Retired Berrien County Prosecutor and U.S. Attorney John Smietanka is being remembered as a giant in the legal profession.
The 84-year-old Smietanka passed away Tuesday. He was Berrien County Prosecutor from 1974 to 1981, and as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan from 1981 through 1994. Smietanka was nominated for a federal judgeship by President George H.W. Bush, but politics got in the way, and he later ran twice for Michigan Attorney General.
Retired Berrien County Judge Dennis Wiley knew Smietanka well, having been hired by Smietanka in the prosecutor’s office in 1981. Wiley tells us Smietanka’s long legal career had many highlights.
“I’ve known John for many, many years, and he is truly a man of distinction,” Wiley said. “Not only has he served his country well, he served his state and his community well. And he not only served as a prosecutor, but he also served in the capacity of making sure that innocent people weren’t wrongly convicted.”
While Wiley says Smietanka had a bright mind, he also had a fun side.
“He was a man of great intellect, but I always can remember hearing his laughter. He had this bellowing laughter when he heard a good joke or was laughing about something and it was very infectious.”
Berrien County Board of Commissioners Chair Mac Elliott tells us he knew John Smietanka for about 40 years, and though they didn’t work together, he found Smietanka to have an intelligence matched by his personality. Elliott says Smietanka continued serving the public with the Justice Department on into the Clinton administration, despite the politics that prevented his nomination as a federal judge from getting a vote in Congress. He adds Smietanka certainly left his mark and will be missed.
Smietanka was the host of the radio program, With Respect, which airs on WSJM. Wiley says the title of the show is telling because Smietanka always respected people.
Judge Wiley read us a full statement recapping many of Smietanka’s accomplishments. You can read it below:
“John was a giant in the legal community, having served as the Berrien County Prosecuting Attorney from the mid-70s until 1981, when he was named U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. He also served as President of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan during the 80s.From 1989 until 1993, he also had an additional assignment as a Deputy Assistant to the U.S. and United States Attorney Generals Thornburgh and Barr. Among his accomplishments in that capacity, he was the architect of the federal government’s Weed and Seed program to clean up drug-infested cities in the country. He also led the prosecutions of the El Rukn and Gangster Disciples gangs in Chicago during the mid-90s and assisted in the destruction of those criminal enterprises.In addition, John was also a professor of law in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Poland, as well as Great Britain. Later in his career, he participated in the Innocence Project to reverse the convictions of persons who had been wrongly convicted.John Smietanka was truly a man of justice for all.”
