Weaver reflects on state's top court

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Elizabeth "Betty" Weaver Record-Eagle/JAN-MICHAEL STUMP
Alton Thomas Davis

December 28, 2010

She served on the Michigan Supreme Court for 36 years

Editor's note: Another in a series of people, places and events that made headlines in northern Michigan in 2010., BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Tue Dec 28, 2010, 06:14 AM EST

GLEN ARBOR — Elizabeth "Betty" Weaver trails her snowblower, and uses the machine's power to bring an order to her driveway that the retired state Supreme Court justice couldn't impose upon the state's highest court.

Weaver, a Republican who stepped down in July after 36 years as a judge, including 16 on the high court, said she enjoys a certain satisfaction when clearing her drive and walkways.

"It's instant success that shows immediate progress and completion, and in the work I've done for 36 years that hasn't always been the case," Weaver said.

Weaver's last act as a justice didn't end as she hoped. She negotiated a deal with Gov. Jennifer Granholm to step down six months before her term ended in exchange for the appointment of a northern Michigan judge. Granholm picked Alton Davis, Weaver's choice and a well-respected appeals court judge from Grayling.

Republicans called it "a sleazy, backroom political deal" in fall campaign ads.

Davis became one of two Democratic nominees for the top court, but he lost to Republican Mary Beth Kelly, a Wayne County circuit judge.

"I have no regrets about resigning because I had done everything I could from within the court to get the needed reforms," Weaver said. "Needless to say, the election didn't turn out right."

Democrats ran a poor Supreme Court campaign, while Republicans learned from 2008, when voters ousted Republican Clifford Taylor.

"The Republicans ran a very good campaign and spent a huge amount of money, but of course it was all based on deceit," Weaver said. "We actually elected (Kelly) because their name was an Irish name. How is that just?"

About $9.5 million was spent on Michigan Supreme Court races in 2010, the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network reported. Voters have no idea what groups ponied up most of that cash.

"It was an awful lot of money that all arrived late," said Rich Robinson, the nonprofit's executive director. "In 2008, just over half of the money in that campaign was undisclosed, not part of the campaign finance reporting system. This time it was two-thirds. From the aspect of accountability, this year's campaign was the worst of a bad decade."

Weaver repeatedly pushed for more openness on the court, a different selection system, and term limits.

"Justices should have one term, because it's the ultimate power to say what something means and have people follow it," Weaver said.

Her fellow justices recently rebuked Weaver for secretly recording a 2006 internal discussion in which she participated by telephone. Weaver said she taped the conversations because her fellow justices talk over one another during debates.

Weaver campaigned this year against fellow Republican Justice Robert Young Jr. and in October released a transcript of her tape recording to reveal Young used the word ni****.

"Our doing business was the most disorderly, unprofessional, unfair way of doing business that I've ever been associated with," Weaver said. "I'm from New Orleans, I know how to have a good time ... but this is important stuff, it's people's lives."

Davis said there was no personal rancor during his short five-month tenure on the Supreme Court and he has no regrets about taking the job.

"It was very interesting work," Davis said. "There's not black-and-white there. Everything is a shade of gray with strong arguments to be made on both sides."

Davis apparently had the opportunity to be reappointed his old spot on the appeals court, but he opted to retire. He said it would have been foolish to return as a highly visible member of that court to issue opinions that would "just get swatted down" at the next level.

"I have done this for 26 years and it's time to do something else," he said.

Davis said he'll continue his work on a state bar association task force that is reviewing state court reform. The task force will issue a report in January to address changes to make state courts more accessible and more efficient.

Davis said he would have appreciated a chance to rework the Supreme Court's efficiency.

"Administratively, probably a lot could be done in that court to improve," he said. "I think they could conduct a lot more business in a lot less time with some administrative clarity."

For now, both Davis and Weaver said they are enjoying the holidays and expect to spend time organizing their accumulated legal papers before deciding what to do next.

"I'm working very hard to get my pool table and ping-pong table cleared off, which I haven't seen the bottom of for over a year," Weaver said.

Follow our Newsmakers 2010 series online. Stories will be posted as they're published at record-eagle.com/newsmakers.