Fifty years ago this month, the Michigan Court of Appeals opened for business — and a celebration is in the works.
The 1963 Michigan Constitution created the court as Michigan’s intermediate appellate court, serving between the trial benches and the Michigan Supreme Court, and the Legislature later passed implementing legislation. In short order, the court:
• Opened its doors with nine elected judges from three districts organized by county lines and with roughly equal population. Upon its opening, the court had 45 employees;
• Started operations with 325 cases that were transferred from the Michigan Supreme Court before the Court of Appeals was fully organized; and
• Issued its first opinion on Jan. 26, 1965.
Since its opening, 82 judges have served on the court, the court has issued more than 151,700 dispositive opinions.
Early last year, the National Center for State Courts, after several intensive studies of the Court’s operations, made the following observations in its report:
“The Michigan Court of Appeals is as fine an example as we have found of business process discipline in the judicial branch, where court leaders have applied modern and innovative tools and techniques to operations management. The court has a culture of innovation and cooperation, along with a high level of vision and competence in its judges and staff ...
'Over time,” the NCSC continued, “the chief judges of the court have been supportive, staff has felt empowered, and everyone has worked together. It is a well-organized, well-run operation that is, to an outsider, quite extraordinary.”
The court plans to hold a celebration of its 50th anniversary on April 30, 2015, at the Hall of Justice in Lansing.
The event will begine at 3:00 p.m., followed by a reception at 5:30 p.m. at the State Bar headquarters, also in Lansing.
Between now and April 30, the court plans to:
• Create a webpage linked to the court’s webpage and highlighted in the Michigan Supreme Court’s webpage;
• Publish, on a bi-weekly basis, a newsletter/blog containing 300-400 word vignettes about the court’s past and present achievements;
• Develop podcasts consisting of excerpts from various panel discussions;
• Launch Facebook and Twitter campaigns to promote the celebration.
For further information, contact Stacy Sellek at 517.373.0035 or selleks@courts.mi.gov.
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