Judge Charles Kaufman, Stirred Rage And Protests
Bill Schenley
http://www.freep.com/news/obituaries/kauf1_20040701.htm
Wayne County Circuit Judge Charles Kaufman, whose sentences of
probation in the beating death of Vincent Chin stirred rage and a long
protest in Michigan's Asian-American community -- and
internationally -- died of complications from diabetes Tuesday in the
West Bloomfield Nursing Home.
He was 84 and lived in West Bloomfield.
In 1982, two men -- Ronald Ebans and his stepson Michael Nitz -- beat
Chin to death with a baseball bat. Chin was Chinese, but the men
blamed the Japanese for the loss of auto jobs in Detroit.
They were charged with manslaughter, and Judge Kaufman fined them
$3,780 and put them on probation.
The Asian-American community -- led by Chin's mother, Lily -- rose in
outrage, claiming racial discrimination. The federal government took
on the case and charged the men with violating Chin's civil rights,
but the cases ended in their acquittals.
Lily Chin died in 2002.
The anger that rained down on the sentence surprised Judge Kaufman,
who said the sentencing guidelines provided for 0 to 36 months in
prison.
Judge Kaufman entered the court arena in 1957, when he ran for Common
Pleas Court judge in Detroit. He lost.
But two years later, he ran again and won.
In 1964, he ran for the circuit court and won, serving about 30 years.
In a less publicized -- but almost as bitter -- decision, he held that
the trustees of Mariners' Church in Detroit owned the church, not
their rivals, the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.
"He ruled before the U.S. Supreme Court that it is unconstitutional to
prohibit abortion," his son Richard said Wednesday.
"He wrote a decision less than a year before Roe v. Wade that said
pretty much what Roe v. Wade said."
Judge Kaufman was born in Detroit, grew up in the city and graduated
from Central High School.
He earned a bachelor's degree at Wayne State University and had
started his law studies when World War II erupted.
"He was in the Army Air Force in World War II, a navigator," his son
said.
"He flew 27 missions, and on his last mission, he was shot down by the
Japanese, and he was a Japanese prisoner of war for, I think, 18
months.
"He went from 160 pounds to about 95 pounds."
At war's end, Judge Kaufman returned to WSU, earned a law degree and
went into practice with his father, William. He later practiced alone
out of an office in the Cadillac Tower Building in Detroit.
Besides his son, survivors include his wife, Mary; another son, Gary;
three daughters, Cheryl Salisbury and twins Wendy Kaufman and Cynthia
Simmons, and 12 grandchildren.
No funeral service is planned.