About Justice Weaver

Throughout Justice Elizabeth "Betty" Weaver's over 32 years of experience as a trial and appellate judge (Probate/Juvenile, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court), including 2 years as Chief Justice, she has maintained a proven record based on these major practices:
Exercising Judicial Restraint
Applying Common Sense

A fundamental tenet of her stand for jusitice is to hold wrong-doers accountable and responsible for their actions, while providing opportunities for them to discover and develop their own self-worth and to become law-abiding, productive citizens.

In exercising judicial restraint (interpreting, not making, the law -- judicial self-discipline), Justice Weaver has followed the law as constitutionally passed by the legislature and consistent with the rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court. She has used the responsibility of interpretation, not as a sword to superimpose her own personal views (or those of special interest groups) on the law, but as a shield to protect the constitutional rights of the people and the constitutional acts of the legislative and executive branches.

Click here to read Michigan Court of Appeals Judge, Donald S. Owens’s Remarks as Presenter at the Induction of Justice Weaver into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame on October 25, 2005.

Click here to read Justice Weaver’s Remarks upon her Induction into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.

Press Release - 6/10/2005

Press Release - 1/13/2005

In November 2002, Justice Weaver won re-election for a second 8-year term on the Michigan Supreme Court.
This site provides information about her experience, credentials, principles, and major initiatives for the State of Michigan.

Check this site often for up-to-date press releases and other information about important work going on in the Supreme Court of Michigan.

Justice Weaver Emphasizes Accountability, Opportunity
By Elizabeth Lowe, Staff Writer
The Clio Messenger, February 3, 2002
Reprinted with permission

CLIO -- Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver feels the judicial system is not all that different from a classroom.

Weaver, a former first-grade teacher, visited the Clio area last weekend to attend the Alumnus of the Year dinner, and may be visiting Clio shcools again this spring, she said.

A resident of Leelanau County, Weaver is one of seven justices that comprise the Michigan Supreme Court. Each Justice is elected to serve an eight-year term, and the six associate justices vote to elect a chief justice every two years. Weaver was elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1992, and to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1993, and is seeking re-election this year.

Similar to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Michigan Supreme Court hears appealed cases from the lower Michigan courts, usually regarding important constitutional issues and questions of public policy. In addition, Michigan's Supreme Court is responsible for the general administrative supervision of all courts in the state, establishing rules for practice and procedure in all Michigan courts.

Weaver chairs Gov. John Engler's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, and feels being a former probate judge, along with her teaching experience, affords her valuable insight on juvenile and drug courts -- an issue that she finds especially compelling.

"In a sense you're teaching," Weaver said.

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"What we in the judiciary most need is patience, meekness, compassion, and courage to 'Do Right and Fear Not.'"
Chief Justice Weaver
State of the Judiciary

"She is bringing a fresh, dedicated, incisive mind to the Michigan Supreme Court."
Judge Myron Wahls
Court of Appeals

"I know Betty Weaver. She threw me in jail....But I would vote for her, because she...straightened me out, and the sentence was just."
Former convicted juvenile offender

"Your judicial experience...was outstanding. Your leadership abilities...have been impressive. There is sound reasoning for my full confidence in you as a justice."
Mary S. Coleman
Chief Justice 1978-82

Judge Weaver has been recognized in many ways for her public service, including selection as one of five outstanding young women in Michigan by the Michigan Jaycees. It is a pleasure for myself to recognize Judge Weaver as a capable and devoted public servant.
G. Mennen Williams
Chief Justice 1982-86