Otis M. Smith

Otis M. Smith
214th Regent of the University of Michigan
In office
March 7, 1967 – 1970
Preceded by Allan R. Sorenson
78th Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
In office
1961 – December 31, 1966
Appointed by John Swainson
Preceded by Talbot Smith
Succeeded by Thomas E. Brennan
36th Michigan Auditor General
In office
October 21, 1959 – October 9, 1961
Preceded by William R. Hart (acting)
Succeeded by William A. Burgett (acting)
Personal details
Born Otis Milton Smith
(1922-02-20) February 20, 1922
Memphis, Tennessee
Died June 29, 1994(1994-06-29) (aged 72)
Detroit

Otis M. Smith (1922–1994) was the first African American justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and the General Counsel for General Motors.[1]

Smith graduated from law school at The Catholic University of America in 1950, where he was a member of the first volume of the school's Law Review.[2]

He then went to Flint, Michigan, where he engaged in private practice until 1957. At that time he was appointed to the Michigan Public Service Commission.[3]

From 1959 until 1961 Smith served as Michigan Auditor General.

He was appointed a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1961 by Governor John Swainson.[4] He lost a re-election bid in 1967, and was then hired by General Motors. He would rise to become vice-president and General Counsel. In 1983, his portrait was dedicated at the Michigan Supreme Court.[5] A portrait also hangs in the admissions of The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.[6]

A scholarship in his name is administered by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. It is given to a single mother, and can be used for tuition at Wayne State University, any campus of the University of Michigan, or the law school at The Catholic University of America.[7]

Sources

Endnotes

  1. ↑ The Political Graveyard: Smith, Otis Milton
  2. ↑ He was the co-author of Illegal Delay and Confessions in State and Federal Courts - A Civilized Standard, 1 Cath. U. L. Rev. 1 (1950). The Catholic University Law Review gives an annual award in his honor to a staff member for excellence in contributing to the Law Review.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society: Otis Smith
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑
Political offices
Preceded by
William R. Hart		 Michigan Auditor General
1959–1961		 Succeeded by
William A. Burgett
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