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.

INVESTITURE CEREMONY
Continued

Betty became a citizen of Michigan by choice, not by birth. As a student in Louisiana, as Justice COLEMAN already told you in her letter, that she distinguished herself very early as Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Coif, and editor of the Tulane Law Review, I think, evidences her quick legal mind, her incisive mind, and her great capacity for mental effort.

Betty fell in love with Michigan and moved here. She taught school in Leelanau, and became a probate court judge after a stint in private practice in small and large firms.

But these historical facts about Betty WEAVER don’t really tell you anything at all about her character. In preparing for today, I reviewed the recent publication of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society, and that publication indexes all of these sorts of ceremonies that have been held here through the years. I read those for a while, ceremonies of investitures and memorials and portrait unveilings involving some of the great leaders of the Court.

I read about Justice COOLEY and Justices MARSTON and POTTER and WILLIAMS and MARY COLEMAN, herself, and I think it’s fair to say that in all of those events, people describe the justices who have served on the Michigan Supreme Court as people of honesty, integrity, and energy. Betty WEAVER shares these hallmarks of the great justices of our state.

Honesty, she is breathtakingly direct. One of her favorite expressions, which all of you justices will soon know is: Let’s cut the comedy. I expect you will hear that soon. She is not a person who minces words. She is not a person who wastes words. She loves words, and she loves what is true.

In terms of the other hallmark I spoke of, integrity, Betty is a woman of probity. She is a whole person. She knows who she is. She speaks with common sense and simple wisdom and energy. I already told you, I think I am pretty sure that she never sleeps. Her energy is boundless.

The more that you give Betty WEAVER to do, the better she likes it, and the knottier the problem, the better she likes it . But beyond this, I want you to know she is no procrastinator. She knows her job is to decide cases and to decide them now. She will decide cases, she will be forceful in argument and her opinions will display her strong convictions.

That said, I want you to know that Betty WEAVER does not suffer from judgitis. She has no divinity complex that I can detect. She is totally without pretense and without pretension. She will become your true friend. When you meet Betty it is true to say, she makes you want to help her out, and she will help you.

The best part of Betty WEAVER, though, I save for last, and that is, that Betty WEAVER will make you laugh. She has a wonderful sense of humor. You will experience a range of laughter with WEAVER, from the simple giggle to the cackle to the shrieks of laughter, to the side-splitting belly laugh, because Betty loves life. She loves a good story, and she will have you in stitches from time to time.

For me, making this motion today is really bittersweet, because Betty is my friend and I will miss her as my friend and colleague on the Michigan Court of Appeals. But you on the Supreme Court are lucky to be having this Justice join you today.

(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