Brian K. Zahra

Last updated
Alyssa Jones
​
​
(m. 1987;div. 1993)​
Suzanne Zahara
​
(after 1993)​
Brian Zahra
Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
Assumed office
January 15, 2011
Education Wayne State University (BA)
University of Detroit (JD)

Brian K. Zahra (born January 9, 1960) is a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was appointed to fill a vacancy by Governor Rick Snyder in 2011. [1] Zahra won his bid for reelection in 2022 to retain his seat for eight more years, per the Michigan Constitution.

Contents

Education

Zahra attended Divine Child High School and Wayne State University where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity (PIKE) and worked his way through college by opening a health and beauty-aid store in downtown Detroit, which he expanded into a full grocery store.[ citation needed ] He subsequently graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law with honors in 1987. While in law school he was a member of the Law Review and served as Articles Editor of the State Bar of Michigan’s Corporation and Finance Business Law Journal. [2]

Career

Upon graduating law school, Zahra clerked for Judge Lawrence Zatkoff of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan until he joined the Detroit law firm of Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen & Freeman in 1989. [2] He also served as a Wayne County Circuit Court judge from 1994-98 and was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals by Republican Governor John Engler in 1999. [3] In 2004, he was nominated and ran for the Michigan Supreme Court. While losing that bid for election, he remained on the Court of Appeals. [4] Zahra then went on to serve as Chief Judge Pro Tem for the Court of Appeals from December 2005 to January 2007. [2]

On January 11, 2011, Republican Governor Rick Snyder appointed Zahra to replace Maura Corrigan, who was in turn appointed to head the Michigan Department of Human Services. Governor Snyder's appointment of Zahra maintained the Republican nominees' 4-3 majority. [5]

Zahra served as an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Law School, teaching evidence, and he has served on various bar and legislative committees, including the advisory committee for the Michigan Judicial Institute Domestic Violence Benchbook and the Domestic Violence Legislation Implementation Task Force. Zahra is a member of the Federalist Society, which he has served as secretary and vice-president, and he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Lawyers Society. [4]

Judicial philosophy

Zahra characterizes himself as a rule of law judge advocating judicial restraint.[ citation needed ] In a 2007 forum, he spoke of his respect for the separation of powers, noting the importance of "leaving to the legislature the significant policy questions of the day." [6]

Notable court decisions

While on the Michigan Court of Appeals, Zahra joined Judges Kurtis T. Wilder and Joel Hoekstra in upholding a state constitutional amendment barring public employers from recognizing same-sex unions. In Pride at Work v. Granholm, the three judge panel unanimously struck down a ruling by an Ingham County court judge and ruled that domestic partner benefit plans were unconstitutional. [7]

In 2022, Zahra dissented from a Michigan Supreme Court decision ordering the Board of State Canvassers to allow voters to vote on a ballot proposition that would amend the Michigan Constitution to provide for a limited right to abortion. Zahra's dissent was strongly criticized by other members of the Michigan Supreme Court. [8] [9]

Personal life

Zahara married Alyssa Jones (née Watson, b. c. 1963) in 1987 and divorced her in 1993. [10] Zahra resides in Northville Township with his second wife Suzanne and their two children. [2]

Abortion allegation

In November 2022, Zahra's ex-wife Alyssa Jones alleged that she underwent an abortion in 1983 after becoming pregnant by Zahra, when he was 23-years old and unwed. [10] According to Jones, she and Zahra were in agreement to pursue the abortion and did not consider other options. [10] She noted that Zahra identified the abortion clinic, made the appointment, and drove Jones to the clinic but did not enter it with her. [10] Jones noted that she decided to share the details of her abortion with the public after Zahra worked to prevent an abortion amendment from appearing on the 2022 state ballot, which she viewed as hypocritical. [10] She noted, “I’m grateful I had a choice, and I think he's grateful he had a choice.” Zahra has not responded to the allegations. [10]

Related Research Articles

Maureen O'Connor is an American lawyer and judge who served as the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 2011 to 2022. She was elected to the court in 2002, becoming chief justice in 2010. She was the first woman to lead the Ohio Supreme Court and the longest serving woman elected statewide in Ohio's History.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Civil Rights Initiative</span> American ballot initiative

The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), or Proposal 2, was a ballot initiative in the U.S. state of Michigan that passed into Michigan Constitutional law by a 58% to 42% margin on November 7, 2006, according to results officially certified by the Michigan Secretary of State. By Michigan law, the Proposal became law on December 22, 2006. MCRI was a citizen initiative aimed at banning consideration of race, color, sex, or religion in admission to colleges, jobs, and other publicly funded institutions – effectively prohibiting some affirmative action by public institutions based on those factors. The Proposal's constitutionality was challenged in federal court, but its constitutionality was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Snyder</span> American politician and business executive

Richard Dale Snyder is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Schuette</span> American politician

William Duncan Schuette is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd attorney general of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. He was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Senate in 1990 and for Governor of Michigan in the 2018 gubernatorial election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas Supreme Court</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of Kansas

The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the state court of last resort in the appeals process.

