A state court of last resort / Established 1927

Michigan Supreme Court

Lansing · A court of last resort in Michigan.

The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in Michigan. Its justices are chosen by nonpartisan election. This page lists every justice to serve on the court, current and former, with when they joined the bench and whom they succeeded.

Justices in history

On record as serving

Nonpartisan

Selection

8-yr

Term

Roster as of the CourtListener bulk-data snapshot (2026-03-31): recent departures and appointments may not be reflected, so it is shown as “on record,” not “currently serving.”

Justices on record

Former justices

Justice	Years
Alton Davis	2010–2011
Diane Hathaway	2009–2013
Robert P. Young Jr.	1999–2017
Marilyn Jean Kelly	1997–2013
Clifford W. Taylor	1997–2008
Maura D. Corrigan	1996–2011
Elizabeth A. Weaver	1994–2010
Conrad L. Mallett Jr.	1990–1999
Robert P. Griffin	1987–1994
Dennis W. Archer	1986–1990
Patricia Jean Ehrhardt Pernick Boyle	1983–1998
James H. Brickley	1982–1999
Michael F. Cavanagh	1982–2015
Dorothy Comstock Riley	1982–1997
Blair Moody Jr.	1977–1982
Lawrence Lindemer	1975–1976
James Leo Ryan	1975–1985
John Warner Fitzgerald	1974–1982
Charles Levin	1973–1996
Mary S. Coleman	1972–1982
John Swainson	1971–1975
G. Mennen Williams	1970–1987
Thomas E. Brennan	1967–1973
Michael D. O'Hara	1963–1968
Paul L. Adams	1962–1973
Otis M. Smith	1961–1967
Theodore Souris	1960–1968
Thomas M. Kavanagh	1958–1984
John D. Voelker	1957–1959
Eugene F. Black	1956–1973
George Clifton Edwards Jr.	1956–1962
Talbot Smith	1955–1961
Harry F. Kelly	1954–1971
Clark J. Adams	1952–1953
John Dethmers	1946–1970
Leland W. Carr	1945–1963
Neil E. Reid	1944–1956
Emerson R. Boyles	1940–1956
George E. Bushnell	1934–1955
Edward M. Sharpe	1934–1957
Henry M. Butzel	1929–1955
Walter H. North	1927–1952

How a justice reaches this court. Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court are chosen in nonpartisan elections to 8-year terms. Justices are nominated at political-party conventions but appear on a nonpartisan general-election ballot with no party labels. Selection methods vary by jurisdiction and have changed over time; this page reflects the court’s current method (source: National Center for State Courts). Open any justice to see their tenure and whom they succeeded.

Source: CourtListener / Free Law Project (bulk data); selection method from the National Center for State Courts. Data as of 2026-03-31 (CourtListener bulk snapshot). Verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).