Cross-posted at BloggingForMichigan.com
In January 2007, the seven justices of the Michigan Supreme Court elected Clifford Taylor as Chief Justice for that year. The vote was 4-to-3, with the four-vote conservative majority (Stephen Markman, Maura Corrigan, Robert Young, and Taylor) voting as a bloc. One of the dissenters, Justice Elizabeth Weaver, wrote a memorandum explaining why she opposed Taylor's election and put it on her personal website.
Justice Weaver's memorandum portrays the court as seriously dysfunctional, and lays the blame at the doorstep of the the conservative majority. In fact, she said that none of the four conservatives were fit to serve as Chief Justice.
As for Chief Justice Taylor, she minced no words in opposing his election:
Chief Justice Taylor has proven that he cannot properly lead the Michigan Supreme Court at this time. The people of Michigan deserve to have a Chief Justice who will conduct the people’s business in an orderly, professional, and fair manner.
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