Christopher M. Murray is a judge of the 1st District, Michigan Court of Appeals, and the former chief judge of the Michigan Court of Claims. [1] [2] In 1985 he earned an undergraduate degree from Hillsdale College and a JD from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 1990. He previously was a judge on the Wayne Circuit Court, a deputy legal counsel to Governor John M. Engler, an attorney with Keller, Thoma, P.C. in Detroit, chair of the State Board of Ethics, a member on the Board of Law Examiners, served as a member of the Local Government Claims Review Board and the Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions, and was on the board of directors for the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association. He is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Michigan Lawyers Division of the Federalist Society. [3] [4]
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a think tank headquartered in Midland, Michigan. Through research and programs, the Mackinac Center supports lower taxes, reduced regulatory authority for state agencies, right-to-work laws, school choice, and property rights. It has been variously described as free market, conservative, fiscally conservative, and nonpartisan. It prefers the description "free market" over "conservative" because it does not emphasize social issues.
The Michigan State University College of Law is the law school of Michigan State University, a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the first law school in the Detroit, Michigan area and the second in the state of Michigan. In October 2018, the college began a process to fully integrate into Michigan State University, changing from a private to a public law school. The integration with Michigan State University was finalized on August 17, 2020.
The Thomas More Law Center is a Christian, conservative, nonprofit, public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and active throughout the United States. According to the Thomas More Law Center website, its goals are to "preserve America's Judeo-Christian heritage, defend the religious freedom of Christians, restore time-honored moral and family values, protect the sanctity of human life, and promote a strong national defense and a free and sovereign United States of America".
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.
The government of Detroit, Michigan is run by a mayor, the nine-member Detroit City Council, the eleven-member Board of Police Commissioners, and a clerk. All of these officers are elected on a nonpartisan ballot, with the exception of four of the police commissioners, who are appointed by the mayor. Detroit has a "strong mayoral" system, with the mayor approving departmental appointments. The council approves budgets, but the mayor is not obligated to adhere to any earmarking. The city clerk supervises elections and is formally charged with the maintenance of municipal records. City ordinances and substantially large contracts must be approved by the council.
Wayne State University Law School is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), online master of studies in law, and minors in law degree programs.
Scott Avery Boman is an American Libertarian politician from Michigan. He has consistently earned among the top votes of any third-party candidate in every Michigan election from 2000 through 2018. He was chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan in 2006. Described by MIRS as a Libertarian Party standard-bearer, he has been a candidate in every state-wide partisan election since 1994, until successfully running for the Detroit office of Community Advisory Council in 2020.
Paul David Borman is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, having been appointed in 1994. Borman was earlier an assistant United States attorney, and Special Counsel to the Mayor of Detroit. For 15 years thereafter, he was chief federal defender of the Legal Aid & Defender Association of Detroit from 1979 to 1994. When he was appointed to be a federal judge, he became the first federal defender to be appointed to the federal bench. He was also a Professor and Assistant Dean at Wayne State University Law School, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School.
Jocelyn Benson is an American academic administrator, attorney, and politician serving as the 43rd Secretary of State of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former dean of Wayne State University Law School, a co-founder of the Military Spouses of Michigan, and a board member of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality. Benson is the author of State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process.
Mark Allan Goldsmith is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law is the law school of the University of Detroit Mercy and is located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan across from the Renaissance Center. Founded in 1912, Detroit Mercy Law is a private Roman Catholic law school and has been ABA-accredited since 1933. The Law School has an annual enrollment of 612 students including 223 Nonresident Aliens, and currently has 67 faculty members.
Cooley Law School (Cooley) is a private law school in Lansing, Michigan, and Riverview, Florida. It was established in 1972. At its peak in 2010, Cooley had over 3,900 students and was the largest US law school by enrollment; as of the Spring of 2022, Cooley had approximately 500 students between its two campuses. In November 2020, Western Michigan University's board of trustees voted to end its affiliation with Cooley, which began in 2014, with disassociation effective November 5, 2023. As of 2024, Cooley has failed to reach the 75% two year bar passage required of ABA Standard 316 for continued accreditation. Multiple media outlets have labeled Cooley the "worst law school in America".
Gershwin Allen Drain is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Cynthia Diane Stephens is an American attorney and jurist serving as a judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals for the First District.
Steven F. Marino is a former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives and the Macomb County Board of Commissioners.
Matthew Maddock is an American politician in the Republican Party serving as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives. His district, the 51st, represents areas covering part of Oakland County. In his first term, Maddock was appointed to be the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, as well as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. A Republican, Maddock was first elected in 2018. Prior to being elected to the 110-member Michigan House of Representatives, he was a businessman in Oakland County.
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.
Christopher Paul Yates is an American judge in the state of Michigan. He has served as both a trial-level and appellate judge. He was one of Michigan's first business court judges, serving in that role for ten years, and later developing a national presence and influence as a business court judge. Most recently, he was assigned to the specialized Michigan Court of Claims, to deal with litigation involving governmental entities. He served in two prestigious judicial clerkships, has held positions of significance outside of his judgeships, and has received numerous awards as a judge.
James M. Alexander is a retired American judge who served on Michigan's Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Oakland County for 19 years. He served in the Family Court for his first nine years, and in the newly created Business Court for his last seven as one of its original judges, writing hundreds of business court legal opinions over that time. He has held significant leadership positions as a judge, and received numerous awards and honors for his public service.