The Honorable Elizabeth A. Weaver Investiture Ceremony

JANUARY 1, 1995

MR. CORBIN DAVIS [Clerk of the Supreme Court]: Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, Supreme Court of the state of Michigan is now in special session.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: Welcome to you all, to this very special session of the Michigan Supreme Court, and what an auspicious beginning of this year for the state of Michigan, for the Supreme Court, certainly for the administration of justice, and for all of us here in the state of Michigan. Let us begin, if you will, with the pledge to the flag.

I am going to ask that Alec Taylor and Jacob Williamson come forward, please, with the aid of Julia Joy Williamson.
[The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.]

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: Now, I am going to introduce someone whose territory we are in today, that is, the probate judge of Ingham County, the Honorable Donald S. Owens.

 JUDGE OWENS: Thank you very much all of you. Welcome to Lansing and Ingham County. We are delighted to have you here on this auspicious occasion.

All of you are distinguished guests and honored guests at this swearing in. We will take just a few minutes to introduce a few of you. You all should be introduced, that’s true, but that would, unfortunately, take too long, so we will introduce just a few. If I miss anybody, the fault is mine and not Judge WEAVER’S. If you will stand, please, when I call your name.

From the Supreme Court, we have the Honorable JAMES BRICKLEY, and the Honorable CHARLES LEVIN is also here, and retired Justice THOMAS BRENNAN is also with us. Michigan Court of Appeals Judges: the Honorable MYRON WAHLS, MAURA CORRIGAN, and HENRY SAAD. Retired judges, the Honorable ROBERT DANHOF and the Honorable GLENN ALLEN.

From the Circuit Courts of our state, the Honorable Robert Anderson from Pontiac, Sixth Circuit, James Kallman, retired, Ingham County, and Kurtis Wilder from the Washtenaw Circuit.

From the probate bench, Betty’s original bench, we have the Honorable Marvin Robertson from Clinton County, John Unger from Antrim County, Thomas Eggleston from Newaygo County, Clayton Preisel from Lapeer County, Jack Arnold from Gratiot County, Joseph Costello from Monroe County, Kathryn Root from Oscoda County, Pamela Moskwa from Monroe County, and Antonio Viviano from Macomb County.

Retired judges, Dwight Cheever from Allegan County, Gladys Barsamian retired probate judge from Wayne County, and William McCready from Iosco County.

From the district bench we have the Honorable Laura Barnard from Lapeer, 71A District Court, Marylin Atkins, 36th District Court in Detroit, Susan Jonas from the 58th District Court in Ottawa County.

From the Michigan Legislature, a representative, Mick Middaugh, who I believe is up there in the balcony, Representative Alan Cropsey, is he with us? And Senator John Schwarz.

Our new Secretary of State Candice Miller is with us today. Douglas Roberts, State Treasurer of the state of Michigan; Patricia Woodworth, Director of the Michigan Department of Management and Budget; Norm Shinkle, Chairman of the Tax Tribunal, Michigan Department of Treasury; and Ed Wyszynski, Chairman of the Appellate Board, Worker’s Compensation, are also with us.

Margaret Chiara, Prosecutor of Cass County, I understand, was to be here today; Patrick Shannon, Prosecutor of Chippewa County; and Virginia Watson, Clerk of Grand Traverse County.

Corbin Davis, Clerk of the Supreme Court, and Ella Williams, Clerk of the Court of Appeals are both here today.
Also Muriel O’Leary, Allegan County Commissioner. Nice to have you with us.

Any others I have omitted, I apologize. Welcome to you all. Thank you so much for coming today.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: Thanks, Don. A woman who now lives in Florida played a great role in the Michigan Supreme Court in the history of this state. She was the first woman to come to our Court, the first probate judge to come to our Court, but, maybe even more importantly than all of that, she played a very important role in the person that we are swearing in today.

I have the privilege of reading a letter that she sent to Betty, which I think says so much.

 Dear Betty, it is with deepest regret that I cannot be with you as you take the oath of office as a Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.

It will be a turning point in your life unlike your other judicial experience. Your own background will bring a new perspective to the membership, as has each justice. Your personal work with neglected, abused and delinquent children will be especially valuable. There is no substitute for every-day challenges of a broad spectrum of decisions which must be made concerning some of life’s most basic problems. I think the nation has belatedly realized that early intervention is the key solution of crime as we know it.

