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1. Interview with former Michigan Supreme Court Justice John B. Swainson

Description:
Part 1: Michigan Supreme Court Justice John B. Swainson discusses his educational background, serving in all three branches of Michigan government, his election to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1970, and his first case on the Court, People vs. Jondreau, which dealt with Native American fishing rights. Swainson also talks about the Joe Smeekens case, his colleague Justice Gene Black, the ramifications of Roe vs. Wade in Michigan, the issue of compensation for lawyers when representing indigent clients, and the famous marijuana possession case of political activist and White Panther Party founder, John Sinclair. Swainson notes that the stated date of the interview is incorrect and that the actual date is October 18. Part 2: Michigan Supreme Court Justice John B. Swainson discusses "Parochi-Aid" school funding, billboard restrictions, drug prosecutions, the case of People vs. Matish, the Detroit Police Officers' Association vs. City of Detroit and his involvement with their arbitration after his court term, the election of judges, the geographic dispersal of judges, the impact of the creation of the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1964, and televising trials. He also talks about the importance of preserving judicial history, the career of William A. Fletcher, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the portraits of former Justices, and his view of the function of the judiciary in the state of Michigan.
Date Created:
1990-10-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Michigan State University. Libraries
Collection:
Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices

2. Interview with former Michigan Supreme Court justice Mary S. Coleman

Description:
Part 1: Mary S. Coleman, the first woman elected to the Michigan Supreme Court and the first to serve as its Chief Justice, talks about her early life in Texas, her family's move to Washington, D.C., her parents, her father's death, her high school years, meeting Oliver Wendall Holmes, dating, attending the University of Maryland and attending law school at George Washington University, where she was often the only female in her classes. She also talks about getting her law degree in 1939, marrying her husband a few days later, starting a job at the USDA, and later moving to her husband's hometown of Marshall, Michigan to support his bid for the Michigan Senate in 1948. Part 2: Mary S. Coleman, the first woman elected to the Michigan Supreme Court and the first to serve as its Chief Justice, talks about her husband Creighton's campaign for the Michigan Senate in 1948, his legal practice, her life as a homemaker, her husband's law firm, and pursuing her own legal career in Michigan. Coleman also discusses dealing with sexism in the judicial system, the respectful way she was treated by judges, her interest in children's issues, foster care, juvenile court and social work, and how she eventually become a court referee and later, in 1960, a Probate Court judge. Coleman calls herself a "conservative" and then describes her support for the Equal Rights Amendment and other women's rights initiatives. She concludes by describing the working environment within the Court, its terrible reputation, the hostility between the justices, the divisions over workers compensation cases, the influence of unions, the Swainson scandal and its impact on the Court and her own role in deciding key cases. Part 3: Mary S. Coleman, the first woman elected to the Michigan Supreme Court and the first to serve as its Chief Justice, concludes her reminisces of her time on the Court. Coleman describes efforts to reorganize the lower court system to bring efficiency and clarity to the system, working with unions, Coleman Young, and others to influence legislation restructuring the courts and breaking with old systems of patronage and favor. Coleman also discusses fighting to get better pay for her court employees while she was a Probate judge, attempts to bring fairness and equity to pay levels across the state, the battle over reapportionment following the 1980 census, her resignation from the Court so that Governor William Milliken could appoint her replacement, various colleagues on the Court and the support from her family which she says she has enjoyed throughout her career.
Date Created:
1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Michigan State University. Libraries
Collection:
Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices