Snyder appoints Larsen to Michigan Supreme Court

Joan Larsen, special counsel to the law school’s dean, is Gov. Rick Snyder’s third appointment to the court. “She will be a strong voice for rule of law for the State of Michigan”.

TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. “I’m confident she’ll be an invaluable addition to the Michigan Supreme Court“.

She earned her law degree from Northwestern and graduated magna cum laude.

Supreme Court justices serve eight-year terms.

“She was deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel”. “I read about them in the newspapers, just like you did”, she said.

The Republican governor will announce his choice at a late-morning news conference Wednesday in Lansing.

Asked about her legal philosophy, Larsen said: “I believe in enforcing the laws as written by the Legislature, as signed by the governor”. Several Republican-nominated justices on the court have belonged to the Federalist Society, and Zahra now includes his membership on his court biography. McCormack was also a law professor in Ann Arbor before winning election to the court as a Democratic nominee in 2012.

“I’m excited to work with a few of the greatest legal minds in the state”.

Asked about the role of dark money in Michigan judicial elections – state law allows anonymous issue ads around election dates, meaning prospective litigants could aid a Supreme Court candidate – Larsen noted conflicting arguments for free speech and transparency but declined to weigh in.

And Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette also sang her praises.