Posted on 07/19/2005 9:19:00 AM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Two Michigan Supreme Court justices mentioned for U.S. high court
7/18/2005, 6:11 p.m. ET
By DAVID EGGERT
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two Michigan Supreme Court justices are being mentioned as potential replacements for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In recent days, the names of Maura Corrigan and Robert Young Jr. have popped up in a couple media outlets amid speculation about whom President Bush will appoint to the federal high court.
Bush has said that conservative Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas are the kind of people he admires on the Supreme Court.
Both Corrigan and Young fit that bill, and each has other advantages. Corrigan is a woman. Young is black. Both are in their 50s, meaning they could serve a long time.
Both also are members of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group.
"They are clearly qualified and are persons whose judicial philosophy is consistent with the kind of candidate the president has said he's looking for," said Richard McLellan, a Lansing attorney and longtime GOP activist who has helped screen Michigan candidates for the federal district court and 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
"They are the best justices at the state level in the country," he said of Corrigan and Young.
The Washington Post named the Michigan justices — and many others — in a weekend story about Bush's search for a nominee. A conservative magazine, the Weekly Standard, calls Corrigan "impressive" in an editorial about potential female nominees.
Republican strategists and interest groups friendly with the White House are gearing up for an announcement within days. They believe Bush is focusing on a woman to succeed retiring O'Connor, who was the first woman ever named to the court.
Corrigan, a 57-year-old University of Detroit Law School graduate, was the first female chief assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit. She later became partner at the Detroit law firm Plunkett and Cooney.
Former Republican Gov. John Engler appointed her to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1992, and she was twice elected to that court. In 1998, she won election to the Michigan Supreme Court and served two terms as chief justice from 2001-2004.
Young, a 54-year-old Harvard Law School graduate, was appointed by Engler to the state Supreme Court in 1999 and was elected in 2002. He, too, served on the state appeals court. Before becoming a judge, he was a partner at the Dickinson Wright law firm in Detroit and later the general counsel of AAA Michigan.
"Obviously it would be a real blow to Michigan if one of them was appointed," McLellan said, noting that their judicial experience would be missed and that Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm would be in charge of naming a replacement.
But, he added, "you certainly wouldn't want to deny someone an opportunity to be considered if the president took a look at them."
I'd also like to see Lenin and Stabmenow blow a gasket since the democrats here HATE Corrigan and Young. Anyone here remember "Markman Taylor and Young, oh my!?"
I hope this doesn't do to Michigan what the elevation of one of Wisconsin's SC justices did to WI. Bush appointed conservative Justice Diane Sykes to the Federal court of Appeals and her nomination sailed through the Senate with the applause of BOTH of our liberal Dem Senators -- Kohl and Feingold. Of course, our lefty governor promptly appointed a replacement who has made dreadful decisions. Methinks that was the plan all along.
I knew it was a mistake to keep Arlen Spec-ta-tor in that position. He wants BALANCE on the Court. XX-CUSE ME? We won the election; we get to pick.
The Swing Voter (Weaver) is planning on retirement soon, although we don't know when. If Corrigan goes, that will be 3-3-1 or 3-4, so it will hurt us a bit.
Wouldn't "Red Jenny" Granholm get to name a replacement to fill any vacancy to the state supreme court, at least until the next election? That's a dramweight on the side of picking a different top candidate.
Justice Corrigan is the widow of Wayne State University Distinguished Professor of Law Joseph D. Grano and is the mother of Daniel, a Wayne State University law student, Megan, a comedian with Second City in Chicago, and the mother-in-law of Michael Canale, business manager of Chicago's Annoyance Theater.
Can't be all bad!
I worked for a federal judge for many, many long years. As to their not being political - I have a bridge I would like to sell you.
I say its time to do what the Politicians don't seem to be able to do.
MAKE A PROMISE
So here is my Promise.
1) I promise not to vote GOP or DEM in 2006 and 2008 should we lose the battle for SCOTUS by not placing Pro-Lifers to the Bench.
2) I will not Break my promise no matter what special interests surface between now and 2008. I will not sell out no matter what, be it loss of job, money, economy, health, or even life or limb.
3) I will remind every other pro-lifer between now and then of the sell out (should it occur) so that our collective memories don't fade.
Sheep on the right, goats on the left...
Ping this...
Yeah, I know. We can always hope ...
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