Max Raskin

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Max Raskin

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Max Raskin Crop.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Raskin {{circa}} 1930s

| office = Acting {{nobreak|Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge}} {{nobreak|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 {{nobreak|Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge}} {{nobreak|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 {{nobreak|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, Russian Empire

| death_date = {{death date and age|1984|8|22|1902|11|8}}

| death_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.

| restingplace = Spring Hill Cemetery
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

| party = Socialist {{small|(before 1940)}}
Progressive {{small|(1940–1944)}}
Democratic {{small|(after 1944)}}

| spouse = Elaine Hilda Rosenblith
{{sup|(died 2002)}}

| children = Bonnie Fern (Prager)
{{sup|(b. 1935; died 2011)}}

| education = Marquette Law School

}}

Max Raskin (November 8, 1902{{spaced ndash}}August 22, 1984) was a Russian-born American lawyer and judge. Raskin was Milwaukee City Attorney from 1932 to 1936 and later a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge in Milwaukee County from 1963 to 1973.

Life and career

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.{{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}} He graduated from the Marquette University Law School in 1926 and practiced in Milwaukee as a labor law attorney.{{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}} Raskin ran unsuccessfully for Milwaukee County District Attorney in 1930.{{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}} In 1932, he was elected Milwaukee City Attorney as a Socialist, unseating nonpartisan incumbent John M. Niven.{{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}} After his election, Raskin appointed former judge and Socialist politician William F. Quick as his first assistant and employed Edwin Knappe, a former Socialist state Representative, as an assistant city attorney.{{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}} 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.{{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}} He was harshly criticized by the conservative Milwaukee Sentinel for "his refusal to prosecute communistic rioters".{{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}}

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{{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}} but, in 1940,{{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}} he left the party and joined the Wisconsin Progressive Party. In 1944, he became a Democrat. 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.{{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}} 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. He died in 1984 at the age of 81.

Raskin's nephew,{{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}} Marcus Raskin, was a progressive activist and social critic.