I know that you will be an asset to the Court in many ways. You have demonstrated intelligence and commitment to excellence in all phases of your life. I recall that you were valedictorian in high school, then on to Phi Beta Kappa, and then Tulane Law Review editor and Order of the Coif.

Your judicial experience on the Probate and Juvenile Court and on the Court of Appeals was outstanding. Your leadership abilities as chair or president of important facets of our state life has been impressive. There is sound reasoning for my full confidence in you as a justice.

Few people realize the broad extent of responsibilities which the Michigan Constitution places upon the third branch of government. The “One Court of Justice” mandate has not yet been fully realized. The obligation of “superintending control” over all Michigan courts, and to a large extent, over the legal profession as a whole remains an awesome challenge.

However, I know that you will meet your challenges with intelligence, plus common sense. Also I feel confident that you will look into the future as you and the Court submit decisions of precedent. I expect the Supreme Court will become a part of you so long as you live, as it has with me. It is the Keystone of justice in Michigan.

Best wishes,
Mary S. Coleman, Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court (Retired).

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: We know she is very proud of you, Betty. Now, I will ask MAURA CORRIGAN to come forward for a few remarks.

 JUDGE CORRIGAN: May it please the Court, Justices BRICKLEY and LEVIN, family and friends of Betty WEAVER, public officials who have gathered here today, on this happiest of New Years in 1995, I have the signal honor of moving that the oath of office be administered to ELIZABETH ANN WEAVER, as the people of Michigan have willed by their votes this past November.

It falls to me to tell you something about my friend, Betty WEAVER, who takes this oath of office today.
In case you all wondered, I wanted to let you know that there really is only one Betty WEAVER. I heard repeatedly on the campaign trail from people around the state—because on occasion I called myself surrogate Betty WEAVER—I heard that there must be more than one Betty WEAVER because that woman was everywhere, and indeed she was. I know you will permit me a story from the campaign trail.

My husband and I attended a reception, and we arrived in the parking lot the same time that the Governor arrived and the then Judge WEAVER’S van arrived in the parking lot. I want to let you know that the Governor made a beeline for the reception, but Judge WEAVER went after the hapless and unwitting voters that happened to be parking their cars in the parking lot as well. So she cornered every eligible voter in every part of the state. That tells you a little about Betty WEAVER, the campaigner. There is only one Betty WEAVER and she is a singular woman.

Of course, you all know that Betty has twenty years experience as a probate and appellate judge. She will be the fourth of the sitting justices of the Michigan Supreme Court who have served as Court of Appeals judges. But she will only be the sixth of the fifty-five judges who have ever served on the Court of Appeals to join the Michigan Supreme Court.
Betty became a citizen of Michigan by choice, not by birth. As a student in Louisiana, as Justice COLEMAN already told you in her letter, that she distinguished herself very early as Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Coif, and editor of the Tulane Law Review, I think, evidences her quick legal mind, her incisive mind, and her great capacity for mental effort.
Betty fell in love with Michigan and moved here. She taught school in Leelanau, and became a probate court judge after a stint in private practice in small and large firms.

But these historical facts about Betty WEAVER don’t really tell you anything at all about her character.

In preparing for today, I reviewed the recent publication of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society, and that publication indexes all of these sorts of ceremonies that have been held here through the years. I read those for a while, ceremonies of investitures and memorials and portrait unveilings involving some of the great leaders of the Court.
I read about Justice COOLEY and Justices MARSTON and POTTER and WILLIAMS and MARY COLEMAN, herself, and I think it’s fair to say that in all of those events, people describe the justices who have served on the Michigan Supreme Court as people of honesty, integrity, and energy. Betty WEAVER shares these hallmarks of the great justices of our state.

Honesty, she is breathtakingly direct. One of her favorite expressions, which all of you justices will soon know is: Let’s cut the comedy. I expect you will hear that soon. She is not a person who minces words. She is not a person who wastes words. She loves words, and she loves what is true.

In terms of the other hallmark I spoke of, integrity, Betty is a woman of probity. She is a whole person. She knows who she is. She speaks with common sense and simple wisdom and energy. I already told you, I think I am pretty sure that she never sleeps. Her energy is boundless.

