywhere for a
long time without
people coming up to
him and his wife,
Lisa, to express their
surprise and condolences.
Mr. Kaplan figures the loss
could help him in the selection
process because his name was a
prominent fixture in the press for
weeks after the election.
Then there's Albert Holtz, a
West Bloomfield attorney and
hard-core Democratic Party ac-
tivist. Like Mr. Kaplan, he has
never held judicial office.
But he has held various elec-
tive posts and argued before the
U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Holtz,
51, served as a member of the
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