NOTE: Michigan is divided into 4 Court of Appeals Districts by County. Find your District here.
Candidates were asked to summarize their backgrounds in 75
words and were allotted 75 words to answer each question. If the candidate did not reply by the
required date for publication, the words "Did not respond in time for
publication" appear under the candidate's name.
QUESTION 1
Do you support public financing of judicial campaigns?
Explain.
QUESTION 2
Do you believe the composition of juries in district and
circuit courts adequately and fairly reflects society at large? Explain.
QUESTION 3
What can be done to provide individuals with wider and
better access to legal help and the legal system?
1st District Judge of the Court of Appeals - Six-Year
Term - Vote for Two (2)
I was born, raised and educated in Detroit. I am married and
I'm the mother of five children. While attending law school, I worked as a law
clerk in Recorders and Circuit court. Before being elected judge in 1992, I was
an Assistant Prosecutor and Chief of the Drug Forfeiture division. As a Circuit
Court judge for fourteen years, I have presided over civil, criminal, family
and appellate matters.
1. I do not support public financing of judicial campaigns.
While I don't think that the taxpayers should be required to pay for judicial
campaigns, I do believe that they should be made aware of a candidate's
qualifications. Funds must be expended in order to present this information.
However, I do think that there should be a limit on the amount of money a
candidate committee can spend in order to make the election process fair.
2. I do not believe that the composition of juries
adequately and fairly reflects society at large. A defendant is entitled to a
jury of his peers. Having been a trial judge for fourteen years, I have always
questioned this aspect of the jury system. I have observed indigent defendants
from Detroit receive a jury pool of forty-two people, most of them from the
suburbs. This is not a jury of his peers.
3. Every individual is entitled to access the legal system.
Providing indigent defendants with appointed, competent attorneys is a step in
the right direction. Free clinics should be made available to educate
individuals on the state of the law. The government should provide the
necessary funds for teaching and representing indigents unless this service can
be provided pro bono.
BA, MSU, '78; JD, U of D, '81. Married with three children. Experience: Court of Appeals, 2000 to date. Wayne Circuit Court, 1994 - 2000. Presiding Judge, Family Division and
Juvenile Court, 1997 - 2000.
Municipal Court, 1987-1994.
Community Activities: Board member National Kidney Foundation; Chair -
Kidney Foundation's Detroit Executive Leadership Council; Advisory Board of
"Kids-Talk" (forensic interviewing of abused children). Rated "Outstanding" by the
Wolverine and Metropolitan Bar Associations.
1. Not as proposed by the ABA because the underlying premise
is faulty. Judges currently must
adhere to strict rules of ethics and recuse themselves when biased or
personally interested. Judges
decide concrete cases and matters of law, not value-laden issues of public
policy. They substantiate legal conclusions by issuing opinions that are
subject to appellate review.
Public funding disadvantages challengers by limiting the raising of
financial resources to overcome the benefit of the incumbency designation.
2. Jurors are residents within the jurisdictional boundaries
of a particular court, possessing a license or state ID. While a particular jury may not reflect
society at large, they generally reflect that particular community. However, communities with a large
transient population may not be able to sit a jury that reflects that
community, i.e. a college community with a significant transient student
population or inner cities with high percentages of transient populations.
3. Promote and support the Michigan Bar Association's Access
to Justice program which helps provide pro-bono services to clients. Also support increased funding for
legal services, both public and private, particularly in family matters such as
domestic violence, abuse and neglect and domestic relations.
Did not respond in time for publication.
Born in Detroit, the child of Maltese immigrants, my parents
taught me that America was the land of opportunity. I worked my way through WSU (1984) and U of D law (1987),
and practiced law until becoming a Wayne County Circuit Judge in 1995. I have been a Judge on the Michigan
Court of Appeals since 1999. I
reside in Northville with my wife, Suzanne, and our two children.
