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- Description:
- Part 1: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas G. Kavanagh relates his family history and discusses his father's work with newspapers and the Democratic Party, his own early schooling, and his first jobs in law firms. He also discusses his judicial career, starting with the newly created Court of Appeals in 1964 and then running for the Michigan Supreme Court in 1968. He provides an insiders view of the Court during his tenure and discusses the various political and personal differences that arose among the justices. Part 2: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas G. Kavanagh talks about the Justice John Swainson bribery case, his own involvement in the investigation and his view that Swainson was "framed". Kavanagh also discusses the turmoil on the Court in the mid-1970s and talks candidly about his colleagues, including Justices Mary Coleman, Charles Levin, John Fitzgerald, Thomas Brennan, Thomas M. Kavanagh, James Ryan, and Dorothy Comstock Riley. After 1976, Kavanagh says, the Court stabilzed and a new spirit of good will and collegiality was embraced by all of the justices. Kavanagh covers a wide range of general topics, including legislative apportionment, mandatory arbitration, the difficulty of campaigning for election, judicial conferences, the Michigan Supreme Court's involvement with the State Bar of Michigan and its disciplinary procedures, term limits for Chief Justices, and the selection process for Supreme Court Justices. He finishes by describing his speech to the Kalamazoo County Bar Association, which was titled, "Pot, Pornography, and Prostitution," by the program organizers.
- Date Created:
- 1990-11-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices
- 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:
- Michigan Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Lindemer discusses the judicial selection process and his own appointment to the Court after the death of Justice Thomas M. Kavanagh. Lindemer also talks about the inner workings of the Court and the court system, including the philosophical and geographical differences among the justices, judicial activism, the importance of face to face communication and collegiality in the judicial process, the effects of the 1974 elections on judicial relations, the overall power of the Court, and the effect on justices of John Swainson's resignation in 1975. Lindemer reviews legal and social issues confronted by the Court during his tenure, including double jeopardy, taxation, sentencing guidelines, and workers compensation.
- Date Created:
- 1990-10-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices
- Description:
- Part 1: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Dennis W. Archer talks about his family history, growing up in Detroit and Cassopolis, MI, teaching, attending the Detroit College of Law, his interest in politics, his nomination to the Michigan Supreme Court and his involvement with the State Bar of Michigan. Justice Archer also discusses his early years on the Court, the role of the Supreme Court, collegiality among the justices, the Cassidy and DiFranco decisions, and the relationship between the Michigan Supreme Courst and the State Bar of Michigan. Part 2: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Dennis W. Archer talks about the State Bar of Michigan and the State Bar Grievance Board, his activities with the American Bar Association, issues facing African-American lawyers, his own contributions to the court, the selection process for Chief Justice, and the practice of law in Michigan. He ends by appraising his colleagues and presenting his vision for the legal profession in regards ethnic and gender diversity.
- Date Created:
- 1991-06-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Interviews with Michigan State Supreme Court Justices