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.

Supreme Court justice makes her case
Campaigns brings Justice Weaver to Mason County
By Kevin Braciszeski, Staff Writer
Ludington Daily News 8/30/02


She is the fourth woman elected to the Michigan Supreme Court, its third female chief justice, and this morning Justice Elizabeth Weaver explained to many local lawyers, politicians and other government officials why she is running for re-election to the court.

Weaver, who was nominated for the Supreme Court seat by the Republican Party, described herself as fair and a woman who possesses common sense. She also called herself a Michigander or Michiganian because she has spent many years here after being born and raised in New Orleans.

Supreme Court judges have tremendous power to interpret laws, Weaver said, adding that judicial restraint is one of the most important qualities a justice should possess. She said the power should not be wielded as a sword to promote personal opinions, but it should be used instead as a shield to protect people’s rights.

Weaver also told her audience about her experiences as a judge in Michigan since 1974, about the workings of the Supreme Court and about her travels to all 83 Michigan counties as a way of learning about the state and its people. She noted the difference between Keweenaw County with 3,000 people and Wayne County with 2 million people.

“We have diversity in the state, which is great, and as far as the court is concerned … one size doesn’t fit all,” she said. “We have to be knowledgeable about those differences. I need to know what’s going on and we justices don’t need to be isolated.”

She also said she is the only candidate for the Supreme Court who lives north of Lansing.

Weaver began her 28-year career on the bench after being elected Leelanau County probate and juvenile judge in 1974. She was also elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1986 and 1992 and to the Supreme Court in 1994. She also served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from January 1999 to January 2001.

While serving in Leelanau County during the 1970s, Weaver said she instituted a policy requiring convicts to pay restitution to victims.  “That was considered ‘far out,’” she said.

(Continued)

 

"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