Julian Cook
Julian Abele Cook, Jr. was an Article III federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He joined the court in 1978 after being nominated by President Jimmy Carter. Cook served on senior status from 1996 until his death in 2017.
Early life and education
Born in Washington, D.C., Cook received his bachelor's from Pennsylvania State University in 1952. Cook was in the United States Army from 1953 to 1954, before obtaining his J.D. degree from Georgetown University in 1957. Cook also received a Master of Laws degree from the University of Virginia in 1988.[1]
Professional career
Cook was a law clerk for the Honorable Arthur Moore from 1957 to 1958. Cook was a private practice attorney in Detroit, Michigan from 1958 to 1961 and in Pontiac, Michigan from 1961 to 1978. Cook was appointed as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Michigan from 1968 to 1978.[1]
Cook was a Labor Arbitrator and Chairman of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1968 to 1971. Cook has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Detroit Mercy Law School from 1971 to 1974; as a Member of the Michigan Board of Ethics from 1977-1978; and as the Chairperson for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Model Jury Instruction Committee since 1986. Also, Cook served as the founder, former President and Master of the Bench of the Metropolitan Detroit Chapter of the American Inns of Court, and a member of the American Inns of Court. In addition, Judge Cook has received honorary law degrees from Georgetown University, Wayne State University, University of Detroit-Mercy and Michigan State University.[2]
Judicial career
Eastern District of Michigan
Cook was nominated to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by President Jimmy Carter on July 25, 1978, to a seat vacated by Lawrence Gubow. Cook was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 22, 1978 on a Senate Vote and received commission on September 23, 1978. He assumed senior status on December 30, 1996, and served as a senior judge until his death on May 16, 2017.[1]
Noteworthy cases
Pattern of constitutional violations in Detroit Police Dept. (2009)
On July 16, 2009, Judge Cook called the Detroit Police Department into his courtroom to express criticism towards the department due to compliance with two consent decrees issued in 2003. He stated: "I have called this open session of the court because of my extreme displeasure with the progress that has been made."[3]
In 2003, Cook issued a decree ordering federal monitoring for the Wayne County Jail after the Detroit Police were found liable for using excessive force and violating the civil rights of prisoners. The City of Detroit pays $2 million annually for the federal monitoring. However, Judge Cook called the Detroit Police's compliance towards the consent decree "grossly inadequate." The Department has achieved only 39 percent compliance with the order. Cook criticized the Detroit Police for wasting taxpayer dollars as he felt that, "millions being spent on a federal monitor could better be spent on education and other ways to help the city."[3]
Representatives for the Detroit Police informed Judge Cook that the department had plans to shift the responsibility of handling prisoners to the Wayne County Sheriffs Office. The Wayne County Board of Supervisors voted against the plan to handle prisoners after Judge Cook's 2003 order was issued. The Detroit Police will ask the Wayne County Board to approve the plan in order to be compliant with Judge Cook's 2003 order.[3]
After the July 16th hearing, close to three months elapsed until a new plan was implemented to make sure the Detroit Police were in full compliance with the judge's orders.
On October 4, 2009, Judge Cook presided in a hearing to appoint former Clinton drug czar Robert Warshaw to lead reform efforts of the Detroit Police as the court appointed monitor. The United States Department of Justice and the City of Detroit recommended Warshaw to replace former monitor Sheryl Robinson Wood who resigned from her post after her known involvement in the Kwame Kilpatrick scandal. Warshaw's main responsibility is to make sure the Detroit Police are in full compliance with Judge Cook's orders.[4] The entire case docket and all filings are available at the link above.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Judge Cook's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center.
