Obama nominates Drain for federal bench

The White House announced last week that President Barack Obama has nominated Wayne County Circuit Judge Gerswhin Drain to a seat on U.S. District Court in Detroit. "Judge Gershwin A. Drain will bring an unwavering commitment to fairness and judicial integrity to the federal bench," President Obama said in a press release. "His impressive legal career is a testament to the kind of thoughtful and diligent judge he will be on the U.S. District Court. I am honored to nominate him today." Drain has been a judge on Michigan's Third Circuit Court since 1997 and has served in both the civil and criminal divisions of the court. Drain rose to the judicial ranks when Gov. James Blanchard first appointed him to the 36th District Court in 1986. At the time, the Detroit native, had been working for the Federal Defender Office for 12 years, representing indigent defendants. A year later, in 1987, the governor appointed Drain to Detroit Recorder's Court, the former criminal court for the City of Detroit. When the Wayne County Third Circuit and Detroit Recorder's Court merged in 1997, Drain stayed in the Criminal Division for another three years. "I had all the criminal cases for 13 years," said Drain, 62. "Even after the merger, I stayed over there until 2000." Drain then moved over to the Civil Division, a move he described as a "nice change." "You get tired of sending people to prison," he said. Drain earned his law degree at the University of Michigan after graduating from Western Michigan University and St. Gregory High School in Detroit. Prior to joining the Federal Defender Office in 1974, he worked as counsel for the City of Detroit Department of Transportation from 1973 to 1974 and as a law clerk for the Third Circuit Court from 1972 to 1973. Drain and his wife have two grown daughters, who are both attorneys. He and his wife still live in Rosedale Park in Detroit and attend Highland Park Baptist Church, where the judge is a member of the Southfield Christian School Board. Published: Mon, Nov 21, 2011

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