Avern Levin Cohn (July 23, 1924 – February 4, 2022) served as a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern part of Michigan.

Personal life

Cohn was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Irwin I. and Sadie Levin Cohn. He studied at the University of Michigan, John Tarleton Agricultural College, Stanford University, and Loyola School of Medicine. He served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946. He earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1949 and was allowed to practice law in Michigan in December 1949. Cohn died after a brief illness in Royal Oak, Michigan, on February 4, 2022, at the age of 97.

Career

From 1949 to 1961, Cohn worked as a private lawyer at the Law Office of Irwin I. Cohn. From 1961 to 1979, he worked at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn. In 1963, Cohn was a member of the Michigan Social Welfare Commission. From 1972 to 1975, he served on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, and he was the chair of that commission from 1974 to 1975. From 1975 to 1979, he was a member of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, and he was the chair of that board in 1979. Cohn is a member of several bar associations, including the Detroit Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He was the chairperson of the Special Committee on Court Congestion of the State Bar of Michigan from 1977 to 1978. He was a member of the Representative Assembly of the State Bar of Michigan from 1973 to 1979. He was a past trustee of the Detroit Bar Association Foundation and a past director of the Detroit Bar Association. He was also a member of the American Law Institute and a director of the American Judicature Society.

Federal judicial service

Cohn was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on May 17, 1979, to serve on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. This new position was established by 92 Stat. 1629. The United States Senate confirmed Cohn on September 25, 1979, and he received his official commission on September 26, 1979. Cohn began senior status on October 9, 1999. He continued to handle a full workload of cases until December 2019, when he announced he would reduce his workload and stop handling criminal cases, focusing only on civil cases.

Notable cases

Cohn ruled in Odgers v. Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp. that a company making birth control pills must inform users about known side effects.

Cohn decided in Doe v. University of Michigan that the university’s policy against discrimination and harassment was too unclear and too broad, which violated the First Amendment.

Sitting by designation, in his concurrence in Kruse v. City of Cincinnati, Cohn wrote: "The Supreme Court’s decision in Buckley does not mean all limits on campaign spending are unconstitutional. It may be possible to show that the goal of reducing pressure on officials from fundraising or preserving trust in democracy is important, and that limits on campaign spending could be a carefully designed way to achieve these goals."

Cohn issued an injunction in PAACAR v. TeleScan Techs. to stop the defendant from using the plaintiff’s Peterbilt and Kenworth trademarks in any of the defendant’s domain names, web pages, or websites.

While serving on the bench, Cohn also published scholarship and commentary:

• A Judge's View of Congressional Action Affecting the Courts (criticizing the political influences on and the lack of evidence for the Civil Justice Reform Act)
• The Unfairness of 'Substantial Assistance' (questioning the unfair treatment of defendants who refuse to help prosecutors while claiming innocence)
• Advice to the Commission – A Sentencer's View (arguing for more access to sentencing data to evaluate judicial efficiency and possible differences in sentencing under guidelines)
• The Rise and Fall of Affirmative Action in Jury Selection (with David Sherwood) (examining efforts by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to improve racial balance in jury selection and the end of this effort after a court decision in United States v. Ovalle)
• The Federal Judiciary and the ABA Model Code: The Parting of Ways (with Andrew Lievense) (discussing when judges should step aside from cases and consequences for judicial misconduct)