Summary Information
Max Raskin Papers
1930-1932, 1937-1979
Milwaukee Mss DO
5.2 c.f. (13 archives boxes); plus additions of 0.2 c.f.
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of Max Raskin, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin attorney and circuit court judge (1963-1973); including jury charges, memorandum decisions, campaign materials, speeches and writings, clippings, and correspondence concerning prison conditions, legal cases, the Salvation Army's Volunteer Probation Counseling Program, large arbitration cases, anti-semitism, gun control, a niece's emigration from the U.S.S.R., and other topics.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil000do ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Max Raskin, Milwaukee district attorney and circuit court judge, was born in Latvia, Russia, on November 8, 1902. His family emigrated to the United States in 1912 and eventually moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1919. There he attended Marquette University Law School and received his degree in 1926.
His first bid for public office was as an unsuccessful candidate for district attorney of Milwaukee County on the 1930 Socialist ticket. Two years later he was elected city attorney of Milwaukee and he served in that position for four years. From 1936 to 1963 he maintained a private practice and among his major clients were labor unions, including the Councils of the Wisconsin CIO and the Milwaukee CIO. Raskin also wrote a column, “Legally Speaking,” that appeared in several Wisconsin labor newspapers from 1948 to 1963.
In 1949, 1956, and 1962 he ran unsuccessfully for the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. In 1963 Governor Reynolds appointed Raskin to fill an unexpired term on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court bench; he was elected in his own right in 1964 and again in 1970. On the bench he worked to establish volunteer probation counseling programs. Raskin retired from regular service in 1973 but has continued to serve as a reserve judge receiving temporary assignments.
Arrangement of the Materials
This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 2 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Max Raskin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1975. Accession Number: M75-204
Processed by Christine Rongone, September 17, 1975.
Contents List
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Milwaukee Mss DO
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Part 1 (Milwaukee Mss DO): Original Collection, 1930-1932, 1937-19755.2 c.f. (13 archives boxes) The Max Raskin papers are organized into three categories: Correspondence, Legal Records, and a Subject File. The legal records compose the majority of the collection with the remainder roughly equally divided between the other two series. The CORRESPONDENCE, 1961-1975, focuses on Raskin's career as a judge and generally relates to criminal cases tried in his court. Included are letters from convicted defendants describing prison conditions, their efforts to win parole, and possible grounds for appeal; from defendants' relatives requesting leniency; and from the general public commenting on Raskin's judicial decisions and actions. Another portion of the correspondence contains information on the establishment and operation of the Volunteer Probation counseling Program which he helped to organize. Also included are incoming letters from Governors Gaylord Nelson, John Reynolds, and Patrick Lucey; Senator William Proxmire; and Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark and routine letters from couples that Raskin had married and school children who had visited his court. Correspondence also documents his work as a labor arbitrator, his opposition to anti-Semitism, his support of gun control, his interest in helping his niece emigrate from the U.S.S.R. to Israel, and his protest against Supreme Court Justice Robert Hansen's 1973 criticism of “marshmallow” judges. The correspondence is arranged chronologically and is the smallest series in the collection. The LEGAL RECORDS, 1963-1975, are composed of judicial decisions and jury charges which Raskin rendered as circuit court judge. These records comprise over half of the collection. A small portion relates to some arbitration decisions; the bulk of the file is composed of jury charges, in which Raskin summarized the case and instructed the jury on the rules of law which they were to observe in deciding the verdict; and memorandum decisions, in which he pronounced a judgment to settle a controversy submitted to the court. Raskin arranged these legal records alphabetically by plaintiff in civil cases and by defendant in criminal cases. The SUBJECT FILE contains campaign scrapbooks, awards and other certificates, clippings, reports, speeches and writings, and other certificates clippings, reports, speeches and writings, and other miscellaneous material relating to Raskin's political and legal career. The scrapbooks cover his 1956 and 1964 campaigns and include clippings, correspondence, and ephemeral materials. Other clippings also contain information on several of his political campaigns and his participation as both a lawyer and a judge in several legal cases most notably the 1955 Kohler strike. His newspaper column, “Legally Speaking,” is included in the section of speeches and writings. The arrangement of this entire series is alphabetical and roughly chronological thereunder.
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Series: Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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1961, 1963-1968 June
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Box
1
Folder
2
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1968 July-1971 December
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Box
1
Folder
3
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1972 January-1973 April
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Box
1
Folder
4
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1973 May-September
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Box
1
Folder
5
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1973 October-1974 May
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Box
1
Folder
6
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1974 June-1975 January
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Box
2
Folder
1
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1975 February-May
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Box
2
Folder
2
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undated
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Series: Legal Records
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Arbitration decisions
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Jury charges
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Box
2
Folder
4-7
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A-D
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Box
3
Folder
1-7
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E-0
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Box
4
Folder
1-6
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P-Y
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Memorandum decisions
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Box
4
Folder
7
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A
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Box
5
Folder
1-7
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B-G
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Box
6
Folder
1-8
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H-P
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Box
7
Folder
1-5
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Q-Z
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Series: Subject File
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Box
7
Folder
6
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Awards and certificates, 1932, 1963-1970, undated
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Campaign scrapbooks
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Box
8
Volume
1
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1954
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Box
8
Volume
2
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1963-1964
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Clippings
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Box
9
Folder
1
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1930-1932
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Box
9
Folder
2
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1937-1949
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Box
9
Folder
3
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1950-1970
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Box
9
Folder
4
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1961, 1964, 1968, 1971, undated
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Box
9
Folder
5
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Miscellaneous, circa 1963-1974, undated
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Box
10-10A
Folder
1-9
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Photographs, poster, and iconographic material
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Box
11
Folder
1
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Reports, 1965, 1970, 1973-1974, undated
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Speeches and Writings
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Box
11
Folder
2
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Article regarding criminal sentencing, 1974-1975
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Box
11
Folder
3
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General, 1947, 1963, 1965-1966, 1972-1973, undated
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“Legally Speaking”
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Box
11
Folder
4
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1948-1950
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Box
11
Folder
5
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1951-1954
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Box
12
Folder
1
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1959-1963
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M79-099
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Part 2 (M79-099): Additions, 1978-1979
0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)
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Box
1
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Newspaper clippings on Judge Raskin's career, 1978 December-1979 March
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