The more that you give Betty WEAVER to do, the better she likes it, and the knottier the problem, the better she likes it. But beyond this, I want you to know she is no procrastinator. She knows her job is to decide cases and to decide them now. She will decide cases, she will be forceful in argument and her opinions will display her strong convictions.
That said, I want you to know that Betty WEAVER does not suffer from judgitis. She has no divinity complex that I can detect. She is totally without pretense and without pretension. She will become your true friend. When you meet Betty it is true to say, she makes you want to help her out, and she will help you.

The best part of Betty WEAVER, though, I save for last, and that is, that Betty WEAVER will make you laugh. She has a wonderful sense of humor. You will experience a range of laughter with WEAVER, from the simple giggle to the cackle to the shrieks of laughter, to the side-splitting belly laugh, because Betty loves life. She loves a good story, and she will have you in stitches from time to time.

For me, making this motion today is really bittersweet, because Betty is my friend and I will miss her as my friend and colleague on the Michigan Court of Appeals. But you on the Supreme Court are lucky to be having this Justice join you today.

Ever since I was a young lawyer, I remember that various Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, Justices BRENNAN, WILLIAMS, COLEMAN, RILEY, and CAVANAGH, spoke of the need for the Michigan Supreme Court to become a collegial court. Betty WEAVER will dedicate herself to the principle that when the Michigan Supreme Court works together, it best serves the public good.

Justice WEAVER, I thank you for the opportunity of moving for the administration of this oath. It is, as someone wrote, a covenant with the People of Michigan and with God.

Chief Justice BRICKLEY, I now move that you administer the oath of office to Justice WEAVER.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: Thank you very much. Justice RILEY, and her husband as well, were to participate in the program, but a family emergency today made it impossible for them to be here. I am going to do something I didn’t realize I was going to do, but I am delighted to be able to do it, administer this oath.
Judge WEAVER, raise your right hand. Repeat after me.

I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State.

JUDGE WEAVER: I, ELIZABETH WEAVER, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Michigan.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

JUDGE WEAVER: And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: Of the office of Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.

JUDGE WEAVER: Of the office of Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: According to the best of my ability.

JUDGE WEAVER: According to the best of my ability.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: So help me God.

JUDGE WEAVER: So help me God.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: Justice WEAVER, welcome.

I now call on the Honorable MYRON WAHLS of the Court of Appeals, if he would come forward, please, for a few remarks.

 JUDGE WAHLS: Thank you, Justice BRICKLEY, and to all my colleagues of the bench. I am delighted to be here this afternoon. I should say at the outset, that I knew that I was going to like Betty WEAVER when I first met her.
She indicated that she was from New Orleans and that she knew how to prepare red beans and rice. I said, that’s a remarkable and wonderful circumstance. I have to say, however, that in the several years that I have known her, I haven’t had an opportunity to eat her red beans and rice, but I said at the beginning of the campaign that after she was elected, I would be her first guest, and she has promised to do that.

I am so proud to know her. Shortly after she came to the bench, I became acquainted with her several abilities as a judge. On those occasions when we sat with each other, it was a real joy. In most instances, she agreed with me. I said: This is a woman who’s going far.

So she began as a wonderful, wonderful colleague. Over the months and years that we have known each other, she has also become a very, very good friend.

I shall never forget the day she visited me in the hospital and I wasn’t feeling too good when she came. By the time she left, I knew I was going to make it, because she exhibited that kind of support and confidence that has been her mark throughout her tenure as a Michigan Court of Appeals judge.

She is bringing a fresh, dedicated, incisive mind to the Michigan Supreme Court. We have fine justices on the Michigan Supreme Court, and she will not take away from that tradition, but will add to it.

We, the people of the state of Michigan are blessed, as I feel blessed, by knowing her and recognizing that she will present a front on the Michigan Supreme Court that I am sure will be recorded in the history of this state.

Betty, I am so proud of you and I am so happy for you. Thank you.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: Thank you, Mike. Now, I would like to call on the Honorable Gladys Barsamian.

 JUDGE BARSAMIAN: Honorable justices and judges of our court of justice, honored guests and family and friends of Betty WEAVER, I am absolutely delighted to be participating in this investiture of my friend and colleague, Betty WEAVER, as Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.

