Michigan Supreme Court justice to resign
Whitmer to appoint successor to finish the term
Michigan’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack announced her resignation from the bench. She will retire at the end of the year. McCormack is two years into her second eight-year term, having been first elected in 2013.
“I think there’s a little bit of an obligation for those of us who are in positions like this for long enough to step aside and let younger people take the helm,” said McCormack in an interview. “If my generation — I’m now 56 — steps aside and lets a younger and more diverse group of leaders get to the table and lead, I really think that’s always going to be better for institutions.”
According to Michigan Live, McCormack is leaving the bench to run the American Arbitration Association’s International Center for Dispute resolution. “A Michigan Supreme Court justice’s salary is comparatively low in at $164,610, while the CEO of the influential nonprofit McCormack will be replacing was paid $956,639 in 2020. That’s on top of another new role for her at the University of Pennsylvania, where she’s serving as a strategic adviser to their law school’s Future of the Profession Initiative,” reports MLive.
With McCormack’s departure, Governor Whitmer will have the opportunity to appoint a replacement to complete McCormack’s unfinished term.
Michigan Supreme Court Justices are selected through a special process called the Michigan Method. Comprised of 7 justices, the court’s jurisdiction typically involves review, “of Michigan Court of Appeals decisions, but the court also hears judicial misconduct cases, as well as some cases of original jurisdiction such as is the case in a bypass appeal. The court has broad superintending control power over all the state courts in Michigan,” according to Ballotpedia.
Whitmer’s appointment comes at a critical juncture in Michigan politics.
Crime is through the roof, and unnecessarily so. Following in the footsteps of notoriously dirty and crime-ridden cities like San Francisco, Michigan cities like Kalamazoo have opted to decriminalize public defecation, urination, littering and other similar offenses, imperiling small business owners and their livelihoods.
The justices are also dealing with a governor who attempted to co-opt the COVID-19 emergency response for the entire state.
It’s imperative that a justice who prioritizes the citizens of Michigan, and not the political class, be chosen to serve the interests of Michiganders.