Otis M. Smith

Otis Milton Smith (February 20, 1922 – June 29, 1994) was the first African American justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and the General Counsel for General Motors. 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. 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. His reputation for fighting graft there earned him a nickname: "the man who shot Santa Claus." From 1959 until 1961 Smith served as Michigan Auditor General.