Betty and I met over twenty years ago when we were both fortunate to be chosen to serve our respective communities as probate judges, Betty in Leelanau County and I in Wayne County. We met in judge’s school.

What I soon discovered was that we had two things in common: Our desire to be the best probate judges we could be, and our profound concern for the families and children of the state of Michigan. And I believe those two things we had in common caused us to develop a close personal and professional relationship that I cherish.

We both became active in the Michigan Probate Judges Association to improve our skills and to work with our colleagues for the improvement of the juvenile justice system. That was another thing that we had in common. We believed that our responsibilities extended beyond sitting on the bench.

Betty became involved with numerous commissions and committees. She served on the Commission of Criminal Justice, the Committee on Juvenile Justice, the Michigan Council of the Michigan Supreme Court, a special committee to study and report on the role of part-time probate judges, a committee to develop a case docket tracking system for Probate Court, just to name a few.

As a probate judge, she achieved national recognition for juvenile programs, being featured on Good Morning America and in People Magazine.

Soon Betty became aware of the need for probate court expertise on the appellate courts of our state and decided to seek election to the Michigan Court of Appeals, Third District.

She was successful. And in keeping with her objective, she has educated her appellate court colleagues in probate matters and has been responsible for important decisions impacting families and children, prominent among them are Sands v Sands (1) and In re Sterling (2).

Despite her position with the Court of Appeals, Betty has remained loyal to her roots and continues to maintain an interest in probate and juvenile court matters and is currently serving as Chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Children’s Justice Concerning Abuse and Neglect.

Under her leadership, the committee has issued a comprehensive report advocating many changes and improvements in the system where children are the victims. Betty and her committee are about the business of implementing their recommendations.

As you know, it didn’t take long for Betty to recognize the need for expertise on the highest court of our state, and apparently the people of the state of Michigan agreed with her. Again, the families and children of Michigan will be better off by her being there. Recently a study was completed on one hundred persons who were considered to be very successful in their personal and professional lives. All available information on these people was examined, in an effort to find out what they might have in common.

Finally a universal quality was discovered: Every single one of these highly successful people was a good-finder. Good-finders, by definition, are people who look for and find what is good in themselves and others in all situations in life. Good-finders are actively aware that God has done uniquely beautiful things in themselves. Good-finders look only for what is good in others and vocally affirm them explicitly and gratefully, appreciating the goodness and giftedness of others.

Good-finders look for what is good in all the situations of life. Good-finders know that the best blessings almost always come into our lives disguised as problems. Good-finders know that there is a promise in every problem, a rainbow in every storm, warmth in every winter; our Betty WEAVER is a good-finder.

I wish you well, Betty, as you ascend the bench of the Michigan Supreme Court. I and the other probate judges wish you well. We will be there if you need us. We look toward great things for you. Thank you.

CHIEF JUSTICE BRICKLEY: I forgot who the leader was, but history teaches us he was in a contest with the Vatican and remarked: How many battalions does the Pope have? Like the Pope, the Court has no army, but one thing a justice has to have is a gavel and a robe. You can’t do without that. I almost passed it over. We cannot go any further without taking care of that chore. Now, I am going to ask that Stephen Sonke, Randall Taylor, and Karen Weaver come forward for that presentation.

 MR. SONKE: I have a few brief comments from the campaign trail. I had the pleasure of working on Betty’s campaign. A couple of people I talked to have stuck with me. One time I was out there, I came across a man operating some heavy machinery, so I walked up to him and asked him who he was going to vote for the Supreme Court and if he knew Betty WEAVER. He says: Yeah, I know Betty WEAVER. She threw me in jail.

Well, I didn’t expect this conversation to go very far, and I was trying to think of a way out. He quickly followed up with: But I would vote for her, because she helped me out. She straightened me out, and the sentence was just.
A second person I ran into, who was actually a person I talked to fairly often in the course of the campaign, was following all of the campaign workers, not only for the Supreme Court but for all of the other offices. In one of those conversations, she said: Well, Betty certainly deserves to win, because she is the hardest working of all the candidates.
These two comments, and there were many others, point to our campaign slogan, which is: Judge WEAVER, we need her. And we do need her, and thanks to the efforts of all of you out there; and if you think about it, even though we are overflowing into the hallways and into the balcony, that’s not that many. So thanks to a relatively small group of people, Michigan can now receive the blessing of having Betty WEAVER on the Supreme Court.

