Mitchell Harry Cohen (September 11, 1904 – January 7, 1991) 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 District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the ...

Education and career

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Cohen received 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

Dickinson School of Law Penn State Dickinson Law, formerly Dickinson School of Law, is a public law school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is one of two separately accredited law schools of The Pennsylvania State University. According to Penn State Dickinson Law's 2019 ...

(now

Penn State Dickinson Law Penn State Dickinson Law, formerly Dickinson School of Law, is a public law school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is one of two separately accredited law schools of The Pennsylvania State University. According to Penn State Dickinson Law's 2019 A ...

) in 1928. He was in private practice in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

from 1930 to 1958. He was also an annual solicitor for the Camden City Welfare Board in 1936, a Camden city prosecutor from 1936 to 1942, a member of the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1940, and a Judge of the Camden City Municipal Court from 1942 to 1947. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was thereafter prosecutor for Camden County, New Jersey from 1948 to 1958. Cohen was a Judge of the Camden County Court from 1958 to 1961, and of the New Jersey Superior Court from 1961 to 1962.

Federal judicial service

On July 6, 1962, Cohen 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 ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Richard Hartshorne Richard Hartshorne (December 12, 1899 – November 5, 1992) was a prominent American geographer, and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who specialized in economic and political geography and the philosophy of geography. He is know ...

. Cohen 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 August 1, 1962, and received his commission on August 2, 1962. He served as Chief Judge from 1973 to 1974, assuming

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 September 11, 1974. Cohen served in that capacity until his death, on January 7, 1991, in Philadelphia.

Honor

The

Mitchell H. Cohen United States Courthouse The Mitchell H. Cohen United States Courthouse (1994) and the United States Post Office and Courthouse (1932) house the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey. The back-to-back buildings are joined by a s ...

in Camden was dedicated in 1994.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Mitchell Harry 1904 births 1991 deaths Dickinson School of Law alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy Lawyers from Philadelphia United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges