{"id":2391,"date":"2025-02-20T18:09:46","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T18:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/?p=2391"},"modified":"2025-02-20T05:41:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T05:41:30","slug":"michigan-supreme-court-chief-justice-elizabeth-clement-to-step-down-by-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/michigan-supreme-court-chief-justice-elizabeth-clement-to-step-down-by-april\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement to Step Down by April"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"w-full text-token-text-primary focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-[-4px]\" dir=\"auto\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-5\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\">\n<div class=\"m-auto text-base py-[18px] px-6\">\n<div class=\"mx-auto flex flex-1 text-base gap-4 md:gap-5 lg:gap-6 md:max-w-3xl\">\n<div class=\"group\/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn @xs\/thread:px-0 @sm\/thread:px-1.5 @md\/thread:px-4\">\n<div class=\"flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col flex-grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 whitespace-normal break-words text-start [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"a00d54ef-0669-4625-b43c-532ab69dcc50\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-4o-mini\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert light\">\n<p data-start=\"82\" data-end=\"330\">Grand Rapids, MI &#8211; Elizabeth Clement, the Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, announced on Wednesday that she will be stepping down by the end of April, opening the door for a potential 6-1 majority of Democratic-backed justices on the state\u2019s highest court.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"332\" data-end=\"650\">Clement, who was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court in 2017 by Republican Governor Rick Snyder, did not provide a reason for her resignation. In a statement, she expressed gratitude for the opportunity to lead the court, emphasizing her commitment to fairness, independence, and the rule of law during her tenure.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"652\" data-end=\"971\">&#8220;Leading our state\u2019s highest court has been an opportunity to continue a proud record of independence, fairness, and commitment to the rule of law,&#8221; Clement said. &#8220;I am thankful to my colleagues for their support and friendship, as well as for their willingness to seek common ground in serving the people of Michigan.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"973\" data-end=\"1274\">While Michigan\u2019s justices are officially nonpartisan, they are nominated by political parties or appointed by the governor in cases of vacancy. Currently, the Michigan Supreme Court has a 5-2 majority of justices backed by Democrats, following a seat gained by Democrats in the November 2022 election.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1276\" data-end=\"1544\">Clement\u2019s resignation provides an opportunity for Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer to appoint a replacement, which would further cement the Democratic majority on the court. The new justice would be required to run for retention in 2026 for a full eight-year term.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1546\" data-end=\"1713\">Clement was originally appointed by Snyder in 2017, securing a full term in the 2018 general election. In November 2022, she was elected as Chief Justice of the court.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1715\" data-end=\"2128\">In her statement, Clement outlined her future plans to continue working toward unifying efforts and using data to strengthen Michigan\u2019s justice system. &#8220;Going forward, my plan is to continue working to find ways to bring people together, to put data to work, and to make a difference in the lives of people so that interactions with our justice system result in safer communities and stronger families,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2130\" data-end=\"2330\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Clement\u2019s decision to resign marks a pivotal moment in the Michigan Supreme Court\u2019s composition, potentially shifting its ideological balance and shaping the state&#8217;s legal landscape for years to come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-2 flex gap-3 empty:hidden -ml-2\">\n<div class=\"items-center justify-start rounded-xl p-1 flex\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 w-full empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"text-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"absolute\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"pointer-events-none h-px w-px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-edge=\"true\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grand Rapids, MI &#8211; Elizabeth Clement, the Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, announced on Wednesday that she will be stepping down by the end of April, opening the door for a potential 6-1 majority of Democratic-backed justices on the state\u2019s highest court. Clement, who was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court in 2017 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions\/2402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapidspost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}