SOUTHFIELD, MI — The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Michigan will close on Monday, Feb. 7, in recognition of U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn’s significant contributions to the law, the court said in a news release.
Cohn, a longtime federal judge in Detroit, died Friday night, Feb. 4, at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak after a brief illness. He was 97.
The court will close for the day to celebrate his life and service, the news release states.
The court said lawyers should check with chambers staff early on Monday morning to determine if any previously scheduled hearings will go forward.
Cohn’s funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Ira Kaufman Chapel, 18325 W. 9 Mile Road in Southfield.
The funeral service will be live-streamed on the funeral home’s website. Visit www.irakaufman.com, click on Upcoming Services, on Judge Avern Cohn’s name and then “Click here to watch live video.” Interment will follow at Clover Hill Park Cemetery, 2425 E. 14 Mile Road in Birmingham.
Memorial contributions for Cohn may be made to the Jewish Historical Society, American Civil Liberties Union, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Jewish Association for Residential Care, the news release states.
Cohn was born July 23, 1924, in Detroit, the grandson of Russian and Polish immigrants, according to his obituary.
He decided early in his life he wanted to be a lawyer, his obituary states. After graduating high school in 1942, he enrolled at the University of Michigan, but was drafted into the Army during his sophomore year and spent the next three years of his military service attending engineering and medical schools in Texas, California and Illinois, the obituary states.
When World War II ended, he enrolled at the University of Michigan Law School. He received his law degree in 1949 and joined his father’s Detroit law firm and worked as an attorney for about three decades, becoming a partner when the firm merged with another.
Presentient Jimmy Carter nominated Cohn to the federal bench on May 17, 1979, and he was sworn in Sept. 26, 1979.
Cohn served as a U.S. District Court judge for 40 years. He stopped handling cases in 2019 at the age of 95. At the time, he was the oldest serving judge in Michigan.
He was known to lawyers for his fairness, legal knowledge and holding lawyers to task in the courtroom.
Over the years, he handled several high-profile cases.
Among those were the 1995 case of a University of Michigan student Jake Baker, who was the first person charged with a federal Internet crime. Baker fantasized on the Internet about raping, torturing and killing women.
Cohn ruled that Baker’s writings were constitutionally protected speech and Baker was released from custody. The case became an important ruling in cyber law.
In 2010, he handled the case of Monica Conyers, who then served on the Detroit City Council. He sentenced her to 37 months in prison for taking $6,000 in bribes related to voting on a $1.2 billion sludge disposal contract.
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