Editorial: Our endorsements for Michigan Supreme Court

For a guide to The Detroit News endorsements in all races so far, click here.

Michigan is blessed with a Supreme Court that sticks to its business — interpreting the law and leaving policy making to the state Legislature.

The best way to keep the court on that course is to return Chief Justice Bridget McCormack and add Judge Brock Swartzle, who currently sits on the state Court of Appeals.

McCormack is seeking her second term and is nominated by the Democratic Party.

She is an outstanding justice, fostering collegiality among the seven members and keeping the court in its lane of determining legislative intent, rather than rewriting the law.

The Supreme Court has administrative responsibility for the entire state court system. As chief justice, McCormack has brought accountability and efficiency to the lower courts.

When COVID-19 struck and courtrooms were shuttered, she quickly put in place protocols for holding virtual sessions that have actually made the local courts more accessible. Many of the practices have been copied by other states and likely will remain in place even after the pandemic passes.

McCormack was co-chair of the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, which developed a list of reforms now moving through the Legislature that will make Michigan a leader in reducing its jail population while diverting more defendants from criminal activity.

She has more than earned a second term on the court, and we hope her colleagues will also continue her tenure as chief justice.

Swartzle was appointed to the Court of Appeals by former Gov. Rick Snyder in 2017 and won a full term the following year. He has extensive and varied legal experience.

He's clerked in both the Eastern and Western federal district courts in Michigan, as well as in the Sixth District Court of Appeals, and was general counsel for the state House, where he worked on the Detroit bankruptcy legislation.   

Swartzle is a First Amendment scholar and teaches the subject at the Michigan State University law school.

He's a hardworking appeals judge who delivers well-reasoned and thoroughly supported decisions that hold up well when they reach the Supreme Court. 

He, too, holds to a textualist legal philosophy that the law means what it says, and should not be recast by activist judges.

Swartzle will be a fine addition to a court that is losing long-time Justice Steve Markman to retirement this year.

The two other candidates are impressive and well qualified. Elizabeth Welch, nominated by the Democrats, is a private practice attorney from the Grand Rapids area who serves small businesses and nonprofits.

Mary Kelly, nominated by Republicans, is also in private practice after a long career in the St. Clair County prosecutor's office, where she advocated for families and children.

It is a good list of candidates, from which Justice Bridget McCormack and Judge Brock Swartzle stand out. 

Endorsements are determined independently by The Detroit News Editorial Board and have no influence on news coverage