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.

Affable Supreme Court Justice at Home in Upper Peninsula
(Continued)

The justice was off and running on her pitch to voters before the first reporter question could be asked. "I visited all the counties in the Upper Peninsula. For eight years on the Court of Appeals, I had the U.P. district," she said as part of her running campaign pitch.

"A judge should exercise two things: Common sense, accountability and responsibility and judicial restraint," she said.

The latter, she added carries special importance. "A Supreme Court Justice has tremendous power to interpret the law. You say it, the people abide by it and that's the law," she said of the high court's role.

"We should not superimpose our own views on the law.

If a statute is not clear -- and many are not -- we have to make sense of it ... even if it's stupid," the plain-spoken justice said.

An expert in juvenile justice --"I'm the only justice who knows about juveniles" -- Weaver took issue with attempts to shield juvenile felons under the anonymity re-introduced by Chippewa County officials two years ago.

"In serious crimes, the public has a right to know (names and offenses of juveniles)," Weaver said. "The public's safety and the public's interest are in knowing," she said.

Furthermore, Weaver said her long career as judge, appellate justice and Supreme Court Justice has reinforced the need for public accountability and responsibility in juvenile criminal cases.

"I want anybody who has done wrong to accept the penalty, pay restitution and make an apology ... and make it in person," she said.

"The first step is accountability."

She and Ulrich both indicated that juveniles who commit crimes should not be accorded anonymity by law enforcement and the courts. Ulrich has consistently opened his court's records to the news media in cases where juveniles have committed serious crimes.

Currently, Chippewa County Prosecutor Brian Peppler has instructed local police agencies to withhold juveniles names and reports on the crimes juveniles commit from regular police reporting.

(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