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Sale Ends Thursday, 1217/ 2000 (248) 855-0303 !KNIGHT & DEUTSCH MASTER OFet, (248) 352-7030 Creating images that touch the heart... 26571 W. 12 Mile Road - Southfield, 48034 David M. Deutsch at Northwestern Highway * * * * * STAIRWAY LIFTS* * * * * THE CAREFREE WAY TO CLIMB STAIRS When you're disabled, or just not able to move around as freely as you once could, stairs can be a real prob- lem. But there is a simple answer. The powered stairway lift. Easily installed to fit curved or straight stairs. They give you back the ability to move around your own home. Folds back-gets in nobody's way. CALL OR STOP BY FOR A FREE DEMONSTRATION ACTON RENTAL & SALES LARRY ARONOFF I love my Stairway Lift! It takes me up and down the stairs with the push of a but- ton. Call for details! (313) 891-6500 (248) 540-5550 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