The Michigan Hall of Justice at night.
Michigan Hall of Justice, home of the Michigan Supreme Court.
The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is known as Michigan's "court of last resort" and consists of seven justices, who are elected to eight-year terms. Candidates are nominated by political parties and are elected on a nonpartisan ballot. Supreme Court candidates must be qualified electors, licensed to practice law in Michigan for at least five years, and under 70 years of age at the time of election. Vacancies are filled by appointment of the Governor until the next general election. Every two years, the justices elect a member of the Court to serve as Chief Justice. A move is afoot to cut the number of Representatives to 82, the number of Senators to 28 and the number of Michigan Supreme Court Justices to five.
Each year, the Court receives over 2,000 new case filings. In most cases, the litigants seek review of Michigan Court of Appeals [1] decisions, but the Supreme Court also hears cases of attorney and judicial misconduct, as well as a small number of matters over which the Court has original jurisdiction. The Court issues a decision by order or opinion in all cases filed with it. Opinions and orders of the Court are reported in an official publication, Michigan Reports, as well as in Thomson West's privately-published North Western Reporter.
The Court's other duties include overseeing the operations of all state trial courts; the Court is assisted by the State Court Administrative Office [2], an agency of the Court. The Court's responsibilities also include a public comment process for changes to court rules, rules of evidence, and other administrative matters. The court has broad superintending control power over all the state courts in Michigan.
Under Article 6, Section 30 of the Michigan Constitution, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission is created. This is an agency within the judiciary, which has jurisdiction over allegations of judicial misconduct, misbehavior, and infirmity. The Supreme Court is given original, superintending control power, and appellate jurisdiction over the issue of penalty (up to and including removal of judges from office).[3]
The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice in Lansing, the state capital.
Current Justices
- Clifford W. Taylor, 1997–present, Chief Justice 2005–present
- Michael F. Cavanagh, 1982–present, Chief Justice 1991–1995
- Elizabeth A. Weaver, 1994–present, Chief Justice 1999–2000
- Marilyn Jean Kelly, 1996–present
- Maura D. Corrigan, 1998–present, Chief Justice 2001–2004
- Robert P. Young Jr., 1999–present
- Stephen J. Markman, 1999–present
Former Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justices
Former Justices
- Clark J. Adams, 1952-1953
- Paul L. Adams, 1962, 1964-1973
- Dennis Archer, 1985-1993
- Nathaniel Bacon, 1855-1857
- Frederick Bates, 1805-1808 (Territorial Justice)
- John E. Bird, 1910-1928
- Eugene F. Black, 1956-1973
- Charles A. Blair, 1905-1912
- Patricia J. Boyle, 1983-1998
- Emerson R. Boyles, 1940-1956
- Thomas E. Brennan, 1967-1973
- James H. Brickley, 1983-1999
- Flavius L. Brooke, 1909-1921
- George E. Bushnell, 1934-1955
- Henry M. Butzel, 1929-1955
- Edward Cahill, 1890
- James V. Campbell, 1858-1890
- William L. Carpenter, 1902-1908
- Leland W. Carr, 1945-1963
- Bert D. Chandler, 1936-1943
- John W. Champlin, 1884-1892
- Henry C. Chipman, 1827-1832 (Territorial Justice)
- Isaac P. Christiancy, 1857-1874
- George M. Clark, 1919-1933
- Mary S. Coleman, 1973-1982
- Thomas M. Cooley, 1864-1885
- Joseph T. Copeland, 1852-1857
- Maura D. Corrigan, 1999-present
- John R. Dethmers, 1946-1971
- Samuel T Douglass, 1852-1857
- George H. Durand, 1892
- George C. Edwards, 1956-1961
- Louis H. Fead, 1928-1937
- Alpheus Felch, 1842-1845
- Grant Fellows, 1917-1929
- John Warner Fitzgerald, 1974-1982
- Richard C. Flannigan, 1928
- William A. Fletcher, 1836-1842 (1st Justice)
- Daniel Goodwin, 1843-1846
- Claudius B. Grant, 1890-1909
- Benjamin F. Graves, 1868-1883
- Sanford M. Green, 1848-1857
- John Griffin, 1805-1824 (Territorial Justice)
- Robert P. Griffin, 1987-1994
- Frank A. Hooker, 1893-1911
- John Hunt, 1824-1827 (Territorial Justice)
- David Johnson, 1852-1857
- Thomas G. Kavanagh, 1969-1984
- Thomas M. Kavanagh, 1958-1975
- Harry F. Kelly, 1954-1971
- Frank C. Kuhn, 1912-1919
- Edwin Lawrence, 1857
- Charles Levin, 1973-1996
- Lawrence Lindemer, 1975-1976
- Charles D. Long, 1888-1902
- Conrad L. Mallett Jr., 1990-1998
- Randolph Manning, 1858-1864
- Isaac Marston, 1875-1883
- George Martin, 1851-1867
- Thomas F. McAllister, 1938-1941
- Aaron V. McAlvay, 1905-1915
- John S. McDonald, 1922-1933
- John W. McGrath, 1890-1895
- George Miles, 1846-1850
- Robert M. Montgomery, 1892-1910
- Blair Moody, Jr.[4] 1977-1982
- Joseph B. Moore, 1895-1925
- George Morrell, 1832-1836 (Territorial Justice) 1836-1843
- Allen B. Morse, 1885-1892
- Edward Mundy, 1848-1851
- Walter H. North, 1927-1952
- Michael D. O'Hara, 1963-1968
- Russel C. Ostrander, 1905-1919
- Rollin H. Person, 1915-1916
- William W. Potter, 1928-1940
- Abner Pratt, 1850-1857
- Epaphroditus Ransom, 1837-1848
- Neil E. Reid, 1944-1956
- Dorothy Comstock Riley, 1982-1983, 1985-1997
- James L. Ryan, 1975-1985
- Edward M. Sharpe, 1934-1957
- Nelson Sharpe, 1919-1935
- Thomas R. Sherwood, 1883-1889
- Solomon Sibley, 1827-1837 (Territorial Justice)
- Otis M. Smith, 1961-1967
- Talbot Smith, 1955-1961
- Ernest A. Snow, 1926-1927
- Theodore Souris, 1960-1968
- Raymond Starr, 1941-1946
- Joseph H. Steere, 1911-1927
- John W. Stone, 1910-1922
- John Swainson, 1971-1975
- Harry S. Toy, 1935-1936
- Josiah Turner, 1857
- John D. Voelker, (a/k/a Robert Traver) 1957-1959
- Thomas A. E. Weadock, 1933
- Charles W. Whipple, 1839-1855
- Howard Wiest, 1921-1945
- Ross Wilkins, 1832-1837 (Territorial Justice)
- G. Mennen Williams, 1970-1987
- Edward H. C. Wilson, 1856-1857
- Warner Wing, 1845-1856
- Benjamin F. H. Witherell, 1857
- James Witherell 1808-1828 (Territorial Justice)
- William Woodbridge, 1828-1832 (Territorial Justice)
- Augustus B. Woodward, 1805-1824 (1st Territorial Justice)
References
See also
External links
|
