Otto Kerner, Sr.

Otto Kerner Sr. (February 22, 1884 – December 13, 1952) was a Democratic Illinois Attorney General and a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. His son Otto Kerner Jr. was twice elected Democratic governor of Illinois, serving from 1961 to 1968 and also served as a judge on the Seventh Circuit, from 1968-74.

Otto Kerner Sr. was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 22, 1884. He received an LL.B. from Lake Forest College in 1905. He was in the private practice of law in Chicago from 1905 to 1915. In 1911, Kerner was one of incorporators of the Bohemian Lawyers Association of Chicago.

From 1915 to 1927, Kerner was a master in chancery of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. In 1927, he became a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois and in 1931 he became a judge of the Illinois Appellate Court. In 1932, Kerner became Illinois Attorney General, a position he held until 1938.

As Illinois Attorney General, Kerner clarified the confusion as to whether liquor could be legally sold in Illinois following the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, and subsequent repeal of Prohibition, in December 1933. Kerner opined that the state statute governing the sale of 3.2 percent beer had nothing to do with the sale of liquor and other beverages of more than 3.2 percent after Repeal. As a result of Kerner's opinion, local breweries in Chicago announced that ales, stouts, and porters as strong as 4 and 5 percent would be placed on sale.

On November 21, 1938, Kerner received a recess appointment from Franklin D. Roosevelt to a newly created seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was nominated on January 5, 1939, confirmed by the United States Senate on February 1, 1939, and received his commission on February 9, 1939. In February, 1940, Kerner was offered Democratic Party backing for the gubernatorial nomination, but declined it in favor of remaining on the federal bench. He continued to serve on the court until his death on December 13, 1952.

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