Abraham Lincoln Marovitz (August 10, 1905 – March 17, 2001) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois ar ...

Early life and career

Born on August 10, 1905, in Oshkosh,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, to

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

parents who were Lithuanian immigrants, Marovitz grew up in the Maxwell Street area of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, after his parents moved to Chicago in 1910.Rick Kogan and Noah Isackson
VETERAN JURIST BELOVED FOR FEISTY SPIRIT, COMPASSION
''

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'' (March 18, 2001). Marovitz spent his youth selling newspapers, delivering groceries and prizefighting. As a teenager, he also worked as an office boy for a law firm, where a partner encouraged him to attend law school (and agreed to fund his tuition), even though Marovitz did not have a college degree. "In those days, you didn't need a college degree to go to law school," Marovitz later said. "So that's how I wound up the only sitting federal judge who never went to college." Marovitz earned a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...

in 1925 at the age of 19, and he was at that point still 20 months too young to sit for the Illinois bar exam, which required all test-takers to be 21 years old. Marovitz took the exam when he turned 21, and passed it on his first try. From 1927 until 1933, Marovitz was an assistant state's attorney in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

, Illinois. He then worked in private legal practice in Chicago with his brothers, Harold and Sydney, from 1933 until 1950.

Illinois Senate

Marovitz was an elected member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

from 1939 until 1950, becoming Illinois' first-ever Jewish state senator. He was a

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. During

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, Marovitz waived his deferment and enlisted in the

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. He was honorably discharged in May 1945 as a

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in the ...

. When Corneal A. Davis first arrived in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, Davis was turned away from the hotel and resorted to staying at the train station. In protest, Marovitz joined Davis at the train station.

Judicial service

In 1950, Marovitz became a judge on the

Superior Court of Cook County The Superior Court of Cook County was a court in Cook County, Illinois. It was preceded by earlier courts. 1845 saw the creation of the County Court of Cook County. In 1849, this was renamed The Cook County Court of Common Pleas. In 1859, this was ...

. He served as a Superior Court judge until his appointment to the federal bench in 1963, serving as Chief Judge of the Cook County Criminal Court from 1958 to 1959 Marovitz was nominated by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

on July 16, 1963, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Julius H. Miner. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on September 25, 1963, and received his commission on October 2, 1963. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on August 10, 1975, his 70th birthday. His service terminated on March 17, 2001, due to his death.

Personal life

Marovitz never married. One of his nephews,

William A. Marovitz William A. Marovitz (born September 29, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician who was involved in real estate in Chicago and was married to Christie Hefner from 1995 to 2013. Career Marovitz is the son of Sydney Marovitz, the former longtime ...

, later became an Illinois state senator himself and was married to

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chief executive officer

Christie Hefner Christie Ann Hefner (born November 8, 1952) is an American businesswoman. She was chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises from 1988 to 2009, and is the daughter of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Early life Hefner was born in Chicago, ...

Death and legacy

In 1995, Marovitz received the

Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...

"Making History Award" for Distinction in Public Service. Marovitz died on March 17, 2001, of kidney failure at his home on Chicago's North Side. In 2003, Marovitz's estate donated his papers to the

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...

Library at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...

. In 2003,

Chicago–Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...

began "The Honorable Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Public Interest Law Award", an award intended to recognize alumni who have demonstrated outstanding public interest. Recipients include the inaugural class of Jed Stone and Thu Tran, as well as

Pablo Almaguer Pablo Javier Almaguér (born 1971) is an American lawyer from Texas. He is a former chair of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors. Biography Almaguer was the first legal aid lawyer to serve on the State Bar of Texas Board of Director ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marovitz, Abraham Lincoln 1905 births 2001 deaths Lawyers from Chicago Politicians from Oshkosh, Wisconsin 20th-century American lawyers American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Illinois state court judges Democratic Party Illinois state senators Military personnel from Illinois Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Lithuanian Jews United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy 20th-century American judges Chicago-Kent College of Law alumni Judges of the Superior Court of Cook County