24-member task force to examine how Michigan judges are picked

A 24-member task force made up of veteran judges, lawyers and activists announced a project that will look into how appellate court judges are selected and publish recommendations on possible improvements.

The Judicial Selection Task Force, convened by Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly and Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Senior Judge James Ryan, will begin meeting in January Crain’s Detroit Business reported.

“Millions of dollars have been spent to portray judicial candidates as unfit for office,” Kelly said in a statement. “It leads to a public perception that the justice system is neither effective nor impartial. We must find improvements to the way we choose our appellate judges.”

According to The Detroit Free Press, Dan Pero, the former chief of staff to Gov. John Engler who heads the American Justice Partnership, said the O’Connor-Kelly-Ryan task force is the latest anti-democratic assault on judicial election by “liberal elites who think they should be the ones to decide who sits on the bench.”

Panel participants over the next year will include:

• Loretta Ames, partner at the Detroit office of Bloomfield Hills-based Plunkett Cooney PC.
• Kathleen Bogas, principal at the law offices of Kathleen L. Bogas PLLC, soon to become Bogas, Koncius & Croson PC in Bingham Farms.
• Patricia Donath, attorney and past president of the League of Women Voters of Michigan and board member of the League of Women Voters of the United States.
• Peter Dunlap, attorney and past president of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel, Lansing.
• J. Kay Felt, retired member-shareholder at Detroit-based Dykema Gossett PLLC and past president of the American Health Lawyers Association.
• Robert Garvey, attorney and president of Robert F. Garvey PC, St. Clair Shores, and past president of the Michigan Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
• W. Anthony Jenkins, member and chief diversity officer at Detroit-based Dickinson Wright PLLC and president of the State Bar of Michigan.
• H. Lynn Jondahl, chairman of the Michigan State Ethics Board and former state representative for 22 years.
• John Logie, former mayor of Grand Rapids and founder of the Health Practice Law Group at Warner Norcross & Judd LLP.
• Justin Long, associate professor of law at Wayne State University.
• Olivia Maynard, regent of the University of Michigan and trustee of the C.S. Mott Foundation.
• Terrence Nagle, president of automotive supplier M&N Plastics.
• Edward parks, former managing partner of Plante & Moran.
• Bruce Peterson, senior vice president / general counsel for DTE Energy Co.
• Wallace Riley, attorney in private practice in Grosse Pointe and past state bar president.
• Paul Rosen, attorney in private practice in Southfield and past president of the Michigan Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
• Iris Salters, president of the Michigan Education Association
• Michael Sarafa, president and CEO, Bank of Michigan, and past president of the Associated Food Dealers of Michigan.
• John Schwarz, otolaryngologist in practice in Battle Creek for 36 years past U.S. congressman and mayor of Battle Creek.
• Charles Toy, associate dean for career and professional development at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Auburn Hills, and past president of the state bar.
• Janet Welch, executive director of the state bar.
• William Whitbeck, a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals since 1997 who served as chief judge of the court for six years of his tenure.

Opinion
Task force good first step to court reform - The Detroit Free Press