There are just two other people I would like to briefly mention who are sort of peers of mine on the campaign trail, and I know they would love to be here but they can’t, that’s Wendell LeGardeur and Jamie Coleman, who along with myself shared the responsibility of driving Betty around and, as the previous speaker noted, she was everywhere, while we were the ones approaching the speed limit getting her there in all cases. So I just want to say how pleased that I am, having worked on the campaign, to be able to have our candidate on the Supreme Court.

 MR. RANDALL TAYLOR: I would like to say how fortunate I am to be here today. How many people live their entire lives and never get an opportunity that I am presented with today—the chance to show my deepest respect for someone who has touched the lives of both my sister Julie and myself the way that Justice WEAVER has. Not a single day passes that I do not strive to live up to the standards that the Justice has set for me: standards of integrity, honesty and excellence that she herself always exhibited so effortlessly in her own life.

There was once a boy about ten years of age who, although he was fairly bright, had proved himself to be quite a discipline problem, particularly in the classroom. His mother’s hands were already quite full, as she was a single parent trying to raise two children. Fortunately for everyone involved, the mother was good friends with the young woman who lived in the neighborhood, who recognized the need, and, more importantly, was willing to give some needed help.

Over the school’s summer recess, she set up a study program whereby the youngster was forced to write and rewrite essays until they attained the level of excellence the young woman demanded. She even went so far as to make sure that after dinner the boy washed the dishes up to her standards.

The boy couldn’t wait for school to start in September. But when it did, the teachers were astounded as to the incredible change that had taken place. Although this young woman was an attorney by vocation, she showed then a penchant for molding the lives of young people.

As that summer of 1970 began, she was known as Ms. Weaver. By the time the summer rolled around, she would forever be known as Aunt Betty. The impact that Justice WEAVER has had on the lives of my sister and me is absolutely incredible. I now live in New Jersey, and my sister Julie is living in Idaho and is raising a family. Each of us has two young sons, each of whom you met tonight, and a loving spouse. All of us are here today, which is no simple, i.e., stress-free, feat. Let me assure you that regardless of where we call home, nothing would have kept us from being here today. After all, opportunities like this are few and far between.

 MS. KAREN WEAVER: Many of you have worked on Judge WEAVER’S campaign for Supreme Court justice. Let’s reminisce that she opened all her speeches with what Henry VIII said with each of his wives: I won’t keep you long.

Actions precede from thoughts and have consequences. Good actions proceed from good thoughts, producing good consequences. As voters, you have chosen to serve as Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, one who has demonstrated in her life a willing obedience to moral laws intrinsic to everyone’s well-being. Your wisdom and natural attraction to all that is good and worthy brought you to active support of an individual of sterling character and impeccable credentials, with a demonstrated record of success in prior endeavors.

Each of you and others not present have settled for nothing less than the best, and acted on that recognition with the courage of conviction. We who have known judge, now Justice, ELIZABETH WEAVER, for days or decades are cognizant of her lifelong efforts to choose thoughts and actions in alignment with the protective measuring rods, the guardrails, the guidelines of the law, efforts which make her eminently qualified to serve on the highest court in the state of Michigan.

She brings to this service a full understanding of the intent of the constitution and wise laws, as well as the demonstrated grasp of effective ways to prod the thought of less law-abiding individuals, offering them the opportunity to elevate themselves to a willingness and ability to hold their thoughts and actions to higher and more useful standards of life.
Electing a justice who has carefully lived a life in accord with this moral and spiritual law so diligently studied by the Founding Fathers of America and underpinning the Constitution of the United States, indicates a country and judiciary on sound footing. A natural question to ask ourselves is: Where are we heading? What is our destination for the next millennium? Contemplate, for a moment, an American society comprised of individuals exercising the high quality of self-discipline, proper self-government under the law which has brought us here today. Where, then, would be the crime? Where spurious methods of education? Where the killing, stealing, gangs, the lack of self-worth that manifests itself in homelessness, parasitic dependents, and destructive thoughts and actions?

