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Cohn really was born into a law
family. His father, the late Irwin I.
Cohn, started practicing law in
1917. After graduating from Detroit
Central High School in 1942, Avern
Cohn went to the University of
Michigan (class of 1949), following
a three-year stint in the army. He
joined his father's firm a year before
graduation from law school.
"My parents never pushed me
into law," he said, "but it was always
assumed I would become a lawyer. I
took some medical-school classes in
the army, but I didn't like it. I knew
then that law was the career for me."
Almost immediately, Cohn joined
the ACLU's board of directors and
became a cooperating attorney, which
means he did free work for the organi-
zation. His father's firm merged in
1961 with Detroit's Honigman, Miller
and Schwartz, adding the Cohn name.
The elder Cohn, who preceded his
son as a Jewish philanthropist and
communal leader, died in 1983.
Irwin's wife, Sadie, passed away in
April at age 100.
Whatever role Avern Cohn has
taken in his career — practicing
attorney, judge or civil liberties vol-
unteer — he has established a repu-
tation as being outspoken, passion-
ate and demanding. Prosecutors and
defense attorneys alike hold him in
high esteem for his sense of fairness.
"There's no doubt about it. I'm
demanding," he said. "I'm always
prepared in the courtroom, so I
want the attorneys to be well-pre-
pared."
He hears about 25 federal cases a
year, each ranging from three days to
about a month.
"He's 76 going on 40," quipped
Judge Borman, who used to appear
in court before Cohn, and now is
happy just to be his colleague.
President Bill Clinton appointed
Borman to the district court.
"When I handled a case before
[Cohn], I used to read everything I
could get my hands on, because he
has a voracious appetite for reading
and learning, and he's always ahead
of you," Borman said. "He's the
most well-read judge on the bench.
And he's not shy about asking pene-
trating questions."
Alan Gershel, first assistant U.S.
attorney and criminal case chief for
this U.S. district, said Cohn has
"high expectations of prosecutors
and demands they be prepared, but
he's very fair.
"He's extremely intelligent, reads
all of the material and involves him-
self thoroughly in every case," said
Gershel, who has practiced cases in
front of Cohn for 20 years.
Gershel added: "He's very
approachable on specific cases. You
can have a conference with him and
get frank and reasonable answers."
Liberal Up bringing
A discussion with Cohn easily brings
out the strong liberal viewpoints
that have dominated his work for
the ACLU over the years. "I've
always had liberal tendencies. It just
came naturally for me," he said.
Cohn grew up in the 1930s, an
era of many social changes that saw
a national Depression and the start
of Nazi tyranny against the Jews of
Europe.
"We witnessed the plight of the
less fortunate among us," he said,
"and most of the Jewish people of
- that generation were inclined toward
the values of the Democratic Party
as a party that favored liberals and
minorities in general.
"The Republicans were isolation-
ists, so the Jews turned to the
Democratic programs and their con-
cern for the oppression of the Jews
during World War II. The African
Americans did the same later in
their fight against segregation. And
the ACLU represents all of these val-
ues because it supports constitution-
al rights which were written for
minorities."
In the 1960s, Cohn successfully
assisted the ACLU in forcing Wayne
State University to open its facilities
to all campus groups. He handled
similar cases against the Detroit city
government, the Michigan
Legislature and the Detroit
Metropolitan Airport Authority.
As a member of the Detroit Board
of Police Commissioners in the
1970s, he helped set policy to inte-
grate the overwhelmingly white male
police force. He supported "one for
one" hiring and the promotion of
white and African-American police
officers to ensure a real community
police force.
In 1989, he struck down the
University of Michigan's speech
code, which was created, in part, to
prohibit racist hate speech.
"It is an unfortunate fact of our