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January 14, 2005Weaver stepping downShe will resign five years before term expiresByand Record-Eagle staff writers  Weaver, 63, a Republican nominee from Glen Arbor who was elected to the court in 1994, said she’ll step down in October, five years before her term expires. She was re-elected to a second eight-year term in 2002. Weaver is one of five Republican nominees on the court, but her increasingly strained relationship with its conservative majority is one of Lansing’s worst-kept secrets. Weaver occasionally cast votes with the Democratic minority on the high court, and last week cast the lone vote against Clifford Taylor’s elevation to chief justice. In a written statement, Weaver said she intends to “remain active in many arenas.” “More than 30 years as a judge in Michigan has prepared me for other types of public service and other activities,” said Weaver, who would not comment beyond her statement. Gov. Jennifer Granholm will appoint a justice to the court, who will then be required to seek election in 2006 to fill out the remainder of Weaver’s term. Spokeswoman Liz Boyd said Granholm does not have a short list of possible appointments and doesn’t know when the decision will be made. The governor has “ample opportunity” to make the appointment because of Weaver’s nine-month notice, Boyd said. Reaction to the announcement varied from surprise to curt acknowledgment. “In making this decision, as in everything else, she clearly knows her own mind,” Taylor said in a statement. Granholm called Weaver’s resignation a “ ... significant loss for the court. I admire her philosophical balance, her wisdom, her sense of humor and perspective.” Thirteenth Circuit Court Judge Thomas G. Power received a 1992 endorsement from Weaver - then on the state appeals court - during his judicial campaign. Power also worked with Weaver during his 10 years in the state House of Representatives when Weaver was a probate judge in Leelanau County from 1974 to 1987. “I worked with her extensively on juvenile justice issues and got to know her quite well,” he said. “From my times working with her, I know she is pragmatic and very intellectual. She was an invaluable resource.” Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Oltersdorf served on the Committee on Juvenile Justice with Weaver for six years. He said Weaver was well-versed on juvenile justice laws and protocol. Oltersdorf said he was shocked to hear of Weaver’s impending resignation. Last month, he invited her to swear in sheriff’s deputies and tribal police at Leelanau’s new criminal justice facility, an invitation he said she gladly accepted. “I am saddened, but I can only hope that there is another political position she is considering where she can continue serving the people of the state,” he said. “As a judge she interprets and applies the law accordingly and doesn’t make up the law from the bench. “As a voter and law enforcement official, I respect that. Too many times judges tend to be political and promote their own agendas, but that was never the case with her.” Weaver, in her statement, argued for term limits for high court justices and said the governor’s ability to fill a vacancy is an “unchecked power.” Weaver was the lone Republican justice who hadn’t been appointed to the appeals or supreme court by former Gov. John Engler. She’d grown “more independent” over the years, said Bill Ballenger, editor of the political newsletter “Inside Michigan Politics.” “The real shot she is firing is like, ‘I am leaving, but I don’t think these Republicans ought to stay on much longer, either,’ ” Ballenger said. Weaver also made a distinction about her Republican role as a judge. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve Michigan as a common sense, independent, and self-disciplined judicial thinker,” she said. “I am a judge who is a Republican, not a Republican who is a judge.” Term limits are “necessary” for the supreme court justices, Weaver said. “Thus, I intend to put my money where my mouth is and step down,” she said. Weaver earned her law degree from Tulane University in 1965 and began practicing law in Michigan in 1973. After serving as a Leelanau County judge, Weaver was elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals, 3rd District, for a six-year term and re-elected in 1992. She currently chairs the Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect and serves on the Committee on Juvenile Justice.
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