FEBRUARY 3 • 2022 | 63
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F
or nearly a quarter-
century, Arthur
Tarnow was a United
States District Court Judge
in Detroit. A person of great
empathy who cared about
the disadvantaged, Judge
Tarnow would daily box
half his lunch and give it to
homeless people on nearby
Downtown streets.
The judge’s empathy
would also extend to the
criminal defendants he
sent to prison, explains his
wife, Jackie Tarnow. “When
my husband sentenced
people, he talked very
compassionately and told
them, ‘This offense is one
thing that happened in your
life that you have to take
responsibility for.’”
But the judge didn’t forget
about the people he sent to
prison. He also established
a unique Meet-and-Greet
program where he would
assist former prisoners who
had just completed their
terms so they could find a
place back in society.
“It was an act of
kindness,” his wife said.
“My husband and the
supervisory officers of the
Court worked with the
former prisoners to help
them find jobs, health care,
a place to live and whatever
they needed.
“Art has received letters
from many former prisoners
who were successful in
returning to the community
— thanking him for saving
their lives and giving them
direction,” his wife said.
“Art Tarnow was the
exemplification of rachmones
— compassion,” said long-
time friend and Detroit
criminal defense attorney
Steve Fishman.
Judge Arthur Tarnow,
79, of Detroit, died of heart
disease on Jan. 21, 2022.
LEGAL CAREER
Judge Tarnow was a native
Detroiter who graduated
from Mumford High School
and Wayne State University
Law School. As a young
attorney, he worked in
Detroit’s Legal Aid and
Defender office under future
city councilman and U.S.
Sen. Carl Levin. In 1970,
Tarnow became the first
full-time director of the State
Appellate Defender Office.
Afterward, he established a
26-year career as a criminal
appellate attorney.
“Art Tarnow was the No. 1
criminal appellate attorney
in the state of Michigan,”
Fishman said. In 1998,
Tarnow began a 24-year
tenure on Detroit’s federal
bench after being appointed
by President Bill Clinton.
“I think Art was born
to be a conflict-resolution
person,” Jackie Tarnow
said. “He was born to bring
people together, to settle
things in peaceful ways.”
Fishman noted Judge
Tarnow’s tremendous
intellect and added, “He was
a great judge who treated
everyone who came before
him fairly and equally.”
Fishman said the judge
was also very helpful to
up-and-coming lawyers.
“Art Tarnow did not
believe in waxing eloquent,”
Fishman said. “He got right
to the point. There’s a lesson
in there for young lawyers
— say what you have to
say and be done. Art was a
practitioner of that.”
Judge Tarnow had a
positive, ongoing sense of
humor, his wife said. “He used
it everywhere to relax people.
“In court, when someone
was speaking on and on, he
would say, ‘Excuse me, please,
you are ‘alligating’ — because
when an alligator opens its
mouth, its ears close.”
Besides being a resident of
Detroit, Judge Tarnow was a
man of the world. He trav-
eled extensively as a young
man and, early in his career,
taught at law schools in
Melbourne, Austrailia, and
Papua, New Guinea. After he
had a family, they traveled
when possible and hosted
a dozen exchange students,
several of them Jewish, from
Brazil, Europe and Japan.
“Art would talk to our sons
about Maimonides, about
the values of integrity and
ethics,” his wife said. “He was
secular, but very spiritual in
the way he lived his life.”
HIGH HONORS
Judge Tarnow’s career was
much appreciated. In 2018,
after serving on the bench
for 20 years, he was feted at a
ceremony where his courtroom
portrait was unveiled. He was
acclaimed in speeches by his
successor, Judge Terrence
Berg, and by his former
mentor, Sen. Carl Levin.
“It was wonderful — Art
got to hear people praise and
celebrate him,
” said sister-in-
law Kathy Tarnow.
Asked that year how he
would like to be remembered,
Judge Tarnow said, “Being
a public servant with great
power is a large responsibility.
It requires patience, the
ability to listen to the parties,
lawyers and law clerks — and
a sense of fairness.”
Judge Arthur Tarnow is
survived by his wife, Jackie;
sons and daughters-in-law,
Thomas and Andrea, and
Andrew and Vita; brother
and sister-in-law, Robert and
Kathy Tarnow; sister, Adrienne
Goldbaum; and grandchildren,
Lucien and Julia.
He was the son of the
late Nate and the late Rose
Ginsburg Tarnow.
For those who wish to
honor his memory, his wife
notes that Judge Tarnow
would say, “Find someone
who needs help or an
organization that you feel
helps people and take care of
other people and their needs.”
Depending on the course
of the pandemic, the family
hopes to conduct a memorial
gathering this summer.
Judging with ‘Rachmones’ — Compassion
JN STAFF
Judge Arthur Tarnow