Michigan Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Kelly was the first to offer her perspective at the monthly lecture series, “The View from the Bench.”
The native Detroiter spoke to Eastern Michigan University students Monday afternoon in Halle Library about the critical function of State Supreme Courts in the American legal system.
To contribute to “The View from the Bench,” Kelly discussed the jurisdiction and role of the Michigan Supreme Court, compared it to the U.S. Supreme Court and eventually explained how it interacts with the other branches of government.
Describing the independent personalities of Supreme Court Justices was another point the two-time-elected Supreme Court Justice made.
“They all have strong personalities,” Kelly, a former student of EMU, said. “They didn’t get to be where they’re at by rolling over.”
Michigan’s Supreme Court, she said, consists of four men and three women: Justice Michael F. Cavanagh, Chief Justice Robert P. Young, Jr., Justice Mary Beth Kelly, Justice Stephen J. Markman, Justice Diane Marie Hathaway, Justice Brian K. Zahra and herself.
Kelly is currently serving her second eight-year term. She was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2004; her term expires Jan. 1, 2013. As recently as 2009, she served as Chief Justice of the Court until 2011. Previously she served on the Michigan Court of Appeals for two six-year terms and spent 17 years as a courtroom attorney.
Justice Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree from EMU and a master’s degree from Middlebury College in Vermont. She studied at Wayne State University’s law school where she graduated with honors. Collectively, she has honorary doctor of law degrees by Eastern, Michigan State University College of Law and Wayne State University Law School.
Prior to her career in law, which she told students on Monday is “the best job in the world,” she was involved in education. Kelly taught French language and literature at EMU, Albion College and in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools. Looking back now, she’s grateful for having the courage to gain experience in more than one area.
“When I was [at EMU] as a student, I never expected to be a lawyer,” Kelly said. “I expected to be—and I was—a teacher. And when I got back here as a teacher, I loved the idea of going to law school but I never expected the idea of being a judge.
“So the moral of the story is life brings unexpected opportunities and you can seize them and grow them into a life that’s everything you want it to be.”
Kelly paid special tribute to Eastern, the first school she attended, for who she is today.
“This is a real pleasure for me to be here today,” Kelly said. “I don’t get back to Eastern very often, and I hardly recognize the place. It’s a beautiful, beautiful expanding campus … I do credit Eastern for making it possible for me to get as far as I’ve got. I credit the very good teachers I had here and the school for giving me an opportunity to grow. I became an individual and struck out at times, but tried things that interested me.”
She serves on Wayne State University’s Board of Visitors in the law school and as committee co-chair for the President’s Task Force on Improved Dispute Resolution on the Oakland County Bar Association.
She is on the governing board of the National Consortium for Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts in which she served as president once. She has been president of the Women’s Bar Association and of the Women Lawyers’ Association of Michigan among other titles.
“The View from the Bench” is hosted by EMU’s political science department. The next lecture will be at 3:30pm on Monday, Nov. 14.