As we educate our children to habits of self-discipline and obedience to the law, we can be confident and proud to introduce them to Justice WEAVER and others like her to allow them to learn from her example, to take heed in our own lives, if necessary, knowing all the while that the fundamental principles underlying her example are the very laws and principles necessary for us to become useful, productive, valuable citizens in the greatest land on earth; great because of the opportunity for individual freedom under the law.

Let us pray that all public servants demonstrate the same worthiness to hold guardianship over America’s God-bestowed beacon-light of individual freedom.

Now, Justice WEAVER, will you please come forward and allow us the honor of donning the robe and bestowing the gavel.

[The robe and gavel were bestowed.]

 JUSTICE WEAVER: What can one say after such gracious and generous remarks as you have just heard. I turn to the words of King Solomon, “And now, Lord, my God, give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad.”

A few of you know, initially I held some reluctance to hold this investiture ceremony today. But when I thought of it not so much as an investing of high office upon me, but rather an opportunity to publicly express my gratitude to you for investing your trust, your time, your effort, and your resources upon me, I gladly went forward, for indeed I do want to thank you. I wish it were possible, or, rather, practical for me to individually name each and every one of you here today and those who cannot be here, and put on public record my gratitude for all you have done to bring us to this moment today.

But that would take not minutes or hours, but days, and I would break my campaign promise “not to keep you long.” Rather than naming a few names and leaving out many, please each of you take this moment to see me looking at you only and saying: Thank you.

There are two individuals who have been gone from this earth for quite awhile, that I know you will agree I must especially mention, they are my mother and father, or, as their southern daughter called them, my momma and my dad.
Though neither had the opportunity to receive even a high school diploma, they provided, during their fifty years of marriage, abundant opportunity and guidance, so as to see their two sons become Ph.D. chemical engineers and their daughter become a judge.

I am continually grateful to them for their love, the guidance, the support, and the values they gave to us. And please allow me to share two examples with you, particularly since there are some children here.

When I was in very early elementary school, a friend of mine said to me one day that her parents were giving her $5.00 for every A (That’s when a Coke was a nickel and bread was 15 cents, so that was a lot of money.) I thought, great, because I had all A’s. So I went home and told my parents that this is what I had heard and what a great idea it was. I was looking forward to receiving about $25 or $30, $50.

My parents just very easily said, no, that wasn’t the way it was, that we were to do our best. We weren’t to be paid for doing our best, that the reward was in the doing. So I, of course, accepted it.

One other time—I lived before television, and our family did not get television early—but one family on the block in New Orleans did, and I would go down and watch the Lone Ranger on television on Thursday night at 7:00, Kay Kyser came on after it, see how I remember that. I always whipped through my homework—this is when I was older—and my mother checked my work and she found that it wasn’t done up to those high standards that you have heard mentioned.

So she called the neighbor’s, and I was to get to the phone, which I did, and it was right in the middle of a very important part of the Lone Ranger. I picked up the phone and my mother said I was to come home and do my homework immediately; it wasn’t done correctly.

I said: Just can’t I see it to the end? The answer was no. I had to leave and I never knew what happened in that adventure, and I went home. Those were the kind of values that my honest, good parents shared with us and demanded of us. We didn’t always think they were our friends, but they were our parents, and I am grateful to have known them and that they did have fifty years, as I mentioned.

Now, as I formally am vested with the office of Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, I am humbled by the trust that you and the people of Michigan have invested in me.

I am keenly aware of the responsibility assumed, the challenges to be faced and met, and the opportunity to make a positive difference for the individual, the judiciary, and the state.

My promise is, as my parents said, to do my very best. To continue to work, to help the judiciary to fulfill its important role of aiding in seeing that every individual understands, he (or she) is accountable and responsible for his actions. That every individual has the opportunity to discover and develop a conscious sense of his own worth.

As I assume this important office, my prayer today is that of the Psalmist, “Give me understanding and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.”

Thank you all so very much for coming. We have a reception, and I understand that I now get to exercise the prerogative of a justice of the Court by using this gavel and closing this session of Court, and the reception is now on.

 1) 192 Mich App 698; 482 NW2d 203 (1992)—REPORTER.
 2) 162 Mich App 328; 412 NW2d 284 (1987)—REPORTER.