Bankruptcy

Meet Gerald Rosen, The Judge Who Is Trying To Save Detroit

December 06, 2013, 1:17 AM

By DAVID ASHENFELTER

The federal judge who is trying to engineer a $500-million deal to rescue the Detroit Institute of Arts and limit damage to retiree pensions in the city’s historic bankruptcy case is no stranger to high-stakes legal drama.

During 23 years on the federal bench in Detroit, U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen has grappled with thorny legal controversies including physician-assisted suicide, late-term abortions, casino gambling, terrorism and the lawsuit by the family of slain stripper Tamara Greene.

“He’s a man who thinks out of the box and isn’t just satisfied with the status quo,” said said Detroit criminal defense attorney James Thomas, who has had several cases before Rosen. “He’s tough, but fair and that’s as much as you can ask from any judge,”

In August, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes asked Rosen to mediate to mediate disagreements between the city and its creditors.

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Federal Judge Steven Rhodes is handling the Detroit bankruptcy case.The outcome of Rosen's effort could have a large impact on the future of the city. If successful, his plan could go a long way toward solving two of the most complicated and emotion-laden challenges in Detroit's bankruptcy: how to preserve the DIA and reduce the cuts to the pensions of former city employees.

Rosen's effort could have a major impact on the future of the city. If successful, his plan could help solve two of the most complicated and emotion-laden challenges in Detroit's bankruptcy: how to preserve the DIA and reduce cuts to the pensions of former city employees.

If Rosen emerges from negotiations with a workable plan, it could be the highlight on his legal career and secure his spot in city history -- an unusual position because federal judges rarely remain prominent in the public mind.

According to reports, Rosen is working on what the Free Press calls a "grand bargain" -- trying to persuade 10 foundations to pony up $500 million to acquire the art institute, freeing it from city control, and reduce pension cuts.

Rosen grew up in Oak Park, the oldest of three sons. His father was a heating and cooling wholesaler and his mother, a psychologist.

He became interested in politics as a student at Oak Park High School and worked on Democrat Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 insurgent presidential campaign, which attracted young people from across the country.

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After earning his diploma in 1969, Rosen enrolled at Kalamazoo College to study political science. He also spent a summer working as an intern for Republican Gov. William Milliken. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1973, Rosen landed a job as a legislative aide for Michigan Sen. Robert Griffin, a Republican, and took evening law courses at George Washington University. He received his law degree in 1979.

From 1979-90, Rosen worked for the prominent Detroit law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone. His clients included Comerica Bank and Northwest Airlines.

But it was his work on Republican presidential campaigns in 1980 and 1984 that won him notice in political circles. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the federal bench.

He became chief judge in 2009 by virtue of his seniority and oversees a $25-million plus budget, 420 employees and more than two dozen judges, who operate in five courthouses in eastern Michigan.

During two decades on the bench, Rosen has developed a reputation as an intelligent and hardworking judge. Although lawyers say Rosen can be overbearing at times, they say he is a good listener who is willing to depart from his conservative beliefs when presented with a sound legal argument.

In 1997, Rosen overturned a state ban on partial-birth abortions, saying the law was unconstitutionally vague. The same year, he ruled that Michigan could prosecute Dr. Jack Kevorkian, holding that the U.S. Constitution provides no legal protection for physician-assisted suicide.

In 2004, he presided over the ill-fated Detroit Sleeper Cell case, the first criminal trial to result from the federal 9/11 terrorism probe. Though a jury convicted three North African immigrants in the case, Rosen later ordered the U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine if prosecutors had withheld key evidence from the defendants. When Rosen received evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, he overturned the convictions.

In 2011, Rosen dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family of Greene, left, a 27-year-old stripper who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2003, some eight months after supposedly dancing at a rumored -- but never-proven -- party at Detroit’s mayoral mansion. Rosen said there was no evidence that former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick or city officials sabotaged Greene’s murder investigation to protect the mayor and his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, who supposedly assaulted Greene after walking in on the party.

Rosen declined to be interviewed for this story.

“In the last three of four years, I've had my share of controversial cases," he told the Free Press in a 1999 interview. "I've tried to follow the law and call it as I see it."

In his spare time, Rosen teaches evidence at Wayne State University and other law schools in the area. He lives with his wife and son in Oakland County.

“He’s a very good judge,” says Detroit criminal defense attorney Margaret Raben, who represented a suspect in the sleeper cell case. “Although he’s more conservative than I would like on a lot of issues, he listens and usually makes the right calls.”

She said Rosen also is compassionate, noting that when her husband and mother died in recent years, Rosen took the time to pen handwritten notes to her expressing his condolences. She said she’s not surprised that he’s trying to broker a deal to save the DIA and city pensions.

“Jerry Rosen is very, very bright and has a lot of energy,” Raben added. “He cares about the city and the solutions to its problems and has access to the people who can make things happen. I think he sees this as a win for all sides.”

Previously on Deadline Detroit:



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