- ↑ Eastern District of Michigan, Judge Cook Biography
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Detroit News, "Judge expresses 'extreme displeasure' with Detroit police," July 17, 2009
- ↑ The Detroit Free Press, "Former drug official to learn today if he has Detroit job," October 5, 2009
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Lawrence Gubow |
Eastern District of Michigan 1978–1996 Seat #8 |
Succeeded by: Arthur Tarnow
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 |
Ballantine • Bownes • Boyle • Bua • Carr • Clark • Cowan • Daly • Filippine • Higginbotham • Hoeveler • Hug • Johnstone • Kane • Keith • Leval • Logan • MacLaughlin • McKay • Melton • Merritt • Murphy • Nickerson • Oberdorfer • Roszkowski • Roy • Rubin • Sifton • Tang • Vance • Veron | ||
| 1978 |
Arnold • Baker • Boyle • Burns • Campos • Claiborne • Collins • Cook • Devine • Diamond • Duplantier • Edenfield • Friedman • Gonzalez • Greene • Jenkins • Lowe • Mazzone • McMillian • O'Brien • Pfaelzer • Phillips • Pollak • Sand • Shapiro • Simmons • Smith • Sweet • Tanner • Wiseman • Ziegler | ||
| 1979 |
Ackerman • Alarcon • Anderson • Arceneaux • Arnold • Aspen • Beatty • Beer • Belew • Bertelsman • Bilby • N. Black • S. Black • Bloch • Bowen • Brett • Brooks • Brown • Buchmeyer • Bunton • Burciaga • Cabranes • Carr • Carrigan • Castagna • Cire • Clark • Cohn • Conaboy • Cordova • Crabb • Cudahy • Davis • DeAnda • Debevoise • Edwards • Eginton • Ellison • Enslen • O. Evans • T. Evans • Farris • Ferguson • Fletcher • Frye • Garcia • Garza • B. Gibson • H. Gibson • Gierbolini-Ortiz • Giles • Gilliam • Green • Hall • Hastings • Hatchett • Hatfield • Hatter • Hawkins • Henderson • Higby • Hillman • Houck • Howard • Hudspeth • Hungate • F. Johnson • S. Johnson • N. Jones • S. Jones • Karlton • Kazen • Kearse • Keeton • Kehoe • Kennedy • Kidd • King • Kravitch • Loughlin • Martin • McCurn • McDonald • McNaught • McNichols • Mikva • Mitchell • Moran • Murnaghan • Murphy • D. Nelson • D.W. Nelson • Newblatt • Newman • Overton • Paine • Panner • J. Parker • R. Parker • Penn • Perez-Gimenez • Perry • Politz • Poole • Porter • Pregerson • Price • Rambo • Ramirez • Reavley • Redden • E. Reed • S. Reed • Reinhardt • Renner • Robinson • Rothstein • Sachs • Saffels • Sanders • Sarokin • Schroeder • Schwartz • Seay • Senter • Seymour • Shannon • Shaw • Shoob • Skopil • Sloviter • Sofaer • Spellman • Sprouse • Staker • Tate • Taylor • Thompson • Tidwell • Unthank • Vietor • Vining • Wald • Ward • Weinshienk • West • Wicker • Williams • Winder • Woods • Wright • Zobel | ||
| 1980 |
Aguilar • Aldrich • Anderson • Boochever • Breyer • Britt • Cahill • Canby • Carroll • Cerezo • Clemon • S. Ervin • R. Erwin • Getzendanner • Gilmore • Ginsburg • Haltom • Hardy • Henderson • Hobbs • Holschuh • Horton • Howard • Johnson • Keep • Kelly • Kenyon • Kocoras • Marquez • Marshall • Michael • Nixon • Norris • Patel • Polozola • Propst • Quackenbush • Ramsey • Rice • Shadur • Spiegel • Tashima • Thompson • Vela • White • Williams | ||
| 1981 | |||
Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan
State courts:
Michigan Supreme Court • Michigan Court of Appeals • Michigan Circuit Court • Michigan Court of Claims • Michigan District Courts • Michigan Municipal Courts • Michigan Probate Courts
State resources:
Courts in Michigan • Michigan judicial elections • Judicial selection in Michigan
