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
(Continued)

During the meeting Weaver outlined what she feels is the two-fold responsibility of the drug courts: to make people accountable and responsible for their actions, and to provide the opportunity for every individual to discover and develop their unique talents, along with a sense of worth.

The national drug court program began in Michigan during Weaver's 1999-2001 term as chief justice due to the fact that drug problems often underlie many criminal problems, said Weaver.

Genesee County is one of 28 drug courts in Michigan, and one of 700 across the nation that intervene in the trial of substance-abusing offenders. The intervention involves many judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, substance abuse treatment specialists, probation officers, law envorcement and correctional personnel, educational and vocational experts, as well as community leaders. Combining such resources to provide an alternative to the guilty-not-guilty plea has proved not only effective, but a financially rewarding solution to the cost of incarceration.

Participants must submit to frequent random drug testing. Weaver's policy on dealing with such offenders is to order restitution, community service work, and in true educator fashion demands written essays: letters of apology, essays on why particular laws are needed, and an unexpected essay detailing what an offender knows to be good about himself or herself.

The drug courts' emphasis and accountability coupled with opportunity changes lives, said Weaver.

"You have to remember these people have children, husbands and wives -- it affects everybody," she said.

"If you could hear the life stories...all the people are affected in a positive way. Sometimes people participate because it's better than the alternative, but they eventually take hold of their lives."

Weaver, who said she has been to every county and courthouse in Michigan, believes that "everybody is unique and everybody has a purpose, but you can't do for me, and I can't do for you."

Weaver feels a positive, yet realistic attitude is essential in judging between what's impossible and what is barely possible. At that point it's a matter of determination, she said.

"It's either the joy of living or the problem of being," said Weaver.

"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