The Board of Directors of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society is pleased to present the Verdict of History Project to the members of the Michigan Bench and Bar. The multi-year project is a study of the Michigan Supreme Court’s development of Michigan jurisprudence as it affects lives of Michigan citizens.

A committee of six members of the Board of Directors (whose misplaced modesty requested they remain nameless) began working in 2003 to select a list of most significant cases. Originally, the committee sought to create a list of criteria that would allow them to identify the “most significant cases” objectively. Quickly they discovered that a purely objective selection would be impossible. After submitting their own case nominations and reviewing nominations from the State Bar of Michigan, the Michigan Supreme Court, and the deans of each of Michigan’s law schools, the committee spent nearly a year researching, reviewing and debating until the number of cases was narrowed to 20.

The 20 cases that made the list of “top cases” may not be the best written, have the best diction, settle an important or obscure point of law, or be of the greatest economic consequence. But they are for the most part a Michigan Supreme Court decision that had a profound effect on the everyday lives of Michigan citizens of the then and now—more so than just the parties to the matter. Of the over 30,000 cases, reported in 480 volumes of the Michigan Reports, by the 104 Justices who have written while serving on the Court, there surely are more than our selected 20. But as you review them, you may be willing to admit, we have made a good start.

The Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society, created in 1988 by then Chief Justice Dorothy Comstock Riley, has been working for the past 20 years to fulfill its mission, to promote the study of the history of Michigan’s courts and to increase public awareness of Michigan’s legal heritage. The Verdict of History Project is perhaps the most ambitious and comprehensive project yet undertaken. The project is presented in four segments in the January, February and March issues of the Michigan Bar Journal.

—Wallace D. Riley, Society President (1988-2015)

Teach the Verdict of History: lesson plans here.

View Verdict of History subject material by historical time period:

Michigan and the Culture Wars, 1970 - To Present

Michigan and the Culture Wars, 1970 – To Present

 

Unborn Children in Michigan: O’Neill v Morse (1971) – 385 Mich 130

• Brief Summary of ONeill

• Majority Opinion
• Dissenting Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Civil Wrongs and the Rights Revolution: Placek v Sterling Heights (1979) – 405 Mich 638

• Majority Opinion
• Dissenting Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Civil Wrongs and the Rights Revolution: Placek v Sterling Heights (1979) – 405 Mich 638

• Brief Summary of Placek
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Civil Wrongs and the Rights Revolution: Placek v Sterling Heights (1979) – 405 Mich 638

• Brief Summary of Placek
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Exorcising the Phantom of Felony Murder: People v Aaron (1980) – 409 Mich 672

• Brief Summary of Placek
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Employee Rights and Wrongful Discharge: Toussaint v Blue Cross (1980) – 408 Mich 579

• Brief Summary of Toussaint
• Majority Opinion
• Dissenting Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Private Property and Public Use: Poletown Neighborhood Council v Detroit (1981) – 10 Mich 616

• Brief Summary of Poletown
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Private Property and Public Use: Poletown Neighborhood Council v Detroit (1981) – 10 Mich 616

• Brief Summary of Poletown
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Public Utility Immunity: Ross v Consumers Power Co. (1984) – 420 Mich 567

• Brief Summary of Ross
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Natural and Adoptive Parents: In re Clausen (1993) – 442 Mich 648

• Brief Summary of Clausen
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• The Right to Die: People v Kevorkian (1994) – 447 Mich 436

• Brief Summary of Kevorkian
• Case Progress Through Court

The Mid-Twentieth Century, 1940-70

The Mid-Twentieth Century, 1940-70

• Michigan’s New Deal: Book Tower Garage v United Auto Workers (1940) – 295 Mich 580

• Brief Summary of Book Tower
• Majority Opinion
• Concurring Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court
• Michigan’s New Deal

 

• Voelker and the Art of Crafting an Opinion: People v Hildabridle (1958) – 353 Mich 562

• Brief Summary of Hildabridle
• Majority Opinion
• Concurring Opinion
• Dissenting Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Judicial Power and Democracy: In re Huff (1958) – 352 Mich 402

• Brief Summary of Huff
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Judicial Power and Democracy (II): Scholle v Hare (1962)- 367 Mich 176

• Brief Summary of Scholle
• Majority Opinion
• Concurring Opinion
• 2nd Concurring Opinion
• Dissenting Opinion
• Dissenting Concurring Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

The Forgotten Years, 1870-1940

The Forgotten Years, 1870-1940

• Cows and Contracts: Sherwood v. Walker (1887) – 66 Mich 568

• Brief Summary of Sherwood
• Sherwood Majority
• Sherwood Dissent
• Case Progress Through Court
• Poems Inspired by Sherwood v Walker

 

• Laws and Morals in the Industrial Age: People v. Beardsley (1907) – 150 Mich 206

• Brief Summary of Beardsley
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Eugenics in Michigan: Haynes v. Lapeer Circuit Judge (1918) – 201 Mich 138

• Brief Summary of Haynes
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Civil Rights and the Great Migration: Bolden v. Grand Rapids Operating Company (1927) – 239 Mich 318

• Brief Summary of Bolden
• Majority Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

The Formative Years, 1858-70

The Formative Years, 1858-70

• Crime and Democracy on the Frontier: The Pond and Maher Cases (1860, 1862)

• Brief Summary of Pond and Maher
• Maher Dissent
• Maher Opinion
• Pond Opinion
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• Racial Equality in Nineteenth Century Michigan: The Workman Case (1869)

• Brief Summary of Workman
• Justice Campbell’s Dissent
• Workman Majority
• Case Progress Through Court

 

• The Public Good and Class Legislation: People v. Salem (1870) – 20 Mich. 452

• Brief Summary of Salem
• Campbell’s Concurring Opinion
• Christiancy’s Concurring Opinion
• Grave’s Dissent
• Majority Opinion