Meyer H. “Mike” Goldstein, 94, a Cook County circuit judge for 21 years and the author of a 1982 decision declaring Chicago’s ban on for-sale signs unconstitutional, died of pneumonia Saturday, Feb. 2, in Glenbrook Hospital, Glenview. The Glenview resident served on the bench from 1964 to 1985. Judge . Goldstein’s decision on the city’s 11-year old ban on for-sale signs angered neighborhood groups fighting to prevent panic peddling of houses. Community organizations said the signs were a “block-busting” tactic used by real estate agents that led to the racial destabilization of neighborhoods. Judge Goldstein believed the ban violated a home seller’s right to free speech and based his decision on a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared a New Jersey community’s ban unconstitutional. “He loved the practice of law and he upheld it,” said his son-in-law, Theodore Shapero. “He felt it was his duty to take whatever was assigned to him and come down with an opinion.” A native of the Northwest Side, Mr. Goldstein graduated from Northwestern University’s School of Law in 1931. He was a Cook County assistant state’s attorney for 20 years before he was assigned to the bench. Mr. Goldstein is survived by his wife, Shirley; two daughters, Sandra Shapero and Judith Koblentz; a brother, Irving Gaynor; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. A graveside service will be held at noon Tuesday, at Westlawn Cemetery, 7801 W. Montrose Ave., Chicago.
