The League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum for the six candidates running for the Michigan Supreme Court. The organization opened the forum reminding candidates it was not a debate.
With two seats up for election on November 3rd, the candidates answered questions that detailed their judicial experience, shared moments that changed their minds on legal issues, and broke down what they believed the biggest problems are facing the state's justice system.
Chief Justice Megan Cavanagh, a Democratic Party nominee running for re-election, highlighted what inspired her legal career, pointing to her late father, former Chief Justice Michael Cavanagh.
"He instilled in me from a very young age about the importance of our court as an independent branch and the importance of public service," Cavanagh said.
Addressing the impact of politics on the bench, Republican-nominated candidate Judge Casandra Morse-Bills stated that personal views have no place in judicial decisions.
"It is not a judge's prerogative to impose their personal beliefs or any political agenda, and that cannot be said of our current Supreme Court," Morse-Bills said.
Throughout the event, the slate of candidates, Chief Justice Megan Cavanagh, Justice Noah Hood, Judge Casandra Morse-Bills, Judge Michael Warren, Thomas Howe, and Jody White, tackled various topics from judicial philosophy to courtroom oversight.
In one of his answers, Justice Hood emphasized resource disparities such as salary differences for court staff across counties and unequal access to legal representation between wealthy and low-income litigants.
“I've seen it firsthand as a trial judge, where our courtroom clerks in Wayne County got paid less than clerks in Oakland County or Macomb. And so we lost some of our best clerks.” Hood said.
Michigan voters will decide who fills the two seats on the state's highest nonpartisan judicial court during the November 3rd election.
