Judge Avern Cohn
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Tom Brennan’s serial history of the Michigan Supreme Court during the 60s and 70s is a fascinating read (ed.note: 10-part series ran in the Detroit Legal News starting Feb. 24, 2011). However, it needs some fleshing out.
Justice Paul Adams came to the high court from his position as Attorney General in 1962 by appointment of Governor John B. Swainson, following the resignation of George C. Edwards to become Police Commissioner in Detroit.
Earlier, in 1961, Governor Swainson appointed then Auditor General Otis Smith to the high court following the resignation of Talbot Smith, who was appointed a federal judge by President John F. Kennedy.
While Adams and Smith ran as a team in 1962, each was actually running for a separate unexpired term. Smith was considered a weaker candidate than Adams. It came as quite a surprise when Smith was successful, and Michael O’Hara defeated Adams.
Adams successfully ran again the following year for an open seat created by the retirement of Justice Leland Carr. Adams continued on the Supreme Court until his retirement in 1973.
I was a co-campaign chair of Adams’ runs in 1962 and 1963. I certainly was not aware that it was Justice Thomas Matthew Kavanagh’s support for O’Hara that caused Adams’ defeat in 1962. I always thought it was because O’Hara was a better name for a candidate than Adams, even though the latter had an incumbency designation. Interestingly, in the 1968 general election, Thomas G. Kavanagh beat the incumbent, Michael O’Hara. Again, Kavanagh appeared to have a better name than O’Hara.
Also, Justice Theodore Souris did not decide not to run in 1968 as Brennan says. In fact, Souris resigned from the high court in July, 1968, rather than run for re-election. In his oral history which can be found on the Internet, he says he was tired of being a justice, which prompted him to leave. He also notes that his resignation reduced the size of the high court from eight to seven, as called for in the Constitution of 1963. Souris says that his resignation eliminated the possibility of his defeat by a candidate of a more conservative bent of mind.
—————
Judge Avern Cohn is a United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter Oct. 9, 1979.