1. No. The state simply lacks the resources to adequately
fund several hundred judicial campaigns across the state. The need for highly
financed judicial elections could be substantially reduced if we converted to
retention elections, rather than contested elections. Under this system the voters are simply asked whether the
incumbent judge should be retained rather than being asked to choose between
two competing candidates. This
method of judicial election has been very successful in many states.
2. Yes, Jury compositions in Michigan Courts fairly
represent the demographics of the district from which the jury is drawn. The Clerks of the Court exercise their
best effort to solicit a fair representation for the district. Thereafter, it is incumbent on each
citizen to respond to the juror questionnaires and appear in court when
summoned. Statistical differences between the demographics of the district and
the population that appears for jury duty are generally very small.
3. The State Bar of Michigan should impose a mandatory
requirement for lawyers to donate a minimum of 40 hours of legal work per year
to persons unable to obtain legal assistance. For those lawyers who are not comfortable performing such
services, the Bar should impose a mandatory $800 per year pro bono
donation. The proceeds from this
fund can be used to operate full time legal aid clinics across the state.
2nd District Judge of the Court of Appeals - Six-Year
Term - Vote for Three (3)
Did not respond in time for publication.
Did not respond in time for publication.
Judge Servitto obtained a BA in 1978 and a JD from DCL in
1982. From 1982-1986 she served as
an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Warren. In 1986 was elected to the 37th District Court for the
cities of Warren and Center Line.
In 1990, Governor Blanchard appointed Judge Servitto to the Macomb
County Circuit Court where she served for 16 years. Recently Governor Granholm elevated Judge Servitto to the
Court of Appeals.
1. Public financing of our judicial campaigns is a means by
which the influence of individual donors can be mitigated. It would, however, take a great deal of
money to properly "educate" the public about judicial
candidates. Considering our
state's financial condition, that is unlikely to occur. A more practical reform
may be to conduct periodic, professional reviews of judges after they are
initially elected and eliminate the need for re-election campaigns for those
who pass.
2. Jury composition in the metropolitan Detroit area tends
to include fewer minority citizens than residents in the same area. This occurs for several reasons,
including the fact that jury service among disadvantaged populations is not a
priority. For many, it is a luxury
that they cannot afford.
Furthermore, much of the new immigrant population is prohibited from
participating for lack of citizenship.
Nevertheless, our juries have an incredible record of fairness.
3. Several measures could help to expand access to the
justice system. The jurisdiction
of the Small Claims Division of the Court can be increased. The discovery process can be
streamlined to reduce the escalating, oppressive expense currently facing
litigants. Early intervention by
the courts to promote alternative dispute resolution would help. Efficient case management and timely
disposition of cases frees up judicial resources to address a larger number of
individual disputes.
3rd District Judge of the Court of Appeals - Six-Year
Term - Vote for Three (3)
Did not respond in time for publication.
Declined to participate.
Did not respond in time for publication.
4th District Judge of the Court of Appeals - Six-Year
Term - Vote for Two
Did not respond in time for publication.
Did not respond in time for publication.
4th District Judge of the Court of Appeals - Partial Term
ending 1-1-09 - Vote for One (1)
I was born in Petoskey, Michigan on July 23, 1947. I have been married for 30 years and
have two adult daughters. I began my legal practice in 1974. I was a general practitioner for 10
years. I was elected to the 46th
Circuit Court in 1984 and served there until July of 2005 when I was appointed
to the Court of Appeals.
1. Yes; if it were purely public funding and no other funds
were permitted. That would put all
candidates on a level playing field financially. It would end the appearance of buying influence. It would force candidates to
distinguish themselves on the basis of their ideas as opposed to fundraising
capacities.
2. Yes; at least as to the communities from which they are
drawn. The composition of many
communities in Michigan probably do not accurately reflect the society at
large.
3. Spend the funds necessary to hire, equip, and retain public sector lawyers. At present there is no meaningful financial commitment to the public service law on behalf of individuals.