James Leon Dennis is an American lawyer, jurist, and former politician serving as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, with chambers in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Michigan since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015. The U.S. state of Michigan had previously banned the recognition of same-sex unions in any form after a popular vote added an amendment to the Constitution of Michigan in 2004. A statute enacted in 1996 also banned both the licensing of same-sex marriages and the recognition of same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions.

Mary Beth Kelly is a lawyer and former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. She was elected on November 2, 2010 and took office on January 1, 2011 for an eight-year term that ended on January 1, 2019. On August 17, 2015, she announced her resignation from the Supreme Court effective October 1, 2015, to return to private practice at Bodman PLC in Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard D. McLellan</span> Lawyer and professor at Michigan State University

Richard D. McLellan is a lawyer at McLellan Law Offices PLLC. He has served as Chairman of the Michigan Law Revision Commission since 1986. He argued on the side of the appellee in the United States Supreme Court case Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 494 U.S. 652 (1990).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 North Carolina judicial elections</span>

Four justices of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and four judges of the 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 4, 2014, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years.

David Viviano is a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, appointed by Governor Rick Snyder on February 28, 2013, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Justice Diane Hathaway. Prior to his appointment to the Michigan Supreme Court, Justice Viviano was the Chief Judge of the Macomb County Circuit Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 North Carolina judicial elections</span>

One justice of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and five judges of the 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 8, 2016, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Larsen</span> American judge (born 1968)

Joan Louise Larsen is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She previously was an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 2015 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James C. Ho</span> American judge (born 1973)

James Chiun-Yue Ho is a Taiwanese-born American attorney and jurist. He was nominated to serve as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit by President Donald Trump, and took office in 2018. Ho formerly served as Solicitor General of Texas from 2008 to 2010.

Elizabeth Ann "Beth" Tripp Clement is an American lawyer who serves as the chief justice of Michigan since 2022. She has served as an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court since 2017, after being appointed by Governor Rick Snyder.

Abortion in Michigan is legal throughout all stages of pregnancy. A state constitutional amendment to explicitly guarantee abortion rights was placed on the ballot in 2022 as Michigan Proposal 22–3; it passed with 57 percent of the vote, adding the right to abortion and contraceptive use to the Michigan Constitution. The amendment largely prevents the regulation of abortion before fetal viability, unless said regulations are to protect the individual seeking an abortion, and it also makes it unconstitutional to make laws restricting abortions which would protect the life and health, physical and/or mental, of the pregnant individual seeking abortion.

Kyra Harris Bolden is an American judge, politician, and civil litigation attorney. She has served as an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court since January 1, 2023. Bolden was a Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives for the 35th district from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Michigan elections</span>

The 2022 Michigan elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 throughout Michigan. The Democratic Party made historic gains, taking full control of state government for the first time since 1983. Democrats won control of the Michigan House of Representatives for the first time since 2008, and the Michigan Senate for the first time since 1984. Additionally, incumbent Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer won reelection by a comfortable margin, with Democrats sweeping every statewide office. Furthermore, the Democrats maintained control of seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, while the Republican Party took a net loss of one seat. The elections in Michigan were widely characterized as a "blue wave".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Michigan Proposal 3</span> Abortion and contraception initiative

2022 Michigan Proposal 3, the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, also known as Reproductive Freedom for All, was a citizen-initiated proposed constitutional amendment in the state of Michigan, which was voted on as part of the 2022 Michigan elections. The amendment, which passed, codified reproductive rights, including access to abortion, in the Constitution of Michigan.

References

  1. ↑ "Biography of Justices". Archived from the original on 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Biographies of the Justices". Michigan Supreme Court. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Snyder names Brian Zahra to Michigan Supreme Court". Battle Creek Enquirer. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Judge Brian K. Zahra Named Chief Judge Pro Tem of Michigan Court of Appeals" (PDF). Michigan Supreme Court. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Snyder names Zahra to Michigan Supreme Court". Detroit News . Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  6. ↑ "Judicial Incumbents Seek Support On November Non-Partisan Ballot". Eastside Republican Club. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  7. ↑ Egan, Paul (3 Feb 2007). "Court rejects same-sex benefits". Detroit News. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "Michigan Supreme Court: Abortion amendment must appear on ballot". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  9. ↑ LeBlanc, Beth. "High court orders abortion, voting rights proposals on Nov. 8 ballot in Michigan". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Allen, Jonathan. "A Michigan judge tried to block an abortion rights measure. His ex-wife says he helped her get an abortion in college". NBC News. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
Legal offices
Preceded by Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
2011–present		Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.