{{short description|American jurist and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Max Raskin | honorific_suffix = | image = Max Raskin 1949 Edit.jpg | alt = | caption = Raskin {{circa}} 1949 | office = Acting {{nowrap|Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge}} {{nowrap|for the Waukesha Circuit, Branch 1}} | term_start = August 1, 1978 | term_end = December 8, 1980 | predecessor = William E. Gramling ''(Disabled)'' | successor = Harry G. Snyder | office1 = Acting {{nowrap|Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge}} {{nowrap|for the 22nd Circuit, Branch 1}} | term_start1 = May 1977 | term_end1 = July 31, 1978 | predecessor1 = William E. Gramling ''(Disabled)'' | successor1 = ''Circuit abolished'' | office2 = Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge {{nowrap|for the 2nd Circuit, Branch 2}} | term_start2 = October 1963 | term_end2 = August 1973 | appointer2 = John W. Reynolds, Jr. | predecessor2 = Michael T. Sullivan | successor2 = George Burns | office3 = City Attorney of Milwaukee | term_start3 = April 1932 | term_end3 = April 1936 | predecessor3 = John Niven | successor3 = Walter Mattison | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1902|11|8}} | birth_place = Vitebsk, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire | death_date = {{death date and age|1984|8|22|1902|11|8}} | death_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. | resting_place = Spring Hill Cemetery <br />Milwaukee, Wisconsin | party = Socialist {{small|(before 1940)}}<br />Progressive {{small|(1940–1944)}}<br />Democratic {{small|(after 1944)}} | spouse = Elaine Hilda Rosenblith<br />{{sup|(died 2002)}} | children = Bonnie Fern (Prager)<br />{{sup|(b. 1935; died 2011)}} | relatives = Marcus Raskin (nephew)<br />Barbara Raskin (niece in law)<br />Jamie Raskin (grandnephew) | education = Marquette Law School }}
'''Max Raskin''' (November 8, 1902{{spaced ndash}}August 22, 1984) was a Belarusian-born Jewish American lawyer and judge who served as Milwaukee City Attorney from 1932 to 1936 and later as a judge of the Wisconsin Circuit Court from 1963 to 1980.
== Early life == Raskin was born to Jewish parents in Vitebsk, a majority-Jewish city in the Russian Empire (in what is now Belarus), and emigrated with his family at the age of nine.<ref name=Obituary>{{cite news|title=Former circuit judge, Max Raskin, dies of cancer|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19840822&id=Jm8aAAAAIBAJ&pg=5184,836025&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Journal|date=22 August 1984}}</ref> He graduated from the Marquette University Law School in 1926 and practiced in Milwaukee as a labor law attorney.<ref>{{cite news|title=Max Raskin, Two Others Form Law Firm|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19581227&id=nHxRAAAAIBAJ&pg=4239,3304454&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Sentinel|date=27 December 1958}}</ref>
== Political career == thumb|left|upright=0.8|Raskin {{circa}} 1933 Raskin ran unsuccessfully for Milwaukee County District Attorney in 1930.<ref>{{cite news|title=For Circuit Judge in Branch 8|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19490226&id=LcgWAAAAIBAJ&pg=1582,2481676&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Journal|date=26 February 1949}}</ref> In 1932, he was elected Milwaukee City Attorney as a Socialist, unseating nonpartisan incumbent John M. Niven.<ref>{{cite news|title=Women Voters' League Reports on Candidates|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19320313&id=-VIaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6849,1865114&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Sentinel|date=13 March 1932}}</ref> After his election, Raskin appointed former judge and Socialist state senator William F. Quick as his first assistant and employed Edwin Knappe, a former Socialist state representative, as an assistant city attorney.<ref>{{cite news|title=Raskin Ousts Six Niven Aids|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19320420&id=mVBQAAAAIBAJ&pg=4771,3342512&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Sentinel|date=20 April 1932}}</ref> As city attorney, Raskin collaborated closely with Mayor Daniel W. Hoan, also a Socialist, and required assistant city attorneys to relinquish any employment in private practice.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rivals Batter Raskin; All 5 See Victory|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19360317&id=ZhQxAAAAIBAJ&pg=4369,3063523&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Sentinel|date=17 March 1936}}</ref> He was harshly criticized by the conservative ''Milwaukee Sentinel'' for "his refusal to prosecute communistic rioters".<ref>{{cite news|title=Milwaukee Rebukes Radicalism|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19360409&id=f0xQAAAAIBAJ&pg=5597,1679454&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Sentinel|date=9 April 1936}}</ref>
Raskin was defeated in his 1936 reelection bid and reentered private practice. In 1937, he was elected as a national committeeman of the Socialist Party of America<ref>{{cite news|title=Hoan Leaves Party Board|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19370329&id=iKtQAAAAIBAJ&pg=6969,3207970&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Journal|date=29 March 1937}}</ref> but, in 1940,<ref>{{cite news|title=Raskin Seeks Judge's Post, Campaign Spending Curb|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19551106&id=6W1QAAAAIBAJ&pg=4203,6242679&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Sentinel|date=6 November 1955}}</ref> he left the party and joined the Wisconsin Progressive Party. In 1944, he became a Democrat.<ref name=Obituary /> Raskin ran for judicial office in 1949 and 1956 but was twice defeated; in 1963, his political ally Governor John W. Reynolds, Jr., appointed him to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.<ref>{{cite news|title=Raskin Is Appointed Circuit Court Judge|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19631009&id=gt8jAAAAIBAJ&pg=5216,4209666&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Journal|date=9 October 1963}}</ref> Raskin served on the court until 1973 and, following his mandatory retirement at the age of 70, continued to serve the state as a reserve judge. In that capacity, he stepped in as Acting Circuit Court Judge in Waukesha County for Judge William E. Gramling during a lengthy struggle with cancer.<ref name=Obituary /> He died in 1984 at the age of 81.<ref name=Obituary />
== Personal life == Raskin's nephew, Marcus Raskin, was a progressive activist and social critic.<ref>{{cite news|title=Milwaukeean Raskin Has Served Presidents|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19680106&id=Kt4jAAAAIBAJ&pg=3829,1896670&hl=en|access-date=25 July 2015|work=The Milwaukee Journal|date=6 January 1968}}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> His grandnephew is Congressman Jamie Raskin.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before = Michael T. Sullivan }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 2nd Circuit, Branch 2}} |years=1963{{spaced ndash}}1973}} {{s-aft|after = George Burns }} {{s-bef|before = William E. Gramling<br />''(Disabled)'' }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 22nd Circuit, Branch 1}}<br />''(Acting)'' |years=1977{{spaced ndash}}1978}} {{s-aft|after = Circuit abolished}} {{s-bef|before = William E. Gramling<br />''(Disabled)'' }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Waukesha Circuit, Branch 1}}<br />''(Acting)'' |years=1978{{spaced ndash}}1980 }} {{s-aft|after = Harry G. Snyder }} {{s-end}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raskin, Max}} Category:1904 births Category:1984 deaths Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Category:American people of Latvian-Jewish descent Category:Jewish socialists Category:Politicians from Milwaukee Category:Marquette University Law School alumni Category:Wisconsin city attorneys Category:Wisconsin circuit court judges Category:American Jews Category:Wisconsin Democrats Category:Wisconsin Progressives (1924) Category:Socialist Party of America politicians from Wisconsin Category:Lawyers from Milwaukee Category:20th-century Wisconsin state court judges Category:20th-century American lawyers Max Category:20th-century Wisconsin politicians