Judge Shelia Johnson serves in the 46th District Court that covers the affluent southeastern Michigan communities of Southfield, Lathrup Village, Bingham Farms, Beverly Hills, Franklin and Southfield Township is not your ordinary judge. Judge Johnson was born and raised in Michigan and spent time as a child in the segregated South. Through these life experiences, she as seen how justice is administered from several unique vantage points. She has also seen how justice is often denied and has spent her life trying to correct that.

My interview with Judge Johnson after the jump.

Whoa.

On Thursday morning, I posted a 4-minute long online ad paid for by the campaign to elect Bridget Mary McCormack to the state Supreme Court. In fact, Eclectablog was one of the first to get it and have it available. Since then, the West Wing reunion spot has gone crazy viral.

Click through for the numbers and details.

THIS is how you do it!

When I interviewed Michigan Supreme Court candidate and University of Michigan law professor Bridget Mary McCormack earlier this week, I told you that today was going to be a big day for her. And it is. In addition to receiving the coveted endorsement from Democracy for America, the McCormack campaign released a new online ad. But this isn’t just any ad. This ad was filmed with cast members from The West Wing and looks like an episode of the blockbuster show.

The ad talks about a national emergency that’s in progress: people are voting in the partisan section of the ballot but NOT in the non-partisan section where they judges are elected and the ballot initiatives are voted on. It also highlights the amazing background and work done by McCormack.

It’s a smart, funny, and very entertaining way to get the point across while endorsing a terrific candidate for the state Supreme Court. Watch it after the jump.

University of Michigan Law School professor Bridget Mary McCormack has earned a coveted endorsement from Democracy for America (DFA), the premier progressive political action organization in the country. McCormack joins the ranks of other progressive women like Senate candidates Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) who have all been endorsed this year by DFA. You can read my recent interview with McCormack HERE.

Details about this important endorsement after the jump.

A true advocate for those with the greatest need

When I arrived at the campaign office of State Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack just south of Dexter, I found her Skyping into a house party meeting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She had just finished making her pitch to a room full of nearly two dozen potential supporters, who could be seen on the screen of her laptop, and was taking questions. When you’re running a statewide campaign for a position most people know little about and often ignore on the ballot, it’s this type of unconventional approach that could make the difference between who wins and loses the race for one of the three open spots on the Court. It’s also completely in line with the type of campaign that McCormack is running.

Click through for my interview with this terrific candidate and to find out more about her out of the ordinary campaign.

NOW we’re getting somewhere

This morning the Michigan Supreme Court issued an order directing the Board of State Canvassers to certify the nearly quarter million petition signatures to put repeal of the anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law on the November ballot.

More after the jump.

I didn’t see that one coming at all

This wrote about Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s brief to the Michigan Supreme Court in which she says that if the petitions to repeal Public Act 4 are insufficient to meet the rules set out in our state constitution, the so are ALL of the other ballot initiative’s petitions. My comment in that post was that “gives me hope” and I suggested that this was an unintended and undesirable side effect of this court challenge.

I’m having second thoughts on that.

Didn’t think of THAT didjya?

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson filed a brief (pdf) with the state Supreme Court last week that gives me hope. In the case the Court is hearing in front of a packed courtroom today regarding the font size issue with the Public Act 4 repeal petitions, her office suggested that if the PA 4 repeal petitions are disqualified, the petitions for ALL SIX of the other ballot initiatives would also be disqualified.

Details after the jump.

Public Act 4: Anti-democratic, anti-American

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 25th, the Michigan state Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding the petitions used to gather signatures to put Public Act 4, Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law. At issue is whether or not a concocted lie about the font size of a single phrase on the petition, “REFERENDUM OF LEGISLATION”, is enough to disenfranchise Michigan voters and throw away the voice of the nearly quarter million people who signed the petitions.

You can join the protest at the Supreme Court tomorrow and free bus rides are available from around the state. Details after the jump.

In late November of this year, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a tersely worded order (pdf) that said simply this: On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the July 19, 2011 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered, and it is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by […]

The Detroit Free Press characterizes a move by the Michigan Supreme Court as a “victory” for Governor Rick Snyder. The reality is that it is a solid defeat for the 99% and a “victory” for the 1%. The Michigan Supremes basically said it’s okay to tax seniors’ pensions but not okay to raise taxes on the 1%. A divided Michigan […]