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: No one way to operate a court

By Patti Klevorn, News Editor
Ludington Daily News 8/29/02

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth A. Weaver, of Glen Arbor, explained how important she thinks it is to know the vast distinctions between courts in the state. The people in the Upper Peninsula counties have different needs in their court systems from the people in Metro Detroit, she said while visiting Mason County Thursday.

Weaver is making rounds to all 83 counties in her campaign to keep her seat on the court. In an interview at the Ludington Daily News, she said it is essential to understand at least something about each community. Population is one important factor, but each county has its own additional unique issues, such as how weather affects travel and the distance one may have to travel to get to court in a particular area. Also, there are two time zones in Michigan and that can have an effect on some courts.

Weaver said she understands the state as a whole, having traveled it in its entirety many times. She said it’s a plus for her constituents that she’s not from Lansing or Metro Detroit, as are all of the other justices and candidates for justice in this race. Her home is in Leelanau County, giving the court a northern Michigan perspective.

The state’s Supreme Court not only hears appeals of cases, it also manages the administration of the lower courts. Having knowledge of the differences between the state’s many court systems has helped Weaver and her fellow justices fit the system to the community, she said.

She and former justices Conrad Mallett Jr. and the late James Brickley created demonstration systems in nine courts, including a trial court system in Lake County in which one judge handles almost all cases that go to trial. If something more serious comes along, a case that could be particularly time consuming, a Wexford County judge would help out. That type of a system certainly would not work out in a more urban court, such as Wayne County, but it seems to fit Lake County just fine, she said.

Weaver said all of the areas using demonstration systems want to keep those systems.

(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