In November, Michigan voters will choose two justices to serve on the state Supreme Court. Michigan Public's Morning Edition is featuring interviews with the six candidates.
Jody White is a long-time real estate broker in Southeast Michigan. She also ran as a candidate for the state Senate in 2022 and the state House of Representatives in 2018.
White spoke with Michigan Public's Morning Edition host Doug Tribou.
Doug Tribou: As we get started here, I want to note for our listeners that judicial candidates in Michigan are listed without any party affiliation on the ballot. However, parties do nominate candidates for the court, and the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan selected you as one of its nominees. There are currently six Democratic nominees and one Republican nominee on the court.
You're a real estate broker. You used to own your own firm. You've run for other offices, weren't elected, but ran for a couple of offices. So you've been a candidate before, but you are not an attorney. And Michigan law requires Supreme Court justices to be licensed to practice law in Michigan, and to have been admitted to the practice of law for at least five years. You don't meet either of those requirements. So if you won the election, you wouldn't be able to serve on the court. Why are you running?
Jody White: I am part of the National Association of Realtors and the Michigan Association of Realtors. Those are memberships. I get a membership card. And I actually have a state license to practice the field of real estate, which is ownership, title work, lending. If you can show me a bar license, that'd be great. If you look at their P-number on their little card, it's called membership.
Why I'm running is because of the close network of bar members that have been running the judiciary for many decades. I've been very much an advocate in the civil end of it, which is what really real estate is about, making sure that we're protecting your ownership or protecting your liberty and the rights to have property. And then we end up in probate court where these attorneys are working in probate court and are able to take what is your inheritance or your generational wealth.
A note from Michigan Public:
During our interview, Jody White told us about a complex probate case in her own family. We did not have time to go into detail about that case for this interview, but it included charges of embezzlement against a relative. As the conversation continued, Doug Tribou read her the requirements to take office as a Supreme Court justice.
DT: A person must be a registered and qualified elector of the state of Michigan by the filing deadline — that means an eligible voter — licensed to practice law in Michigan, and at the time of the election or appointment, be less than 70 years of age. In addition, the individual must have been admitted to the practice of law for at least five years.
We checked with the Secretary of State, and it's perfectly valid for you to be on the ballot. Those things only have to happen by the time you're in office, but you can't practice law for five years between now and January...
JW: I've never stopped practicing law. You know, we are all supposed to be lawful, legal, and compliant people. We're supposed to follow traffic signals and 55 miles per hour. But there's been a membership of people, this closed cultural profession, that are able to basically rule our judiciary.
And if you look at my background and when I ran for state representative and state Senate, it was about the credibility of the courts. And our goal is to make sure that maybe laypeople who are not part of this membership get a fair chance. Nobody is of nobility. There's no king in America. We are all created equal. And I do love Judge [Michael] Warren because he's very good at quoting things verbatim.
DT: He's one of the Republican nominees in this cycle.
JW: Right. And he was talking about our inalienable rights. And one of them is we are all created equal. And by being created equal doesn't mean just because you're an esquire, that you get more privilege or more power over the rest of us.
DT: But Judge Warren is an attorney. I'm sorry to cut you off.
JW: He's a bar member. He's a member of the bar.
DT: He's a member of the bar, which makes him an attorney who has practiced law and then become a judge. And he is one of the candidates running. He's currently a judge in Oakland County and running [for the Supreme Court].
But to go back to one of your points there, you referenced the people being in charge of the courts, but we elect the members of the court. So the election is the voice of the people. A constitutional change would be another matter. But it's clearly stated "the practice of law." And I think it's fair to say that that means actually being an attorney who is doing the work of assisting clients with the law, not just being a good standing citizen who follows the law as hopefully we all try to do.
JW: See, that's the thing. A lawyer does not have different standards. There is a systemic issue going on in the courts. We have wrongful convictions. We have plea bargains that are being coerced by this profession of cultural professionals who have put themselves above the people. So I just want to be one of those justices that continue to be that public functionary to work for the people.
DT: Under Michigan law and in the state Constitution, followed by a 1997 opinion from the state attorney general, it is legal for you to run for the Michigan Supreme Court, and you can qualify for the statewide ballot, which you've done, even if you don't meet the requirement of five years of legal practice. But you have to meet that requirement by the time you're sworn in. And again, since you don't practice law, it would appear that you are not able to be sworn in if you're elected. But I want to ask...
JW: And again, I'm going to argue that because I do practice the law and I'm telling you...
DT: But not as an attorney, you don't.
JW: We are a law-abiding group of people. I want everybody to go back and look at the Republican organization, the Democrat organization, and the lawyers' organization. They are all trade organizations, no different than the real estate organization.
DT: It's not hard to imagine someone getting into the voting booth who's interested in third-party candidates and either read or heard about your name or your fellow party nominee, Tom Howe, and chooses you on their ballot assuming that you might actually take office, which again, it appears you cannot. Do you have any concerns about confusing voters? At the very least, you're acknowledging that it will be a contentious point if you were to be elected.
JW: Well, and again, I'm going to go back to the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct that says that the court is...
DT: Do you have any worry about confusing voters? You've made...
JW: No, we're going to go back to the rules of what the judiciary is supposed to be for: for the people and the litigants, and not these club members that are really overtaking our state of Michigan. And I think Michigan deserves better. I think the people deserve better. And I do believe that the people want better. I hope if anybody is confused that they do their own research about what I said about the different trade organizations; we're just not going to follow the status quo.
DT: Thank you very much for your time.
JW: Thank you, Doug.
Jody White emailed us shortly after our interview. In that email, she acknowledged the state's constitutional requirements to become a Supreme Court justice.
She added, "My candidacy asks voters to examine whether exclusive professional control over eligibility and judicial administration continues to serve the public interest."
____________
Editor's note: Quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can play the full audio of this interview near the top of this page.
