Otto Kerner (February 22, 1884 – December 13, 1952) was the

attorney general of Illinois The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

and a

United States circuit judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Su ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, courts in the following United Stat ...

. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Education and career

Kerner was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois on February 22, 1884, to

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

immigrants Karel Boromejský Kerner (1852–1912) from

Ronov nad Doubravou Ronov nad Doubravou is a town in Chrudim District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,700 inhabitants. Administrative division Ronov nad Doubravou consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the ...

, and Josefa ée Šejbová(1855–1921) from Hrazánky. Kerner received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducatio ...

in 1905. He was in private practice of law in Chicago from 1905 to 1915. In 1911, Kerner was one of incorporators of the Bohemian Lawyers Association of Chicago. From 1915 to 1927, Kerner was a master in chancery of the Circuit Court of

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 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

, Illinois. In 1927, he became a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County and in 1931 he became a Judge of the

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois circuit courts. In Illinois, litigants generally have a right to first appeal from final decisions or judgements of the circuit court ...

. In 1932, Kerner became

Attorney General of Illinois The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

, a position he held until 1938. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Legal opinions in regards to the repeal of prohibition

As Illinois Attorney General, Kerner clarified the confusion as to whether

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

could be legally sold in Illinois following the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, and subsequent repeal of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, in December 1933. Kerner opined that the state statute governing the sale of 3.2 percent beer had nothing to do with the sale of liquor and other beverages of more than 3.2 percent after Repeal. As a result of Kerner's opinion, local breweries in Chicago announced that

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

stout Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale. The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...

s, and

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

s as strong as 4 and 5 percent would be placed on sale.

Federal judicial service

Kerner received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

from President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

on November 21, 1938, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 52 Stat. 584. He was nominated to the same position by Roosevelt on January 5, 1939. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on February 1, 1939, and received his commission on February 9, 1939. He remained on the bench until his death in Chicago on December 13, 1952. Kerner was interred at the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago.

Family

Kerner married Rosalie ée Chmelíková(1885–1979) in Chicago in 1907. She was a Czech immigrant from

Lišov Lišov (; ) is a town in České Budějovice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,700 inhabitants. Administrative division Lišov consists of 13 municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 ...

. Their son

Otto Kerner Jr. Otto Kerner Jr. (August 15, 1908 – May 9, 1976) was an American jurist and politician. He served as the 33rd governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968 and chaired the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission). He wa ...

was twice elected Democratic

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

, serving from 1961 to 1968, and also served as a Judge of the Seventh Circuit from 1968 to 1974.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerner, Otto 1884 births 1952 deaths Burials at Bohemian National Cemetery (Chicago) Chicago City Council members Illinois attorneys general Illinois Democrats Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Lawyers from Chicago American people of Bohemian descent Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County (pre-1964 reorganization) American people of Czech descent