Abner J. Mikva
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Abner Joseph Mikva (born January 21, 1926) was a Democratic U.S. Congressman, federal judge and law professor from Chicago.
Born in Milwaukee, Mikva graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1951. After clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton, he spent ten years in the Illinois state legislature before serving in the U.S. Congress from 1969-73 and 1975-79. He first represented the South Shore district of Chicago along the Lake Front wards and Hyde Park, home to the University of Chicago. Both parties attempted to redistrict Mikva out of Congress. He then moved to the North Shore and successfully ran in 1974 as an Independent Democrat, his status enhanced in this predominantly Republican, suburban district because he was viewed as hostile to the Chicago Democratic machine. In 1978, he had been narrowly reelected against Republican John Porter in what was one of the most expensive congressional races to that time. Mikva then resigned the seat in 1979, when President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (Porter succeeded him anyway after another special election.) Mikva served on the D.C. Circuit from 1979 until his retirement in 1994.
In 1992, while serving as Chief Judge on the D.C. Circuit, Mikva appeared in the Kevin Kline comedy Dave (film) as "Supreme Court Justice Abner J. Mikva" in a scene in which he administers the oath of office to Ben Kingsley's character.
Mikva taught law at Northwestern University and was White House Counsel from 1994-95. He returned to the University of Chicago Law School, serving as the Schwarz Lecturer and the senior director of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic.
In November 2004, Mikva was an international election monitor of Ukraine's contested presidential election, and in July 2006 he was named chair of the Illinois Human Rights Commission by Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.
