Abner Joseph Mikva

Abner Joseph Mikva was a United States Circuit Judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1979 to 1994, including as Chief Judge from 1991 to 1994. Born in 1926 and passing away in 2016, he had a distinguished career spanning all three branches of the federal government. Before his judicial appointment, he served in the Illinois House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives. Following his time on the bench, he served as White House Counsel and became an influential legal educator and mentor to prominent figures in American law and politics.

Early life and legal career

Abner Joseph Mikva was born on January 21, 1926, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Ida Fishman and Henry Abraham Mikva. His parents were Jewish immigrants who had fled pogroms in Ukraine, and the family spoke Yiddish at home. During the Great Depression, Mikva's father experienced frequent unemployment, and the family depended on public welfare assistance. Mikva attended public schools in Milwaukee during his youth.

When World War II began, Mikva enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and completed his training. However, the war concluded the day before he was scheduled to be deployed overseas. Following his military service, he took advantage of educational benefits provided by the GI Bill, initially attending the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee before transferring to Washington University in St. Louis. At Washington University, he met Zorita Rose Wise, known as Zoe, who would become his wife. Both graduated in 1948 and married shortly thereafter.

At Zoe's encouragement, the couple relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where Mikva enrolled at the University of Chicago Law School. He excelled academically and was selected to serve as editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review, a prestigious position typically reserved for top students. He earned his J.D. degree in 1951. Following graduation, Mikva secured a clerkship with United States Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton, providing him with valuable experience in federal judicial proceedings.

After completing his clerkship, Mikva returned to Chicago and entered private legal practice. He joined a law firm that eventually became known as Goldberg, Devoe, Shadur & Mikva after he was made partner. The firm maintained a diverse practice, handling matters involving labor law, real estate, commercial litigation, civil rights cases, and criminal defense work. Mikva and his wife had three daughters: Mary Lane, born in 1953, who became an Illinois Appellate Court judge in Chicago; Laurie, who became a professor at Northwestern University and served on the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation; and Rachel, who became a rabbi and professor teaching at the Chicago Theological Seminary.

Despite his legal practice, Mikva developed a strong interest in political engagement. According to an often-recounted story from his early political involvement, in 1948 he stopped at a ward headquarters on his way home from law school, seeking to volunteer for the campaigns of Adlai Stevenson and Paul Douglas. The ward committeeman, Timothy O'Sullivan, asked who had sent him, and when Mikva replied that nobody had sent him, O'Sullivan responded that they did not want anyone that nobody had sent. This encounter became emblematic of his relationship with the Chicago political machine.

From 1956 to 1966, Mikva served in the Illinois House of Representatives. During his tenure in the state legislature, he was part of an informal group of independent, reform-minded Democrats sometimes referred to as the "Kosher Nostra." This group included several individuals who would go on to prominent careers, including Paul Simon, who later served as a United States Senator and ran for president; Dawn Clark Netsch, who became Illinois Comptroller and a gubernatorial candidate; and Representative Anthony Scariano.

In 1966, Mikva challenged incumbent United States Representative Barratt O'Hara in a Democratic primary but was defeated by the machine-backed congressman. Rather than retreating from politics, Mikva repositioned himself as a community activist. This strategy proved successful, and in 1968 he defeated O'Hara and won election to the United States House of Representatives.

Mikva initially represented Illinois's 2nd congressional district from 1969 to 1973. This district included lakefront wards on Chicago's South Side, encompassing Hyde Park, where Mikva resided, and the University of Chicago. However, redistricting following the 1970 census significantly altered the political landscape. The redistricting for the 1972 elections placed Hyde Park in the 1st District for the first time since 1903, which would have forced Mikva into a primary contest against Democratic incumbent Ralph Metcalfe in a district that was nearly ninety percent African American. Alternatively, remaining in the reconfigured 2nd District would have pitted him against Democratic incumbent Morgan F. Murphy. Faced with these unfavorable options, Mikva instead relocated to the North Shore and ran in the 10th congressional district.

In 1972, Mikva was defeated by Republican Samuel H. Young. However, he mounted a comeback campaign during the 1974 Democratic wave election that followed the Watergate scandal, defeating Young with 50.9 percent of the vote. His appeal in the predominantly Republican suburban district was enhanced by his reputation as a critic of the Chicago Democratic political machine. In 1976, he faced Young again in a rematch that became one of the most expensive congressional races of that era, ultimately prevailing by a margin of only 201 votes. In 1978, he defeated Republican State Representative John Porter by an even narrower margin of 650 votes, reportedly joking to his supporters that he had won by a landslide. Porter would later win the seat after Mikva resigned to accept a federal judicial appointment. During his congressional service, Mikva represented Illinois's 2nd district from 1969 to 1973 and the 10th district from 1975 to 1979.

Federal appellate service

President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, nominated Mikva to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on May 29, 1979, to fill a newly authorized seat created by statute. The nomination encountered opposition from groups opposed to gun control measures, which reportedly spent over one million dollars attempting to block his confirmation. Despite this organized resistance, the United States Senate confirmed Mikva on September 25, 1979, and he began his service on the court.

The D.C. Circuit is often considered the second most important federal court in the United States after the Supreme Court, due to its jurisdiction over many cases involving federal agencies and matters of national significance. Mikva served as a circuit judge on this court for fifteen years, from 1979 to 1994. During the latter portion of his tenure, from 1991 to 1994, he served as Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit, the administrative head of the court responsible for managing its operations and assignments.

Following his departure from the bench in 1994, Mikva accepted an appointment as White House Counsel during the presidency of Bill Clinton, serving in that capacity from 1994 to 1995. This position made him one of the few individuals in modern American history to serve in all three branches of the federal government: the legislative branch as a congressman, the judicial branch as a federal appellate judge, and the executive branch as a senior presidential advisor.

Jurisprudence and legacy

After completing his service as White House Counsel, Mikva transitioned to legal academia, teaching at several prestigious law schools. He held faculty positions at the University of Chicago Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, sharing his extensive experience across all three branches of government with students and contributing to legal scholarship.

During his academic career, Mikva became known as an influential mentor to emerging legal talent. Among his mentees was a young law student and later lecturer named Barack Obama, who would go on to become President of the United States. Mikva also mentored Merrick Garland during Garland's early legal career; Garland would later succeed Mikva on the D.C. Circuit and eventually become United States Attorney General. These mentoring relationships reflected Mikva's commitment to developing the next generation of legal professionals and public servants.

In recognition of his lifetime of public service across multiple branches of government and his contributions to American law and civic life, President Obama awarded Mikva the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014, the nation's highest civilian honor. This recognition acknowledged his decades of work in the Illinois legislature, the United States Congress, the federal judiciary, the White House, and legal education.

Abner Joseph Mikva died on July 4, 2016. His career exemplified a commitment to public service that spanned more than six decades, from his initial attempts to volunteer in Chicago ward politics in 1948 through his final years as a legal educator and elder statesman. His service on the D.C. Circuit from 1979 to 1994, including his tenure as Chief Judge, represented a significant chapter in the court's history during a period of important developments in administrative law and constitutional interpretation.