MSC Justice Robert Young – A Judicial Activist Who Is Bad For Michigan

For the past eleven years, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert Young has used his position on Michigan‘s highest court to protect corporations at the expense of ordinary individuals. It’s no secret that I have been critical of his pro-insurance company, anti-consumer stance and its effect on the innocent victims of corporate greed.

The facts speak for themselves. According to Professor Robert Sedler of Wayne State University Law School, Justice Young and the rest of Governor Engler’s conservative “Gang of Four” overruled 34 cases over a ten year period, ignoring well-established precedent in the process. This prodigious rate of judicial activism is (forgive the pun) unprecedented.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fXYNbstLQE

In each instance, the result was to the detriment of employees and the injured victims of negligence. As Professor Sedler concluded, “This is not coincidence.” In fact, it is not at all surprising – Justice Young used to be an insurance company lawyer.

The actions of the Gang of Four, including Justice Young, undermine the important legal principle of stare decisis. Stated simply, stare decisis is a doctrine that lends predictability to the law – litigants can count on their case being decided in the same way prior cases have been decided. When a judge or group of judges decides that their point of view is “better” than existing law and rule on a case without regard for precedent, our legal system suffers.

Justice Young faces reelection this year. This fall, YOU, as a voter, will have a chance to make a change of your own. You have the opportunity to restore balance and justice to the Michigan Supreme Court.