Process of selecting judges up for debate Monday at Griffin Policy Forum

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Marilyn Kelly, chief justice for the Michigan Supreme Court from 2009 to 2010, said there are flaws in the process of selecting judges.

She will be one of four panelists to speak at the spring 2011 Griffin Policy Forum from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday in the Powers Hall Ballroom. The topic for discussion will be: “And Justice for All? Should Michigan Change the way We Elect Judges?”

“I hope attendees learn of the flaws about the current system,” Kelly said. “There are things to correct.”

Kelly will be joined by Judge William C. Whitbeck of the Michigan Court of Appeals, Rich Robinson, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, and Kelly Keenan of Keenan Consulting LLC. John Lindstrom, publisher of Gongwer News Service, will moderate the talk.

Griffin Endowed Chairwoman Maxine Berman said this political topic could become increasingly popular.

“We’re putting (Central Michigan University) in a position to be involved early with an up-and-coming trend in politics,” she said.

Michigan elects its judges based on a system of nonpartisan selection. This means if a vacancy occurs, the governor appoints the replacement options that will then campaign for votes in the next election.

“Many states use merit, where an impartial panel submits two candidates from a list of names and then the governor decides from the list,” Kelly said.

However, Kelly said the governor will ask for two more to be chosen if he or she cannot decide on one of the two candidates.

Berman said she is excited about the discussion of topics that deal with the Supreme Court.

“Tens of thousands of dollars are going into these campaign races,” Berman said. “There could be more stringent control on them.”

Berman said the topic was chosen over some bigger issues in politics today because they must be selected well in advance.

“There are a lot of issues we could have talked about, but it all comes down to timing,” Berman said. “We can’t choose a hot topic when we are selecting because they may fade in popularity and we’ll be talking about old news.”

Admission to the forum is free and open to the general public. The Griffin Policy Forums are hosted twice yearly by the Robert and Marjorie Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government, the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, and the department of political science at Central Michigan University.