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Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices
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Interviews
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Apportionment (Election law)
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- Description:
- Part 1: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Brennan talks about his family history, his father and mother, attending Catholic school, and the University of Detroit Law School, opening his own law practice, being elected to the Common Pleas Court, being appointed to the Circuit Court by Governor Romney in 1963, being elected to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1966, and becoming Chief Justice in 1969. Brennan says that practicing law prepared him well for the rigors of being a judge. Justice Brennan also discusses what he calls "the myth of non-partisanship, the nature of democracy, the political nature of the selection of Chief Justice, the notion of representation in a democracy, the nature of leadership, the establishment of the State Appellate Defenders Office, the creation of the State Bar Grievance Board in 1969, the election process for judges in the Detroit area, the establishment of a Criminal division of the Detroit District Court, economic stability, civil disorder, and the 1967 race riots in Detroit. Part 2: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Brennan talks about judicial activism and the prospective vs. retrospective changing of Common Law, using humor in writing court opinions, and making decisions by law or by conscience in a judicial context and whether his Catholicism is an issue in performing his public duties. Brennan also discusses the controversy surrounding his founding of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing and the school's mission of offering practical scholarship to a broad and diverse study body. Part 3: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Brennan talks about a case concerning the apportionment of the Michigan Legislature in the 1970s, having his portrait presented to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1980, and his activities since leaving the court in 1973.
- Date Created:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices
- Description:
- Part 1: In an oral history interview, former Michigan Supreme Court Justice John W. Fitzgerald discusses his family background, serving in the armed forces, attending law school at the University of Michigan, the early days of his legal career, and running for the the Michigan Senate in 1958 and the newly created Michigan Court of Appeals in 1964. Justice Fitzgerald also talks about his decision to leave the Court of Appeals to serve on the Michigan Supreme Court, the Supreme Court election process, his own campaigns and his decision not to accept campaign contributions from lawyers. Fitzgerald further provides insight on the Supreme Court's decision making process, the composition of the Court during his tenure and the famous Scholle vs. Secretary of State case. Part 2: In an oral history interview, former Michigan Supreme Court Justice John W. Fitzgerald talks about his early days on the Michigan Supreme Court and difficult issues faced by the Court in the nineteen-seventies, including selecting a new Chief Justice in 1974, the death of Justice Thomas M. Kavanagh in 1975, and the investigation of Justice John Swainson later that same year. He says that some cases suffered during that period because the Court was "short-handed". Justice Fitzgerald also discusses memorable cases decided by the Court during his tenure, including People vs. Beavers and the "Poletown" case, the legislative role of the court, and collegiality amongst the justices.
- Date Created:
- 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices
- 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
- Description:
- Michigan Supreme Court Justice Otis M. Smith talks about growing up in Memphis, Tenn, his family history, working multiple jobs to pay for college, serving in the U.S. military during World War II, entering law school after the war, and his early professional jobs. Smith says that from a very early age he was filled with a burning desire to succeed in life and to make his mark. Smith also discusses the judicial selection process, his own appointment to the Michigan Supreme Court, the geographic makeup of the Court during his tenure, selection of a Chief Justice, and the interaction of the Justices. He then goes on to discuss his colleagues, including Justices Gene Black, Harry Kelly, John Dethmers, George Edwards, Theodore Souris, Thomas Kavanagh, Michael O'Hara and Paul Adams. Smith speaks eloquently of the serious nature of conducting Court business and discusses his own decision making style, and the issues he dealt with in cases such as Scholle versus Hare, the People versus Lochricco, and the Fenestra, Mallory, and Pittsfield Township cases.
- Date Created:
- 1990-10-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices