Law
Avern Cohn
1924–2022 · lawyer, federal judge
Detroit-born lawyer and civic leader who chaired the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners and served as a federal judge in Detroit for more than four decades (1979–2022).
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Royal Oak, Michigan
aged 97- Birth name
- Avern Levin Cohn
- Detroit years
- 1924–2022
- Field
- Law
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Avern Cohn was born in Detroit in 1924, the son of lawyer Irwin I. Cohn. After wartime studies and Army service from 1943 to 1946, he earned his law degree at the University of Michigan in 1949 and joined his father's practice, moving in 1961 to Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, one of Detroit's leading firms. He was active in civic life, serving on the Michigan Social Welfare Commission, chairing the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in 1974–1975 and, under Mayor Coleman Young, sitting on the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners from 1975 to 1979, as its chair in his last year, when the city was working to integrate its police force. President Carter appointed him to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1979. He took senior status in 1999 but kept hearing cases for more than twenty years, becoming known for his independence and his interest in the court's history. He died in Royal Oak in 2022, aged 97.
Highlights
- U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Michigan, 1979–2022
- Chair of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners (1979)
- Chair of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, 1974–1975
- Partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, 1961–1979
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1979–2022
Theodore Levin United States Courthouse
Detroit's federal courthouse, where he served as district judge for over four decades.